Nothing happening

I don’t think it is too late for your son. He already could be ahead of the game in his academics. I think the key is you have to go out and generate the interest.
I am not sure what your son is looking for in a college meaning D1, D2, D3 or NAIA. My son was not a top recruit by any stretch of the imagination. He never attended a showcase or nor did play in the top tier summer and fall teams in Arizona. He used berecruited.com to set up a profile and added video. We sent emails to coaches and asked if we could send them video. In instances where the coaches showed some interest we sent additional video and my son made phone calls to introduce himself.
He was able to generate enough interest from a variety of schools, D2, D3, mostly NAIA schools. We then targeted a number of schools and we used our available finances on road trips to the schools to make sure it met his educational desires and to meet the coaches face to face. In the case of the NAIA schools, my son was able to work out for the coaches and participate in some practices. He ended up signing with an NAIA school in Nebraska and leaves Monday for school.
In many ways you have more of an advantage that we did living in Arizona, There are many more college options in Colorado and neighboring states like Nebraska and Kansas.

Feel free to send me a PM and I can give you more details on my son’s recruiting process.

You don't mention the JUCO option. This is a great way to get a couple of years of school paid for (and maybe at 100%!) and play a lot of baseball right away. The Jayhawk League in Kansas is one of the best and as jsingerjj says is close to Colorado. We know a kid from Easton, CO that was on Seward CC's team (their #1 starter this year) for two years that went to the JUCO World Series in Gran Junction this year. He parlayed that into a good D2 offer...

We have the same issue as BAN. My son has also played baseball since he was very young.

He plays Outfield for his varsity team and batted .347 during his spring Jr Season. OB was over 550. As lead off he hit well for average, stole 20 bases and also had 20 runs scored. He is now a rising SR


His grade point average is over 96 and his ACT is 28.

He was good enough to be recently invited to and is playing at the Summer Rivalry Classic in MA this week and is doing well. (1 for 1 and a walk first game, 1 for 2 second game [could have been 2 for 2 but shortstop caught hit to left field running backward over his shoulder in front of left fielder, pop out of glove then caught before hit ground] three stolen bases).

It seems like every player on the 4 teams is recruited but him.

He has a web site, is on be recruited and has been e mailing a good number of coaches at D1, D2 and D3 schools for a long time updating them on his progress, schedule etc. So far a few are in contact but no firm offers, invites etc. Some we will participate in upcoming college camps this fall to get some more face to face time. Others have indicated they are interested and to contact them when he comes to visit which he will do this fall.

He has a good skills video which he sent to the coaches as well.

Any other advice? We seem to be way too late although we are looking at schools basically in the Northeast, NY, CT, MA, NJ, etc

Question for both of you guys (BAN & Albanydad): Do you know anyone in your area with good baseball background that you can sit down with and get both their honest advice and their honest opinion?

HS coach? Hitting instructor? Former college coach or pro player? Local baseball academy coach? Summer coach?

Through 2 sons going through the HS, exposure and then recruiting process...I asked these types of people where my sons fit. I made sure to tell them that all I wanted was an 'honest' answer as that was the only thing that would do us any good in figuring out where to look.

A good, honest assessment...and I mean honest...should help you to understand what level and where to focus your efforts.

Good luck!

AlbanyDad and BAN,

Have you gotten any feedback from anybody about where your son fits into the college baseball hierarchy? Telling us his batting avg, OBP or stolen bases in HS doesn't tell us much about his skill level because high school baseball is not used as a universal baseline....every high school district across the country is different. College coaches want to see your son competing against other recruits, or going through a pro style combine where stop watches, radar gun, and a keen experienced eye are the tools. His GPA and ACT tell us a little more, and those metrics are universal.

What are your son's goals? Are the showcases that he is scheduled to attend going to fit his goals and skill level?

Recruited = Passion + Skill + Exposure + Persistence + Luck

Based upon your sons GPA and ACT, he may be best served with the HeadFirst Showcase, GPA Baseball Showcase or some of the others that are cropping up that cater to more of an academic flavor to baseball recruiting. Has he attended any of those, or do you have any plans to?

