Next steps - guidance needed!

I'm in no way an expert, but my 2020 is talking to a few schools and 2 came from attending the school's prospect camp and the other came from a coach being at a PBR event and seeing him.  For the camps, the talked to him there and then had us stay and tour and then contacted his hs coach to have him set up calls.  At PBR, I was sitting behind the coach and he called our club coach while he was there and asked my son to call on his way home.  Not sure what state you are in,but the guy who runs TX PBR is well connected and markets the kids well.

Make sure you pay attention to the recruiting calendar. It is quiet period thru 2/28/18 and contact period from 3/1/18-7/31/18. If pitcher/catcher camp is during quiet period, coaches can only see your son play while on their campus. Prospect camps are usually better during quiet periods with bigger events/showcases being better during contact periods. During contact period, make sure your son contacts those schools down south that he is interested in and lets them know where and when he will be attending a camp.

With your son's previous PBR participation, hopefully he will get invited to the PBR Futures Games in Indy in July as it is by invite only and the player must be uncommitted at the time of the tourney. Cost is @ 100 plus travel/lodging and may be in your neck of the woods. There are dozens of colleges there including schools from down south. My son and a summer teammate went this year (they are 2019). Son's teammate had a great tournament and a handful of southern schools (and others) took an interest in him. He ended up with several offers this fall and committed to a mid-major in the south which first saw him in Indy.  We are in Connecticut and none of those southern schools had ever seen or heard of this kid before.  Just food for thought.      

Start by making a list of his 1. Stretch schools 2. Competitive 3. Easy. Make a mix of DX programs.  Get the recruiting coaches and head coaches email address and send an introduction email with a profile (academic and athletic) Research the schools rosters and see where they recruit players from also as many in the south recruit mostly from their state due to state financed scholarships. I would consider all of those schools stretch schools. 

I would make sure you find out the contact information for Area Code teams in your area. You will have to find a scout to recommend your son for one of the teams to try out.  I would also connect with Iowamom as she probably has some good advice for mid-west players parents. 

As you get closer to tournaments make sure your son is sending emails to the programs with his team's schedules and what games he will be starting. 

Welcome and good luck.

MWdad posted:

First time poster...I've been stalking the site for awhile and appreciate all of the great info!  It has truly helped me guide my 2020 LHH Catcher as he chases his dream.  His dream is to play for a school in the south at the highest level possible w/ highest academics possible.  He plays for a top travel team in Midwest and is just beginning his recruiting process.  He does have interest from a few mid-tier D1 programs in Midwest but has been seen by very few outside of the Midwest to this point.  His travel team coach is very well connected in the Midwest but very few of programs commits go south.  His travel team will be in several big tourneys this summer (WWBA in Atlanta, Music City Classic, etc) but want to have him get a jump start if possible.  To date, he has only participated in PBR showcases. 

My question is where (or perhaps how?) is the best place to get him on the radar of Southern schools prior to the summer circuit? I was thinking either the PG Pitcher/Catcher in Iowa, one of his dream schools top prospect camps, or the UA / Baseball Factory National Invite (haven't heard much about this one - just received an invite so thinking not great?).  The PG Pitcher/Catcher seems to make the most sense but I couldn't find much info on this in terms of colleges attending or know if info coming out of there will get to all colleges.  The budget (and time) is strained w/ travel ball, training and life so not able to go crazy w/ showcases/camps but able to afford probably one this spring prior to HS season. 

Any advice is appreciated. 

Yours in baseball,

MWdad

 

 

UA/Baseball factory was kind of a joke.  You get what you pay for.  Yes, $99 to evaluate, the evaluation included a radar gun reading that was off by 10+ mph, when I asked about that he said he had been hearing that, the one kid was 90+ at other events and barely broke 80 at this one, and he'd look into it.  Oh and your son made one of our national teams, and told me a date when my son would be in school, so I said no, sorry he's in school that week.  He said oh well, not a problem, he made this event too...that was his dad's week, and I said so, he then said well how about this event?  I found it amazing that my 9th grader had made SOOOO many national events!  Then I heard the multiple thousands of dollars to participate in these "select invite only national events"....then my 160 pound kid making them made so much more sense!

I live in GA, I don't know any kids that go to Iowa to get looked at by a southern school. They go to Lakepoint in GA and Ft. Myers in Florida, that's about it.  If he has a specific school in mind why not find out when their specific camp is, who from the staff will be there, and have him email the coach.  They can respond when it's about a camp,  and at least he would get to see the campus.  That is what my 2020 is doing.

It sounds like he might have some specific schools in mind. Or if not, take a look at the rank percentage index to find the best southern schools, check their web sites for academic information and develop a list of schools that fit his criteria.

Once you have that, email the coaches directly with links to your video and recruiting web site. You'll get camp invites, but also may generate some deeper real interest. And if he really likes the school, go to the camp if you can afford it.

FieldLevel also would be another place where you could target those schools.

I would suggest that as a 2020, I wouldn't put all my eggs in one geographic basket — there are good schools outside of the south as well.

Finally, if you are interested in the pitcher/catcher showcase, ask PG who plans to attend or who they provide information to about the showcase. The worst thing they can do is say we don't share that information. I asked them lots of stupid questions during my 2018's journey and they always were very helpful in their responses.

Unless you are a serious stud or trying to get into a program that recruits nationally like a service academy, you would be well served by looking at the rosters of the teams you are interested in to see where their players are coming from. Most recruit regionally. If you aren’t in their region, you will be contributing to that programs bottom line a few times to get in front of those coaches to have a look at you. Unless you are just what they are looking for and stand out. 

You are going to pay someone to get in front of those coaches, would you rather pay PG, PBR etc and hope those coaches actually get to your game or would you rather ensure they see you by going to their camps? Those coaches at PG are coming to games to see specific kids on their list, not random kids.

Thank you for the replies.  I will take something from each of the comments to build a tighter plan w my son.   Totally agree on "southern" schools likely interest in a northern kid but want him to pursue dream/goal until becomes very clear it's not happening.   i also agree there are a bunch  of great schools in Midwest and that would be our preference, unfortunately not his (yet).

I guess still a little unsure of next move for exposure or maybe just need to let the next 9 months or so play out:

- camps seem tough unless he was narrowed to one or two schools

- not attending ua/baseball factory 

- will reach out to PG regarding pitcher/catcher event details 

- will continue w PBR (currently #1 ranked catcher in state) w hopes of attending PBR Futures to get further exposure

- look into Area Code to see if he can earn a tryout 

In the meantime, work hard in the off season!

Happy Holidays!!