PATIENCE!!!!

JT,
you are right on in your Statement.
Patience.
My son an 06, will make his decision tonight on wear he will go.
It's been a long and sometime's frustrating road, But now that it's coming to an end. It's all been worth the Wait.
I believe the School he will Pick is going to be the Best fit for him.
As a parent you want what's best for your child, And we could of settled for something that might not of been in his best interest.
So Parent's and Player's, Have PATIENCE.

EH,
Good luck and let us know where he will be off too!

quote:

..PATIENCE.

Word of the month for sure. Actually lasted several months in my case. Hang in there folks.

I came on here to post something along these lines so I will join in the advice to be patient and calm.

There are many, many different and good opportunities to find the right baseball and academic fit. Some will be fortunate and find their match right away, but others will have to dig deeper, and wait.

There are treasures out there just waiting to be discovered. Gradually this process helps your son define his priorities and make some very adult choices, that still all involve a certain amount of guessing and hoping that things turn out well.

On July 8th of his junior year summer, when others had their official visits lined up, my son had received, I believe, 2 calls--and neither one was on July 1st! He didn't get invited on an official visit until the fall of his senior year. He never DID have an official visit at the school he now attends. He researched programs that had a combination of strong academics and good baseball, which was the combination which was important to him, and sent emails, made a video, kept in touch with the coaches who were interested. He got some preliminary interest from a few programs and then heard nothing further. The programs he considered the most seriously were those with whom he established contact in the fall and even winter of senior year.

His process of finding the right program took many months and his final choice was made on April 29th of his senior year, just two days before the May 1 deadline to reply to admissions offices.

As luck and good fortune (and hard work ) would have it, he is now playing at a D1 and learning so much. But I remain convinced that he would have had a wonderful college experience at any one of the 4 or 5 programs he very seriously considered at the end.

The keys I think are a lot of research, persistence, patience, and faith that the right match will be found. Best of luck to everyone, and yes--patience!!

I have a question. My son hasn't received any calls. We had probably 60-70 letters before. Coaches told us his phone should go nuts but there is nothing. He is a LHP throwing 85 and runs a sub 7.0 60. Also plays OF. The problem appears he is short, he is 5'10". I know is HS coach is little help as the guy never played and knows nothing about recruitment. He was at a major showcase a week ago and there seemed to be interest from 3 major schools. Should we be concerned? I know there are D2 and D3 schools but at this stage that is not really what he had in mind. In fact one D2 told us they would never have a shot at a player like him.

It is too early to be worried

You are getting interest and it is only 8 days into the calling time

Bordeaux - Very nice post and so very true! First, most '07s will not end up where they think they will as of right now. Many will choose a school they've never talked with or sometimes haven't even heard of.

Baller26 - As has been said - recruiting is just beginning. I will tell you that letters often mean nothing as far as calls and actually being recruited. I can assure you though if your son does pitch mid to upper 80's, can locate, and is a lefty, being 5'10 won't keep him from being recruited. I have one just like that!

However, I'll throw in my 2 cents worth and say that you should NEVER exclude schools because of level. There might be a gem out there that might be overlooked because of a DI mentality. I just hate to see kids do that!

Best of luck to all the young men beginning the search for the next part of their academic and baseball journey!

i'll just say dont wait for phone call.

call the schools he is interested in and let them know they are high on his list and then see if you can take a visit and meet with them.

if you want it, go get it.

Lafmom:

I appreciate your input and I understand what your saying about the lower levels. However in my professional life I found out after I went to a very good small school that society has different views. The college I went to was about 1500 students and I feel I got a great education. But after I graduated I found companies that actually told me I went to too small of a school and I truly believe it hurt my career. So with the lesson I learned in life I will not let my son make the same mistake. A small school in your state may be well known there but may never have been heard of halfway across the country.

Face it, these kids are going to school for an education first and baseball second. Most D2's and D3's will give a scholarship to bring the tuition down to a public D1. I may be wrong but I would rather have my son go and not play at a D1 with a known name than to go to a smaller school that is not well known and have it hurt his future.

Baller - I respect your opinion, just don't agree with it. There are many careers that graduating from a certain small school can be a great asset in one's future plans. I think what you say can be true in a rare instance depending on career - take law for example.

I think perhaps being able to say you graduated from Stanford, Wake Forest, etc. might make a difference in a few more areas. However, for the most part, Milligan (NAIA), Northern Kentucky U (DII), Belmont (low level DI), etc. will get you just as far in life as saying University of Kentucky on your wall.

However, "fit" is different for everyone. If a very large DI is what a fit means for your son, then I hope he finds just the right one! Best of luck to him!