Participating in specific college camps is good as long as your son is interested in those schools. That may sound like a "master of the obvious" statement but I know people that go to these things that aren't interested in that specific school. When your son emails the coaches, does he ask what camps the coaches will be at this Fall? I would try to get in front of as many coaches as possible that fit your son's profile. Currently you are pursuing D1, D2 and D3 schools. That is a shotgun approach and may not be working because it is too general. Fine tune your efforts for those profile schools that you seem to be having more success at.....I hope that makes sense.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to post, ask for clarification or PM me. HSBBWeb is an incredible resource, but you have to know what you want, and know what questions to ask.

Best of luck!

My son was observed by a current minor league pitcher for the Giants organization. He thought my son would be a good fit at his former school (d1 Portland Pilots). This pitcher gave him a recommendation to his former coach, my son followed-up with the school. However, it didn't amount to anything.

His assistant coach felt he would fit in well with either or low d1 or a high d2 program.

He is looking at a couple of smaller d2 schools. One of the other board members suggested looking also at the NAIA schools. I will have to start doing some research on them. This whole process is new to me since I didn't play sports growing up and my son is my one and only. I messed up by not doing enough research early.

what school does the kid like best? Isnt college about the education FIRST ? Is your boy going to make his decision based on baseball only? eventually the game ends for 99 .9 percent of us anyway..just some thoughts..i'm in the pretty much the same boat as you and your son..hopefully you make the right choice.

There's already a lot of good advice on this thread; and, anything I write here is meant to augment it.

If a program such as Portland's is considered an accurate gauge of a player's playing level, wouldn't it make sense to dig in and do some research about Portland's program? Who else is in their conference? Who do they play out of conference? Can you get some idea of the playing background of their players by reading the players' individual biographies on the team website?

In other words, find out as much about Portland as you can; and then try to identify programs that seem to line up well with their characteristics. Perhaps, other teams that Portland plays deserve attention, for example.

As you do this, keep the non-baseball elements in mind. Your son should be asking himself, how far away from home do I want to go, what sort of academic level and curriculum make sense for me, etc.

In my opinion, that sort of approach makes a lot more sense than trying to do something of value with a comment like "low DI or high DII." In fact, your assistant coach was either being lazy or showing how little he knows about college baseball when he made that "observation" to you.

The fact is that "high DII" programs could beat the pants off of "low DI" programs. There's not a continuous spectrum of ability that moves from DI to DII. To me, "low DI" means a program that plays in a conference that rarely makes it to or performs well in the NCAA post-season tournament. "High DII" programs compete successfully in their division's post-season tournament and are populated with high quality players.

Your sons will take a great deal from this process if they'll take some time and put some effort into it. In fact, their interest in dedicating time to the important decision that's in front of them will serve as an indicator of whether college baseball is an appropriate level for them. It takes a great deal of commitment and dedication to succeed at that level.

Best of luck to your sons!

These are all great comments. Our son's approach has been to narrow down the colleges to which he is interested in attending based on their business program and academics. Having narrowed that down to about 12 schools, he started contacting those coaches by e mail directly about a year ago to introduce himself , update his Varsity season, summer schedule, showcases etc. He stayed away from many of the Headfirst and other showcases that did not have the colleges attending to which he was interested. He wrote to each one he was interested in as to which camps they were running and what showcases/camps they were planning to attend directly or through any assistant or recruiting coaches. He made a skills video and sent that out and maintains a web site which he puts on each communication and is updated. As far as ability, he mostly trains locally at an academy run by an associate scout of a major league team. He and others who have seen my son acknowledge his speed , batting ability and fielding ability for outfield. As far as Varsity play, our Section and AA level allowed him to face many pitchers throwing 85-88-91 etc at the top levels and he hit them . This weekend at the Summer Rivalry Classic against other recruited D1, D2 and D3 players he played fine making all the fielding plays, good throws and going 2 for 6 and a walk in three games against some great pitching. [No one looked that much better or worse than he did for the weekend play. They all looked like they were playing good competent baseball. Amazingly its only August and almost every parent we met told us their son was already committed to a college for their 2012 grad year]. We are attending an upcoming camp at a school at which he is interested in. He is going to keep in touch with the coaches at the schools in which he is interested and focus on seeing if he can meet with them, play at a camp at which they are running or attending etc. It seems as this is Middle August there are not many left. What are the chances of walk on tryouts for outfielders?

