Northeasterners Playing South of NJ

jbddad, I think there will be a lot of opinions on this subject. It will likely depend on the coach and the school. For example, I had dinner with an assistant college baseball coach tonight. He told me the head coach offered a pitcher from western canada a lot of money without every having seen him play. But he trusted the person who referred him without question. The assistant told me that if it was him, he would not take the gamble as a rule.

So that is one angle.

Another example is a D-I coach from florida. He said that he would recruit a pitcher from the north if he had seen him play. But that he would not recruit a position or role player from out of state. He had more than enough to choose from in his backyard, and it was too far to bring a kid down to be a role player.

Most college rosters are relatively local. Aside from studs, it makes sense that most recruiting is local, especially given how much coaches want to recruit with their own eyes.

There is more to this, so I am sure you will hear from others.

Being from NJ, although I'd like to agree with the blanket statement made about the NE players, I can't. Yes, I do agree that there is way too much emphasis on games, it's not the number of games a player plays but the quality of the competition in those games. That leads me to the fundemental skills that a NE player could bring with him, I also believe that "perfect" practice with the "right" instructors can bring about a fundementally sound player. So a combination of high quality games and practice can help a NE player. That being said the kids in warmer weather states have an advantage because they get more of both. Yes, when you look at rosters of warm weather schools the majority of players on those rosters from the NE are pitchers, why? Because they can sharpen their skills all year long (like the kids in the south) but position players can't due to weather. There are scouts and college coaches that believe that if two players (1 from NE and 1 from warm weather) are close that the NE player given the opportunity has greater upside but not all of them believe it.
Another factor to consider when looking at out of state students is the economics of the program. NCAA rules state that baseball is allowed 11.7 scholarships per team, not all teams are fully funded, i.e., they may only have 8 scholarships (baseball money) available to divide their roster, which is usually 30 players.Understand that this pool of money is based on In-state tuition, i.e. 11.7 x $tuition cost, out of state students tuition is significantly higher. So by example, if the in state tuition is $6K and out of state is $18K, a coach can spread the wealth better by getting more in state students rather than recruiting multiple out of state students. If two players are equally talented, and he can give the in stater 25% ($1,500) why would he disrupt is budget by giving the out of stater 25%, i.e., $4,500?
If he can arrange for academic and finacial aid money the player becomes more attractive, if not he will always go with the in state player.
As a side note, when people tell you that a player received a "full ride" ask them if it was baseball money, if they say yes, they're probably lying. A full ride is possible when baseball money is combined with academic and/or financial aid. It is extremely rare that anyone gets full ride baseball money.

One other factor to consider when you are talking about colleges in the Southeast recruiting out-of-state....Currently, 6 states in the SE have In-State Lotteries that pay for the tuition of a resident meeting certain academic requirements. FL, GA, LA, SC, KY, TN all have these programs that make it a lot easier to recruit local players. If a local kid has a 3.0 GPA, then his tuition is paid for and a baseball coach only has to offer room & board to make it a "big offer." On the other hand, a kid from the NE would not have this option and cost a lot more to a coach. It is a huge recruiting factor and one that transcends into the majority of position players being from in-state.

Great reasoning by all

Have heard that some will look to the NE for pitchers because they feel the arms may be fresher.

I think its very important that a player from the NE who wants to go south attend a couple of good showcases.

One of the reasons that we play in a few events below the Mason Dixon line is for the Southern Schools to see the players--In this day and age of tight budgets many schools won't spend the money to come North in hopes of finding "that one" player.

We go to them !!!!