Over recruiting D3

As somebody already said...if the school fields a JV team, run away.  One thing to remember in college is that as you progress in years you aren't just competing with the incoming freshmen, but also transfers. If it is a successful program, you can see quite a few D1 transfers come down who weren't going to play on their D1 teams...but can start on the D3 team you are on. 

This happened to a good friend of mine's son.  He was on JV as a freshman but making good progress (got called up for a few games) and was on track to be in the mix to start in the OF his sophomore year.  That team made it very far in the D3 postseason and had lots of transfers the next fall.  Even though this kid had made great progress the year before, he got buried again on the JV due to the D1 talent that came in.  Same thing happened his junior year and he saw the writing on the wall and left the program (and quit baseball, but stayed at the school because he really liked the school).

There is no reason to be afraid of a school fielding a JV team if a kid and his parents have done their due diligence and have been realistic about how he stacks up with players already on the varsity roster. I question whether asking prospective coaches how they project you is going to be very helpful. If they over-recruit, they want you in there whether they think you'll play or not, you won't find out the truth until you're on campus and on the field in fall camp. Don't 100% trust coaches words, don't just hear what you want to hear. Go to games, see if you're honestly ready to compete right away or at least soon. Look at the recruits coming in. How do you stack up to them in non-partial state or regional rankings. You'll get a fairly clear picture of what to expect talent-wise, and after that it becomes a work thing.  

Also, if the program fields a JV team, in my experience, the vast majority of reps go to underclassmen that are on the varsity roster that coaches are wanting to make sure get their game reps, the guys that they see having a future in the program. If you're not on the varsity roster or at least on the fringe, you won't be playing JV games either (unless there's a varsity game that day, which is rare, because the coaching staff has to split up), you'll simply be practicing and playing intra-squads.   

Buzzard05 posted:

As somebody already said...if the school fields a JV team, run away.

Sorry Buzzard (and whoever else said this previously) but I have to respectfully disagree that this is a hard and fast rule. It depends upon the goals of the student-athlete and the specific institution. D3s vary widely in how much transfer activity goes on, and from what level. Some kids may love the school and want an opportunity to compete, regardless of what that picture looks like. I know that personally I'd rather get reps on JV, with the opportunity to advance, than ride the pine on varsity for four years.

Agree with the sentiment that you should try to coordinate one trip with multiple visits to as many schools as possible to gauge the team and true level of interest.  With my 2017, we planned a visit to the Pacific NW over the Columbus Day weekend to visit four schools that showed sincere interest after the Summer showcases.  It meant a late Thursday flight up, then a missed day of school Friday to visit the school that seemed the best match, and then long drives to other schools to do coach visits Saturday, Sunday and Monday (no school missed since it was a Holiday) before flying home.  Lots of rental car miles (and an unfortunate speeding ticket for me!) and a one way drop charge but we made it to all four schools. 

My son had already had a text relationship with these coaches so he coordinated with all of them.  Most were pretty flexible as to meeting times and what could be accomplished.  Certainly a tour of the baseball and workout facilities, meeting other players, and walking around the campuses were part of every visit.  And each time I got to meet the coach at the end for the discussion about playing opportunities, where they saw him fit (he was a two-way C/RHP), and a chance for them to hear my concerns about finances being a big part of the final decision.  My son and I agreed that there was no "perfect" match so we told each coach there would be no ED application (which all of them mentioned).

The cost was not insignificant, but we viewed it as essential to making the right decision.  As the old commercial, spend the money now or you will spend more later if he regrets the school and has to transfer.  We did the more local college visits after this trip, which were easier to squeeze around regular school weeks.

Your son's situation sounds similar with all of the things on his plate with test prep, still playing baseball, etc.  Look at it as a great opportunity for him to prepare for the even more extensive time demands in college baseball.  Time management is a critical skill if he wants to play college baseball, so he can evaluate all of the challenges now and decide if he is up for playing college baseball.

Good luck.

Agree that JV teams are nothing. Especially if teams only carry 35 man rosters

In a way, the question is, what does each player want out of baseball in college?  And for that matter, what did he want out of it in high school?  Was it an extracurricular that he happened to be good at?  Was it his top priority and passion?  Both?  I ask because we know some players who are going to play at D3s (colleges with 40-50 on the roster), who didn't ever start varsity in high school.  And we know some who were 4-year starters.  It will be interesting to see if their college experiences are different.  Perhaps they just like being on a baseball team, practicing, going to games, as opposed to doing any other extra-curricular.  Figuring out what the player wants out of it is one way to think about whether the roster size is going to matter.  I think that most posters on here have sons who did get on the field in college, but are there some whose sons didn't, but stayed on the team all 4 years anyway?