quote:

Originally posted by BAN:
My son has played baseball since he was very young. An assistant coach for the team rates him as a low d1 kid or high d2 player. He has been in contact with a couple of school; one of the schools advised him he will try and come out and see him this fall.

He plays shortstop for his varsity team and batted .420 during his spring season. He was selected first team in his region.

His grade point average is 3.75 and his ACT is 26. He is a good player and a smart student. According to his coach, his swing and throw just look a little different. He is right handed...so he throws right, but bats left handed.

He was observed by a minor league pitcher last fall who was umpiring the game. The pitcher was impressed with his range and suggested he call his former school. He had contact with the school, followed up, but never heard back from them.

He is starting his senior year, but he really hasn't received any interest yet. Are there any suggestions on how he can get some exposure. I starting looking for some showcases recently, but it seems I am a little late since they have already happened in Colorado. Thanks for any advise.

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

First, do not get discouraged. My son was not receiving any offers/interest at the start of his senior year, and like you, we started very late in the process. That said, it is time to get going and plan on visiting a few showcases/tournaments where there are plenty of college scouts.
Probably the best event he can attend is the Perfect Game 2011 WWBA World Championship tourney in Jupiter (Oct 20-24). There are more college/pro scouts there in that one event than you will find at any 5 events combined. Your son or you should research which teams are going from your area and tryout for them. That will quickly give both of you an idea of where you son fits in compared with other 2012's. If he measures up well, try to get on the best team you can because the deeper they go into the tourney, the more times he potentially can be seen. He should also consider select camps of schools he is interested in playing for.

If he were a "stud" you and he would already know it. However that does not mean with proper exposure he can not find the right program. Every kids wants top D1 schools, but there are plenty of D2-NAIA and JUCO's he might be able to play for. So if he is a decent player there should be a place he can go to get a good education, and still be able to play college ball.

AlbanyDad,

I totally agree with Vector. Don't get discouraged, there is time to find a good situation for your son. PG WWBA in Jupiter is a very good option for your son as a rising senior. I would strongly suggest looking at that if it fits your sons target schools. THere are plenty of examples on HSBBWeb for players that committed after Aug 15. My son committed in September, so I know what it is like to be in your shoes. We had to resist the peer pressure temptation to commit to a program, because his whole travel team had already committed. My sons goals were very different from most of the players on his travel team, so we had to keep reminding ourselves of that fact. From my vantage point, you are doing all the right things given what you have shared.

Again, I think your son is doing the right things. As an afterthought, is your son following up 24hrs in advance with coaches at the showcases/tournaments to tell them he is playing on field X at a specific time? Possibly, a little reminder (email or text) to the college coach 12-24 hours before he takes the field at the showcase may be a big help if he isn't doing it already.....just a thought. Also, you stated that you narrowed it down to 12 schools. I would try to cast a wider net than 12 schools given your recruiting time table. We were constantly expanding and contracting our master list depending on the interest, outcomes, successes, disappointments, and situations that occurred over an 18 month recruiting cycle. There is no down side to casting a wider net!

Best of luck!

BAN and AlbanyDad - welcome to the hsbbweb!

I feel the angst here and can assure you it is unnecessary if you are willing to put your blinders on and do the work yourselves. In other words, you recruit the schools you are interested in rather than sitting around waiting for them to recruit you - waiting for the phone to ring if you will. You wait for the phone to ring and you just might needlessly end your son's baseball career.

This time of year I believe the hsbbweb is more of a disservice to parents because they get the impression that there is some mysterious clock out there ticking down on them

First tip - put your blinders on and ignore the fact that others may be signing or committing all around you. What they do has no bearing on you or your plans.