Baller, very interesting view. I own my business and deal with HR types with larger corporations in Northern CA. Based on my own experience and what I have learned from clients, I would wonder if the issue you have identified isn't more a reflection of the companies with whom you interviewed rather than the education.
There are an awful lot of DIII's like Emory, Pitzer, Williams, Amherst, Trinity(Tx) and the like where your son probably can play right away and get an education second to none. Also an education that will serve him extremely well in the labor market. Our son was a little bigger than yours when he graduated from high school. Couldn't get any DI's to offer and went to one of the DIII's I have mentioned. Got a great education and is still playing in the minor leagues.
Everyone has their own views. If you really would rather have your son not play rather than go to an academic DIII with great baseball, might I refer you to the thread on "Are parents too involved."

Actually I don't want my son to experience what I did. I went to a school and graduated with a 3.5. Majored in Accounting and I will admit the economy was bad in 1983. Jobs were scarce. I eventually got my CPA license and applied to a company and made it through all the preliminary interviews. I finally had to meet the partner of the Auditing firm. Arthur Anderson (done now thanks to Enron) had a partner I met and we had a good talk. He told me right there that his firm would not hire a person from a school smaller than a MAC (small D1). I asked him why. He told me that they wanted you to have the social interaction (contacts). Well in the accounting field most large companies want people that have Big 3 (was Big 8) experience. So it does limit your future in that professional to a degree. You can get around it by going to graduate school. I am in no way saying the education at a small school is not as good because it is good. Its the view that some companies have. I lived through this and I saw the views. I own my own businees too now and I know that business owners sometimes see and think broader than corporate HR people. Im not saying your wrong either but I know what I went through and I want better for my son.

quote:

I want better for my son.

Absolutely no disagreement with your committments and goals.
But again, I think this may be more a reflection of one company or maybe even one partner in that company.
Trinity(Tx) has a 5 year accounting program that places 100% of their graduates. One of my son's teammates came out of that program and decided to pursue a postgraduate degree. Was acccepted with signficant..I mean over $30,000 of aid to Stanford and UNC before choosing Texas A&M.
I wish you and your son all the very best. We heard some of the same words you did. It is way too early for you to be worried about DI's calling. If going to a large school or playing DI is the only option, consider this story: Our daughter went two years to a top academic reputation Big 10 school, on an athletic scholarship, and thought the quality of the education to be average to poor. Transfered to a smaller school in CA where she felt the education was 200% better. Since graduation, she has been accepted to a postgraduate program at Columbia, has worked for a major New York publishing company and is now in San Diego where she has a dynamic position with a major internet company. Not one of them questioned the source of her education or whether it provided her a base from which to be able to manage any of the social components in a large or midsize business.
Again, I respect what you want to do. I disagree with the reasons. I think the choice of colleges should heavily be influenced by your son and what he wants to do, and not by an experience in 1983.
Good luck and I hope things work out well for your son, and you.

First, my biases. I attended a D3 school, my wife attended a D3 school and was an athlete there. She now teaches at a D3 school, and advises many athletes. Personally, I don't think that there is any more pure collegiate athletic competition than D3 sports, since you know that those students are doing this because they love the game.

I don't think that on July 8 (almost 9th) any baseball player should be shutting any doors at any level school. There really should be only one question: If tomorrow I woke up and could not play baseball, would I still go to this school? If the answer to that question is no, then move on to someplace else.

And Baller? If Arthur Anderson was biased against people who graduated from places like Williams and Amherst and Swarthmore and Haverford and Oberlin and Bucknell and Centre and other schools like that, well, perhaps we now know why they don't exist any more.

Absolute truth: the phone won't ring for most potential college baseball players in July. Top dog D-I's are likely calling their blue chippers, but tons of players, at all levels, have yet to be called, so relax and breath.

Many mid to lower D-I's will start a tad later-why waste time on a player already offered by the biggest dogs on the college baseball porch? D-II's often don't start calling till later in the summer and many d-III's wait until later yet as they know they won't have much luck agasinst the big D-I's, so they let the recruiting dust settle. As commitments are made, schools scratch guys off their lists and work their way down. (And you can believe there really are actual lists made.)

Our experience was D-II and D-III. Older son had no calls until late July, but between late July and September 1, 8-10 schools called, mainly southern D-II's. Younger son's first calls were D-II's in August, but ended up getting calls from 14 schools, mostly D-III's, and mostly after September 1.

Patience is indeed the word. of course, that's easy for me to say, I'm done! Nest will be empty in 35 days....

On the subject of DII vs DI and working the field of accounting, I attended San Francisco State University, a DII school and as a part of my work study program, spent two years working in the "Career Center" where students would go to find jobs after graduation. This was in the 1984-1986 timeframe.

I can assure you that everyone of the Big 8 accounting firms conducted on campus interviews - and that students went to work at all of them while I worked at the career center. So while some partners at Andersen may have been narrow minded, the ones on the west coast were more than willing to hire from a D-2... Just another datapoint...

