No offers + injury = ?

sluggerdad,

Hate to get on ya, this is your second topic regarding this.

You should have never let him play. Never.

D3 schools do not recruit hurt players and neither do JUCOs. But a JUCO would be a place to begin so he could get better show off his stuff and then apply to where ever he thinks he might fit in based on his performance.

Get him to the doctor, asap. You need to know whats going on before anything else can happen.

Best of luck, keep us informed.

What's done is done. Get him healthy, keep him positive and enjoy is senior year. Stop pressing, there is still time. No one will pay attention if he is injured.

What have outside observers said about his talent level. There are plenty of schools here in NorCal. You need an honest eval of his level and focus in that world. I know of a hand full of my son's buddies that went the JC route nd it worked out great.

The fact that he has no offers might mean your fishing in the wrong pond. Time to step  back, re-think the process, and find the right fishing hole. 

Most importantly, he needs to get 100% healthy. Good luck and keep us informed.

SluggerDad, an injury changed the recruiting landscape for my 2015, and a couple of his teammates, too. I guess it's more common than you would think. I'm just speculating, but it might help your son to apply Early Action to any DIII school that might come through for him later. Many schools have an 11/1 deadline. Assuming that he is back to full strength when his HS season starts, it might save precious time if he can tell those schools that he's already been accepted. It would also give him a reason to contact them over the winter, and will demonstrate to them that he is serious.

I agree.  Get to the doctor find out the seriousness of the injury, and then make a plan.  It isn't too late.  Keep his spirits up, and it'll work out.

sluggerdad,

I know exactly what you are going through.  It is very tough.  My youngest son got injured back in August at a showcase with a bunch of college recruiters watching him throw a bullpen.  He's missed the whole Fall season as a senior.   He threw hard and well at the Showcase, but felt funny afterward.  We took him to the Dr, and he's been doing PT and rehab since.   We've focused on SAT, ACT, academics and trying to find the best school for him without baseball at this time.  Many of the schools he's looking at, he feels he could walk-on if he has a very good high school senior year.   He's not giving up on baseball, but I think this injury has opened his eyes to many other aspects of college.  He's down but not out.

Good luck to you and your son!

Couple of points:

1. There is plenty of time once he gets healthy. My son had mono(Jan-Feb-early March) and was visiting schools in April of his Sr year and had colleges coming out to this HS games during the season. 

2. Revise the plan and figure out SPECIFICALLY which schools fit him. 

3. Realistically JC's don't really recruit until later in the HS season, but start to work on a back up plan.

4. Put in applications to schools that fit his profile.

5. Get real on his ability. My son plays for "only a D3" and I can tell you that no freshmen is going to crack the OF unless he is an absolute D1 stud. It is that competitive at highly ranked D3's, They have three spots for graduating Sr's and they will be filled by returning players and some freshmen will get some spot playing time here and there to build for the future.

6. The possibilities for playing in college are endless if you look in the right places. Go to d3baseball.com and REALLY look into all of the programs, there has to be one there that he can play at and more importantly fits him academically and culturally. 

7. Let the D1's that were following him know he was injured. My son was connected to all of the D1's that were following him at the Arizona Fall Classic and he let them all know he had mono when he got it. 

I know it is stressful but revise the plan and keep working it, there is still plenty of time.

I was trying to think of a way to say about the same thing - but you did it WAY better than I could have.  Great perspective!

sluggerdad....glass half full attitude will carry anyone a long way. I try to control what I can control and work around the rest.

Good input here.   Definitely time for plan, I now see clearly.  Good thing is that the kid still believes in himself and so do I. Just going to be a longer haul than we had hoped.

What type of injury are we talking about here?

by fall of Sr. yr he should have had conversations from D1 coaches if they were interested. d1 around here are already getting commits from 2017, crazy. 

what about D2, they have money while D3 only offer academic. Are his grades good enough for top D3 schools.

Look for best academic fit first. 

Good luck

SluggerDad:

Regarding your son and his adaptation to leaving California for college and baseball - We live in decidedly suburban Southern California. I pointed out the location on the map of a certain college that I thought looked very interesting for my son during late in his Junior year in HS.  He immediately said "NO - EN OH NO!"  The school was rural, remote, cold winters, etc, etc, etc.

I went ahead and contacted the HC of this school via email, stealthily posing as my son... Coach starts recruiting son heavily after seeing him at Headfirst Camp, son visits school, twice, decides everything is a perfect fit, applies early decision.  Now entering his Sr. year in college, he still loves the school, and the area, and in fact loves the region so much he will probably never return to reside in So Cal.

I still remind him on occasion, "father knows best."

If you can work it soon, try to get son get out of his local comfort zone and experience some campuses.  Re-contact those D3 coaches, apply to schools that look like a fit, non-binding early action if possible.  From Nor Cal you could do the "grand rounds" of many of the Northwest Conference schools in a 4 or 5 day driving trip for instance. If he was receiving D1 attention, he should be a good fit from a baseball-skills standpoint at many D3 programs - get him 100% healthy while you aggressively work the college selection/application period - get accepted into some targeted schools, have a great senior season and see where things go. You never know how things will work out, but there is some urgency to the matter in terms of applications, school selection, etc.