Second tip - coaches do not recruit stats - they only recruit what they see. I got that tip from one of the top recruiters in America when my son was a rising senior and I pretty much knew what had to be done after hearing that. I had never heard of the hsbbweb and we forumlated our own plan which is tip #3.

Third Tip - start from the bottom up. Many start their journey with the top D1 schools in mind and waste much time that way and sometimes become discouraged that there is not more attention shown when their kids are batting over .400 and making area all-star teams. Find one JUCO or smaller division school that adores your son and where the academics fit (now or in the future in case of a JUCO). When you have secured that, you can work from there. My son had a fine D3 opportunity lined up but we were honest with the coach. We told him there was one D1 school we had targeted and that if an offer did not materialize by the D1 signing period, that we would commit to the D3. As luck would have it, the offer did materialize. Either way, he would have had a fine baseball career beyond high school and a fine education.

Now get busy and make this happen.

I appreciate the feedback. My son really isn't targeting the big d1 schools. His interest is in the medium sized d2 schools. He has a couple of them on his radar and has been in communication with them.

I am going to sit down with him to make a list (on top of the 2) of schools he wants to attend based on the academics and secondly the baseball program.

Lastly.. He was invited to a showcase last October which turned out to be a skills demonstration and video taping session. It didn't cost me any money (because it was financed by a MLB player). However, I don't know if this web-site receives any coach/ scout traffic. Has anyone heard of showcaseu.com and if so what has been your experience.

I took a look at the berecruited web-site and two of the schools my son has considered are listed on the web-site, but the coaching staff has not set-up a profile on it. The difference I saw between showcase.com and the berecruited web-site is at least with the berecruited site you can see if your player has received any looks from coaches (I the paid version). However, If a coach/school hasn't set up a profile on the site does the school/coach even use this tool?

I really do appreciate the help. Thanks

BAN - your ideas on recruiting seem to be on the passive side rather than the active. Starting a website, posting video's, updating stats and biographies, generating lists, wondering which scouts might be looking at websites, are all passive things that can be done but in no way are a cinch to success.

The one tried and true way to get recruited is perform on a field where the coach of interest is watching. It should be pretty easy to generate a list of potential schools (probably complete that task in a few hours this evening). It is also easy to get their phone numbers and e-mail addresses and contact them. Have your son (or you) call them and e-mail them about places where he knows they'll be and can perform before them. If he performs to their liking, he'll get an offer. They might also tell him something useful like "We are not recruiting your position this year son but we know another coach who is"

Spell it out for your son. Explain active versus passive. How bad does he want this or is this just something you are trying to "arrange" for him? The job interview for the collegiate level isn't about the resume. It is about performance during the on-field interview. If they like what they "see" on the field then they'll ask to see his resume.

I used this analogy before but it works here. Would you buy a car based soley off an ad in the newspaper or some website information? or... Would you want to try it out first before spending your hard earned money? Coaches are the same way. They want to see the athlete (the product) and observe them (try it out) before making further investment.

Now after saying all that, there are programs out there that will recruit a kid sight unseen. These are often the dregs of the college baseball world however imho. They never win and are the whipping boys. That is no fun and if that were the case, it might be better to focus on academics.

To add on to what everyone is saying, you have to be very proactive. The recruiting process was new to me and my son would email coaches and they would send back the usual automated responses. He got interest after playing in the WWBA tourneys and a couple showcases. He sent emails letting these coaches know before hand his schedule. Now for the schools that didnt see him play we made a 3-4 min video and sent that in an email. Most have responded with school camp invites or individual workouts at their school. Once a week he emails or calls the coaches he has been in contact with and they talk about everything from movies to football.

He doesnt have an offer yet but the point is you have to knock on every door until someone answers. As someone stated earlier if you have a program you like see who they play and email those teams too. As I tell my son, all you need is one team to like you. Good luck!

ClevelandDad,

I think that is very good advice.

