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My son is scheduled for his official visit later this month to the school he will be going to next fall.  When I read the stories about football official visits and even baseball official visits with P5 schools, it seems like it's done as a recruiting tool (which I think it's intended to be).  This mid major school that my son is going to does all their official visits for their incoming (already signed) class the spring of their HS senior year.  Is it the same for most mid major schools?  If so, what should we expect with this type of official visit?  I don't even know if there's any questions for us to ask anymore bec it's a done deal.  Is it more about showing up and enjoying the experience as opposed to gathering information?  All the guides I read online is geared towards an athlete still being recruited.

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Our family had the same experience this fall.  Mid-major, all commits during son's official visit.  Stayed with current players.  Basketball game, scrimmage, meetings, dinners, breakfasts.  All in all, a great opportunity for the kids to meet the team/future teammates.  Also gave the families a chance to get to know one another.  Truly memorable.  Enjoy the visit!

Let me say the other side.  On both son's official visits for committed, there were some things that sons did not attend.  The one event our mentor told my son that I've heard you don't drink either.  I'm not going to the team party tonight but if you want to go you are welcome to and I will find someone to take you.  If not, we can do something else.  Son did not stay with teammate since they stayed in apartments and son decided to stay with his friends who went with us.  My wife could not go so we took 2 other friends, 1 a D1 basketball player and another a guy who could have played college ball.  Son stayed with us in motel.  You don't have to do all the things that are done.  Everyone feels obligated.

Pretty much same experience for my son this past fall. It was the entire recruiting class. First day it was watching the scrimmage that night and then a dinner for all the families and current players afterward. That is where the recruits met up with their host player and they left with them for the evening. Next day was some activities scheduled for the boys, a dinner at a restaurant, a meeting with the coaches, a tailgate, and then a football game that night.

@atlnon posted:

My son is scheduled for his official visit later this month to the school he will be going to next fall.  When I read the stories about football official visits and even baseball official visits with P5 schools, it seems like it's done as a recruiting tool (which I think it's intended to be).  This mid major school that my son is going to does all their official visits for their incoming (already signed) class the spring of their HS senior year.  Is it the same for most mid major schools?  If so, what should we expect with this type of official visit?  I don't even know if there's any questions for us to ask anymore bec it's a done deal.  Is it more about showing up and enjoying the experience as opposed to gathering information?  All the guides I read online is geared towards an athlete still being recruited.

For full disclosure, I don't have personal experience with this as a Dad because our son didn't take an official visit, and even his unofficial visit was not as part of a group as others are sharing here.

With that said, I'd be interested to see comments from parents (if willing to share) who might now wish that they had asked more questions or been more alert for potential red flags (such as a team culture  that doesn't match with your family values).   That's often a regret that I hear from parents across many sports when consulting with them about the transfer process. 

I kinda addressed it but I will go deeper.  I don't think my son is the typical college student especially at a P5 large school.  He does not drink or party.  The team and college culture is one of parties so he has sport connections with a lot of the guys but did not do a lot of things away from the field with most of them the first three years.  As we all know there is a lot of drinking and other things that go on.  This year has been different.  There are a lot of strong Christians on the team and the culture has begun to change off and on the field.  I hope it stays because as I have said I think the stuff last year cost us at the end.

He does more with his teammates and has built a repoire as an older guy to some of them since he is a senior on a young team.  They have started their own Bible study along with a couple of others that many go to.  I think it is a struggle and always has been.  I think there is a strong connection at the field with his teammates but a disconnect away from the field.  I think you get a strong view of it at the official visit but if you look you can see it when you go to games.  Just watch the parents and you will get a pretty good view of the players.  It really is no different than HS.  Son had a lot of teammates in HS at both schools that he connected well with at the field but did nothing with away from the field.

This kind of "official visit" seems to have diverged from the original purpose of such visits, which is to see what the school and baseball culture are like so you can make an informed decision about attending.  D3s still do actual visits for that purpose, and I think you can learn a lot by staying on campus with a player and seeing how baseball players interact with each other, with parties, etc.  Those visits had an impact on my son's D3 recruiting for sure.  It seems a shame that there's no way for D1 schools to do them before a kid commits.  Kudo's to PF's son for sticking it out and maybe even changing team culture, but I wonder how many players leave if they find they don't fit in?

....... It seems a shame that there's no way for D1 schools to do them before a kid commits. .......

I can't explain why some coaches choose to not bring the recruits to campus for an official visit until after they've already committed, and in some cases, have already signed their NLI.

D1 baseball programs are allowed to provide official visits to recruits beginning Sept. 1 of the recruit's junior year of HS.  (It's the same date for softball and lacrosse, and Aug. 1 of junior year for most other D1 sports.)

I can't explain why some coaches choose to not bring the recruits to campus for an official visit until after they've already committed, and in some cases, have already signed their NLI.

D1 baseball programs are allowed to provide official visits to recruits beginning Sept. 1 of the recruit's junior year of HS.  (It's the same date for softball and lacrosse, and Aug. 1 of junior year for most other D1 sports.)

It's a money thing I would imagine. Wasting a lot of money on kids that don't end up committing to you.

I can also imagine having a 15 year old stay overnight going to college parties could be problematic.

@PABaseball posted:

It's a money thing I would imagine. Wasting a lot of money on kids that don't end up committing to you.

I can also imagine having a 15 year old stay overnight going to college parties could be problematic.

I’m also thinking it’s a money issue. For mid major baseball program, they don’t have the budget to use official visits as a recruiting tool. In fact, it’s oftentimes the other way around where we actually pay to attend a baseball camp when we get to visit the school for the first time. They end up using official visits as a way to get a recruit plugged in after they have already committed and signed. At that point, whatever new we learn about the team culture will not affect the decision anymore. The most we can use it for us to help our son be a little more prepared on what to expect.

I don’t think a 15 yr old going to official visit is an issue as other big schools and football program use official visits for recruiting. And can’t do official visits anyway till Junior year at which point they are normally 16 or 17 years old.

@atlnon posted:

I don’t think a 15 yr old going to official visit is an issue as other big schools and football program use official visits for recruiting. And can’t do official visits anyway till Junior year at which point they are normally 16 or 17 years old.

Football is a bit of a different animal. Some of those kids are brought on overnights to campus specifically to drink, party, and meet women. It helps sell the school. I think most people would agree that character is less relevant in football recruiting as well.

But on the unofficial visits, do they stay with players?

Of course, in that case one could say that the "official visits" are just spending money for no particular purpose, other than to give the committed players and their families a good time.  And sure, they get to meet each other, but they would do that on social media or when they come to campus anyway.  If the program makes money, fine - but most don't.

And, I would think that baseball players would be just as amenable to parties and women as any other athlete, if they were offered...

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