From a timing standpoint regarding JCs, from our experience, since our son was going D3, and there was no commitment or NLI that was publicized, he ended up being contacted directly by HCs from several JC's during the middle to latter part of Senior HS season - he declined them all - but, that seemed to be when the JC recruiting was happening.  We had numerous HS games with JC recruiters attending to look at multiple players from both teams.

Best of luck to your son.

you do remember correctly.  The kid is starting to feel cursed.   Trying hard to keep his spirits up.   This last one was caused by an errant 90mph fastball thrown by a kid who apparently hadn't pitched in a month and had no idea where the ball was going.  He was really, really bummed. 

It is time to get real. Whether his fit to baseball at the collegiate level is an unknown. With this as a foundation, he needs to be focusing on schools where he will get a good education, grow as a person and with luck have a baseball team that will welcome him as a walk-on if he is not health enough to compete and be recruited the spring of his senior year.

My son played HS ball at a very high profile NorCal high school. It is very difficult with the number of players to be recruited in California.

After doing our marketing his junior year we expanded his horizons and looked at schools that met his academic, social and athletic profile. This led us to several quality D3 schools in Ohio and Texas and two D1 schools in Oregon and South Carolina. Expanding his horizons will open more doors; it may not produce a guaranteed roster spot, but it may offer everything he is looking for in a college experience.

He chose a D3 in Texas which ultimately helped him grow up, get an education and create a life after baseball.

SluggerDad,

I feel your pain.  It's difficult when your son is dealing with injuries that are keeping him from competing at 100%.  I understand why you sent your son to the Arizona Senior Fall Classic while fighting an injury, it's a very well scouted event.  It's the event that my son finally committed after suffering through the same type of circumstances you're dealing with.

I recall sending my son to the Rising Juniors PG Showcase Event at USC.  247-Son was coming off a sprained UCL and hadn't pitched to live hitters in six months.  He had thrown several bullpens and was feeling good.  Not to mention, he was a 2-way player with legitimate interest as pitcher and outfielder, and I figured if he couldn't pitch, he'd showcase well in the outfield, hit, and run a good 60 time.  We worked on his 60 time for six weeks prior to the PG event and he was unofficially putting in some very good times.  Well, when we get to the event we learned that they weren't running the 60 due to NCAA regulations, his arm was still weak and he couldn't pitch, his OF velocity wasn't very good, and the person throwing his BP round couldn't throw strikes.  It was an expensive lesson to learn.

Take the advice of parents on here that have son's that committed in the very late stages, BOF would be a great person to PM, especially if you live here in So Cal.  Go out and visit college campuses in your region, and don't rule out the schools outside our state.  If he really wants to play at the next level your son needs to be open-minded.  Good luck...he has more time than you think. 

Not to hijack this, but have a kid with an injury to his pitching arm (not UCL).  He is a very tall LHP with good velo normally but hasn't thrown in a few months and is about to get started on an interval throwing program.  Couldn't play fall ball because of it, though he is also an excellent IF and hitter, the doctor advised not to throw or swing at all.  Our problem isn't colleges just yet but tryouts for summer 2015 teams.  He can't really go to several upcoming tryouts, and he is reluctant to tell potential coaches he has an injury based on advice from a D1 college coach.  People say if you are good enough, they will find you!  Yeah, but...slots are being taken and the top teams have already most of their rosters in shape.  What should he do?  

Twoboys;

find a team where he can have "fun" and learn the game.

A LHP will have no problem in locating a team. Do you know the Valley League?

Bob

<rwilliams@goodwillseries.org>

Thanks Bob for the quick reply.  The LHP will be on his HS varsity team, and played for a competitive travel program last summer.  This is the "big recruitment" summer for him, and he would like to be on a team which plays in the right showcases for him.  The former program played mostly locally, and he excelled.  He is looking at some of the nationally known travel programs-but does not know what to do vis-a-vis not being able to throw.  We do not have video of him at this point either - was supposed to do a well known showcase at the end of the summer but this was when he was injured. The question is how can he get on a good team (some of whom are looking right now to add to their rosters) without being at 100% yet?

What schools does it want to go to?  Local or far away? If it's local or close by he doesn't need to travel across country to be seen. As import as team is coach who has connections or knows how to help kids get recruited. 

 To get on nationally known teams he needs great vel not just good. Our 17u Summer team played some top national teams this Summer. One had 18 kids already committed to D1 schools who will be signing in Nov. They lost to even better team in first round of tourn championship. 

Twoboys;

the reason for my question. If you live near a College Summer team or a minor league team, you desire to have your son offer to pitch BP to the team. There are College coaches in the Virgina Valley League. He would learn from the veterans.

He definitely not be placed in a "highly" competitive situation.until 100 per cent

Relax and enjoy.

Bob

My advice would be to let your son get better and not worry about this summer, yet.