Emails, letters, stats, clippings, player bios, self promotion, websites, etc., means very little to decision makers.

We actually get thousands of player information forms in our office. Some sure look like glowing reports. Then when we see the kids play, often it is the kid that didn't write much at all that creates all the interest.

I think it's fine to be proactive, but everyone needs to keep something in mind. Most all the players getting those DI opportunities were seen and recruited. They didn't need to do any other "marketing". The truth is college recruiters recruit who they want. Sometimes I think people believe it works the other way around. Recruiters don't wait around the office hoping their next star player contacts them.

Also, on those player info forms there's the question... Which colleges are you interested in? This is always interesting to read. Without actually researching it, I would bet well over 50% of all the forms we get have the same 20-30 colleges listed.

Bottom line... It is all about them finding you and wanting you. The top programs have thousands who want them. They choose you, you don't choose them unless you happen to be one of those players everyone wants.

For those who do send information... Maybe the most important thing are your references. References are always noticed. If it's the right reference, there's a chance they will check it out. Also, I think "marketing" is more important when dealing with programs that might not be among the top. But there is no marketing that works better than being seen competing. Once they have seen you, they are either interested or they're not! Not sure any amount of emails will change that.

BAN,

Check to see which schools in your area are having camps this fall/winter and see if any meet your son's needs. My son attended a camp at one school just to get the experience and shared the feedback with schools he was interested in. As a matter of fact, the coach at the camp offered to forward feedback to coaches at schools of interest.

There's a lot of good advice on this thread.

The identification, evaluation, and recruitment of high quality players are any college coach's most important set of responsibilities. His livelihood depends upon them. Therefore, activities around those three related areas are given priority attention throughout the year; and they are not left, ultimately, to anyone else. He has to be sufficiently impressed by a player's overall characteristics to place his and his family's welfare in the hands of the players he brings in.

So, you have to ask yourself, "What's going to impress...or not impress...a college coach?"

First of all, this is not a group that's impressed with "flash." Most of them are hard-nosed, conservative, and slow to change. Slick websites, gaudy high school stats, shotgun mailings to a bunch of schools (whether electronic or paper), and accolades from non-baseball people do not impress. (Virtually all parents are considered "non-baseball people." "Baseball people" make their living doing something of significance with baseball. The opinions and actions of "non-baseball people" are considered highly suspect and worthless when it comes to evaluating players.)

A few of the sort of things mentioned above might get you on their radar; but, that's as far as it goes. ...and, it's important to keep in mind that at most programs, the "radar's sweep" is very wide; especially among the younger age groups. If you fail to do something that actually impresses them after you've hit their radar, you remain a "blip."

So, what impresses them?

Well, first of all, you have to play in front of them to impress them; and, it ought to be done in front of the coaches who make sense for you as a player. A good place to start is to do the best you can to figure out which programs and the schools they represent make the most sense for you. The considerations are many; and, they involve both baseball-related and non-baseball-related elements. Doing your homework on the front end will put you in position to figure out how to best go about getting in front of the right group of coaches and, later on, will impress the ones with whom you speak that you've really put some effort into figuring out where you should be.

Once you get in front of the right group of coaches, the quality of your play will either get you on their list of players to learn more about or it won't. Once on their list of players they want to know more about, chances are, they'll want to come watch you some more. They have to be as certain as they can that you're capable of stepping in quickly and making a contribution to the team's success.

At the point that you've convinced them that you're likely to be able to contribute, they'll probably let you know. That's when additional factors begin to influence their process.

They'll talk to you and your coaches to try to determine how hard you work at the game, in what ways you contribute to the team beyond your play, whether you're more committed to the recruiting process than one or both of your parents, how you get along in the dugout, what sort of student you are, how important a college degree is to you, the basic makeup of your family...the many elements beyond your quality of play that go into their perception of what it takes to succeed in their program and their university.

Throughout the process, they're also going to try to determine how sincerely interested you are in playing for them. They'll gauge this in a variety of ways. Have you gone out of your way to learn about their program and their school? Is that reflected in your communications? Have you attended showcases they attend? Do you keep them up-to-date with your schedule so that they know where they can see you play? Have you visited and/or attended one or more of their camps. The sorts of things that communicate genuine interest in them.