I see you are from VA. I suggest contacting Midlodad, he might be more helpful in giving you suggestions.

U have to plan for Summer in advance. 

Most teams around here already had tryouts for next Summers teams. 

u can either talk to teams he's interested in and tell them about injury saying he wants to try out for them in Spring, or say nothing and contact them when he's better and tell them he s P and would like to try out.  

Twoboys,

Sounds like you already know which programs you might be interested in. Contact them and explain the situation. Yes, teams are holding fall tryouts now, but there is always some roster flux as summer nears.  The successful programs have experienced coaches who know when it is appropriate to make allowances for special circumstances.  A tall LHP with decent velo coming off the DL is a special circumstance.  Someone at a good program will be willing to take a look when he's healthy.

Best wishes,

Didn't see the suggestion in any of the posts above so excuse me if I missed it but along with the suggestions of get him in a good school could also warrant...trying the walk-on route???  If he was good enough to play for (enter school name here) school before getting injured who's to say the motivation of walking on where he wants to play wouldn't get him healed up and kicking butt and getting noticed that way and earning his scholly by Jr or Sr year???

While that is certainly an option, I wouldn't make that my first choice.  The old "go where you are loved" would not apply, and the player would be putting himself at risk.  As a walk, the coach doesn't have any obligation, or any money tied up in the player.  That puts him in a precarious position.  If you want to explore coming back to D-1 after healing, I think the JC Route would be better.

It has not been established has it that D1 is where this player fits?

Injury or not D2 or other may be where he would excel.  

Sluggerdad has said that his son has had some D1 nibbles but injuries have prevented him from doing well in front of those coaches when they've come to see him. From what I've read here,  it may be time for the kid to tune out his friends' plans and everything else, and really think about where he wants to be in 5 years and 10 years time.  If he's all about baseball all the way, then continue to pursue any D1 and D2 opportunities for now, get healthy, have a great senior year, and look at Jucos in the spring.  But if he sees himself as a college grad in a non-baseball job in 5 years, and thriving in that career in 10 years, then picking the school that will best help him achieve those goals is more important right now with application deadlines looming. And if that school is a D3 where he can also play baseball, or a D1 or D2 where he has a shot at walking on, that's even better.  Just IMHO as a dad.

I think my son has pretty much given up on the D1 route.  He's a small guy anyway  (very fast, very athletic and with what people tell us is elite bat speed).  But he definitely does not fit your typical D1 profile body type.  He knows that  guys like him have a LOT to prove. He also knows that he hasn't proven what he needs to prove.  Not because of lack of determination and/or talent necessarily.  Unfortunately for him, his junior year was basically derailed by a recurring back injury that kept him out of action almost the entire season.   By about mid summer -- when we went to the WWBA 18U championship with our travel team -- he was on the mend, but not at all playing at full tilt. In fact, I'd say he wasn't really playing at full tilt until late August early September -- when he was playing really well.  Then the fastball struck him on the wrist.   Now he just wants to play somewhere that's a good fit in the ways JCG suggests.    He's definitely open to many possibilities.  HIs D1 chances were always slim, so he never put his eggs completely in that basket at all. ( He's been rated by an objective source as a "good fit" athletically with what it classifies as "most competitive"  D3 and "competitive D2"s so that's mostly where he has been looking.)  The D1 dreams were fired only after going to a D1 camp just a couple of weeks before the back injury struck, where the coaches were really impressed by his speed and athleticism and bat speed.  They actually followed up with the HS coach -- who despite various issues, spoke highly of him to them.  The combination of the coach's recommendation and his performance at their camp,  seemed  to put him on their radar.  They actually came to see him play this summer.  I have to  admit, he flat out sucked. Don't know if it was  because he knew they were there watching or just that he hadn't yet gotten back up to full stride.   But he knows that he sucked. We didn't hear from them again after that.  He got similar interest from another D1 from his performance later in the summer.  That particular day he made a play in the outfield that seemed literally unmakable and had everybody talking, plus he drove the ball all over the place.  That D1 saw him a second time at the Arizona Senior Fall Classic.  Bad timing.  Shouldn't have let him go, I know.    But those are the breaks.  What's done is done. 

But he's not at all set on playing D1. Never counted on that.  But given that two D1's  took notice, he was stoked and really really wanted to do well. Just didn't happen.   Anyway, right now, he's off of  baseball activities and  trying to heal.  He is actually physically incapable of swinging  a bat full out these days without serious pain.   So there really is no choice. 

Great advice on this board though.  Helps us stay balanced. As at the dad,   I feel like my main task is to keep the kid's spirits up -- you can imagine that they are not all that great -- and help him see broader options -- both of which we are working hard on. Just between us,  I've always been secretly pulling for the D3 option frankly, but thought I owed it to him to support his not entirely wild dreams that one of the d1 nibbles might turn into something.

Wishing him luck, though break.

what does dr. say about back? Is he doing PT? 

I think after the news today the obvious thing to do is call UNC ASAP in the morning !!

they may need some new player quick!

Ah, that is only special treatment for football and basketball players...baseball players have to go to real classes