There's more to it, of course; but, I'll stop here. One of the main things I hope that comes through is that it's the consistent execution of a solid pair of plans that holds the highest prospect of success. A plan to become the best player you can become, and a plan to put yourself into position to play at the best possible place for you after high school.

Al good advice, Prepster probably just deliverd the best advice I have read here in a very long time.

quote:

(Virtually all parents are considered "non-baseball people." "Baseball people" make their living doing something of significance with baseball. The opinions and actions of "non-baseball people" are considered highly suspect and worthless when it comes to evaluating players.)

Outstanding post! Looking forward to listening to your son !

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
All good advice, Prepster probably just deliverd the best advice I have read here in a very long time.

Yes indeed.

I second the motion! This thread summarized a lot of things going into the Fall of your Senior Year.
Very precious advise that needs to be taken at heart.

.

quote:

(Virtually all parents are considered "non-baseball people." "Baseball people" make their living doing something of significance with baseball. The opinions and actions of "non-baseball people" are considered highly suspect and worthless when it comes to evaluating players.)

Wait a minute! Prepster, are you implying that clearing the Mendoza line in my over 45 league (nobody actually kept stats so I don't know for sure, but I feel like I probably did) does not make me a "baseball people"? I feel so marginalized!

Have to agree with everyone else. I know there are Golden Threads, but that was a Golden Post, Prepster.

I especially liked this… “the basic makeup of your family”

That is a little known, but very important factor for most recruiters. Only a few have so much talent, that coaches are willing to deal with potential problems. For some coaches there’s never enough talent to outweigh potential problems.

Everyone with a son who wants to play college baseball “needs” to read that post!

Prepster outstanding post as usual.

Many thanks, friends. ...especially to Swampboy for giving me one of the biggest laughs I've had in front of a computer in a long time!

quote:

Originally posted by Prepster:
There's a lot of good advice on this thread.

So, what impresses them?

Well, first of all, you have to play in front of them to impress them; and, it ought to be done in front of the coaches who make sense for you as a player. A good place to start is to do the best you can to figure out which programs and the schools they represent make the most sense for you. The considerations are many; and, they involve both baseball-related and non-baseball-related elements. Doing your homework on the front end will put you in position to figure out how to best go about getting in front of the right group of coaches and, later on, will impress the ones with whom you speak that you've really put some effort into figuring out where you should be.

Once you get in front of the right group of coaches, the quality of your play will either get you on their list of players to learn more about or it won't. Once on their list of players they want to know more about, chances are, they'll want to come watch you some more. They have to be as certain as they can that you're capable of stepping in quickly and making a contribution to the team's success.

At the point that you've convinced them that you're likely to be able to contribute, they'll probably let you know. That's when additional factors begin to influence their process.

They'll talk to you and your coaches to try to determine how hard you work at the game, in what ways you contribute to the team beyond your play, whether you're more committed to the recruiting process than one or both of your parents, how you get along in the dugout, what sort of student you are, how important a college degree is to you, the basic makeup of your family...the many elements beyond your quality of play that go into their perception of what it takes to succeed in their program and their university.

Throughout the process, they're also going to try to determine how sincerely interested you are in playing for them. They'll gauge this in a variety of ways. Have you gone out of your way to learn about their program and their school? Is that reflected in your communications? Have you attended showcases they attend? Do you keep them up-to-date with your schedule so that they know where they can see you play? Have you visited and/or attended one or more of their camps. The sorts of things that communicate genuine interest in them.

There's more to it, of course; but, I'll stop here. One of the main things I hope that comes through is that it's the consistent execution of a solid pair of plans that holds the highest prospect of success. A plan to become the best player you can become, and a plan to put yourself into position to play at the best possible place for you after high school.

Prepster,

Thanks again for your post and I was glad to catch your son's interview last Sunday. Please send my thanks to him as well for the information he shared. We are in the middle of this journey and doing our best to find the right fit.

One thought that came to my mind is this. Due to the economy nowadays, unless it is an official visit in DI/DII wherein the visit is taken cared of it is hard to go to all the prospect camps of all your top schools. Let's say you did all the things you suggested..keep communications, share your schedule where they will be watching, keep showing your interest but due to a variety of reasons especially financially cannot attend their prospect camps. Would this be a major factor in them not recruiting a player? Just wondering what you and other hsbbwebbies' experiences about this particular question on prospect camps.

We have been fortunate to attend the Junior and Senior Fall Classic in AZ last year as a Junior and soon as a Senior and am not sure if this would be enough for a player.

My guess is if a coach really likes you, it does not really matter if you attend his prospect camp as long as he has seen you some place and is satisfied by what he has seen.

I am also thinking that some colleges may use this camps to sign players and thereby bypassing giving a player an official visit.

Thanks very much for all of that, Ryanrod; and, I'll be certain to pass along your thanks to Robert. He's got a very genuine interest in helping players get to the next level; so, he was glad to do it.

If college coaches understand anything (besides baseball), they understand tight budgets! So, if you've given them as much opportunity as is practical to see your son play and he's consistently done the sort of things that communicate his genuine interest in a program, the coaches should understand. In fact, they'll probably appreciate the fact that you've considered the camp from a great distance and tried to find a way; even though the final determination is that it can't be done.

It seems to me that there's a "basket" of things that a player should consider doing in order to get in front of the right coaches, and not everything in the "basket" necessarily needs to be employed.

By the way, I hope it's apparent that doing the best job possible of narrowing down the list of schools to ones that make the most sense has the added benefit of allowing a player and his family to be more selective in choosing the camps, showcases, etc. that they attend. As in virtually everything else, efficiency in recruiting is a very good thing.

Best of luck to your son!

great advice ..... start at the bottom and work your way up....

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
BAN and AlbanyDad - welcome to the hsbbweb!

I feel the angst here and can assure you it is unnecessary if you are willing to put your blinders on and do the work yourselves. In other words, you recruit the schools you are interested in rather than sitting around waiting for them to recruit you - waiting for the phone to ring if you will. You wait for the phone to ring and you just might needlessly end your son's baseball career.

This time of year I believe the hsbbweb is more of a disservice to parents because they get the impression that there is some mysterious clock out there ticking down on them

First tip - put your blinders on and ignore the fact that others may be signing or committing all around you. What they do has no bearing on you or your plans.

Second tip - coaches do not recruit stats - they only recruit what they see. I got that tip from one of the top recruiters in America when my son was a rising senior and I pretty much knew what had to be done after hearing that. I had never heard of the hsbbweb and we forumlated our own plan which is tip #3.

Third Tip - start from the bottom up. Many start their journey with the top D1 schools in mind and waste much time that way and sometimes become discouraged that there is not more attention shown when their kids are batting over .400 and making area all-star teams. Find one JUCO or smaller division school that adores your son and where the academics fit (now or in the future in case of a JUCO). When you have secured that, you can work from there. My son had a fine D3 opportunity lined up but we were honest with the coach. We told him there was one D1 school we had targeted and that if an offer did not materialize by the D1 signing period, that we would commit to the D3. As luck would have it, the offer did materialize. Either way, he would have had a fine baseball career beyond high school and a fine education.

Now get busy and make this happen.

An update....
My son generated some interest from a couple of d1 schools, and a couple of d2 schools, and a JUCO. He attended a camp over the Christmas break and the coaching staff showed him a lot of love. This is a school he did a visit with in August and found the academics were a good fit for him. My son did an official visit in February and they made him an offer. He signs his NLI tomorrow for a d2 school in Kansas. Thanks for all of the advice. The whole process has been an interesting journey.

Congratulations to your son, enjoy the ride!

Yes, Congratulations! And, enjoy the ride!

Thanks for the follow up. Great to hear that things worked out.

Congratulations to you and your son! There is definitely some good baseball played in DII.