Baller26:
I wouldn't work for an arrogant, Blue blood, with a stick so far up there, Oh nevermind.

Anyway Patience is the key word, Give it time and keep playing and putting up good number's.
Go to the college camp's of your choice, they need to see you.

Also don't get caught up in the phone call's this early for the 07's. You might not get one, It does not mean your not on there short list of player's they might want to recruit. EH

Great thread. The same thing has been told to me: You should get a good # of calls/letters/etc. I'm an '07 and I haven't received anything yet...I'm trying to be patient but it's tough. I'll take the advice and email some schools as well.

This thread has been hijacked by accountants!! Yikes.... 08Dad I am Gator CPA from '84!! SFSU has a great career center for accounting grads. A good undergraduate program makes sure the biz community knows its grads can make the grade and activly promotes its students.

If you aren't getting many or any phone calls there is an upside. You get to choose a school based on YOUR academic needs and career goals rather then the baseball coach's needs. In the long run you'll come out ahead of the kid that chooses Cal State "X" because it has a good baseball program but no academic programs of interest to the kid. My son picked 5 schools based upon their location and engineering program, he then selected the school who's coaches showed the most interest in him. He picked his school in April of his senior year.

btw, getting the interest of the coach may involve more then an e-mail or phone call. Some coaches will only respond to referrals from other coaches or scouts.

Good luck.

I am an educated man. In fact, I am still being educated as I pursue a doctorate in education. Heck, I am even a college professor. All that being said, I am PROUD to say that my son chose his college based on BASEBALL. Just as we chose the HS when we relocated to VA from NC based on the baseball program. I make these statements with no regret and to offer an opposing view, just to keep the boards "fair and balanced."

quote:

This thread has been hijacked by accountants!!

I just couldn't resist jumping on the accountant band wagon! CPA... and yes, I worked for the former Arthur Andersen! Maybe the point of this thread is that accountants need patience.

I talked to a few people and the one kid who is 6'3 and can hit 90 is getting tons of calls fron D1's. Another kid that is a top flight lefty that throws upper 80's hasn't got a single call. Just like my son. It appears if you HS coach pushes you you will get calls. The one college coach I know (D2) says he hasn't even started making calls yet. So it appears like you are fine if you haven't got any calls.

quote:

I am PROUD to say that my son chose his college based on BASEBALL.

JT - that was the case for us to.

To many, academics are more important and to a large extent they are correct. The only area I differ from that is that I can always pursue other academics in the future to rectify things if necessary, kind of like you are doing now. I don't know how to go back and replay a baseball decision that I regret. In some cases, both academics and baseball needs are satisfied equally. Obviously, every decision is personal to the family and thus, I fully agree with CollegeParent's strategy above as well.

JT - We always looked at the baseball fit first too. If it wasn't for baseball, he'd be staying at home and going to school here. If the school was a baseball fit, then we went on to consider the other factors that were important in a fit for him.

Baller - As I've said before, many schools won't begin calls until after the early signing period. In our experience the calls got much more heavy after that time. No need for anyone to worry, but if you're not getting any calls, you should be proactive and make sure schools know he's interested.

btbb - My son attended a JUCO last year. Therefore, I studied the schools that recruited him as well as other schools he might be interested in while he was still in HS. I think this is important if a student is considering JUCO. I found that JUCO players aren't recruited more by certain conferences, but are by certain schools.

Some schools recruit alot of JUCO kids while others like to build their program by having kids for four years. One DI that we spoke to said they didn't like taking JUCO kids, but that they end up focusing every other year more on those players because of needs.

Again, if he's considering JUCO, look at the schools where he envisions himself wanting to attend. What does their roster now look like?

Our situation is very different but our main criterias were weather, great city and the competition. Baseball issues were most important and my son will get a post grad degree in Canada.
We did get calls generated by a college showcase in July and US tournaments. The best offer came from a very strong academic D11 school. We applied, he was accepted but baseball in the South won out. We were always up front with the coaches.
Yes I have a dree in Accounting.

I have an accounting degree, a CPA also, lots of work to get it, and maintain......


keyword: maintain

The top 50 D1's in the country are gonna recruit about 750 players, many of which will be transfers from jucos.

Add the next 50, and, maybe we are talking about 1,500 players.

From an article on this website:

Playing in College

High School seniors = 114,159
College "seniors" (or sophomores when related to juco's) = 13,137
That means their are 114,159 graduating high seniors versus 13,137 slots open

114,159/13,137 = 10.1

1 high school player in every 10 has a chance to play in college

And, only the top ten percent of that 10% will play at the top 50 programs.

Several excellent articles are on this website.

"THE ODDS FOR PLAYING COLLEGE / PRO BASEBALL"

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/articles_part1.htm

"Why I Dislike July the 1st
by: Bob Howdeshell

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/july_first.htm

"No Early Signing"
"What To Do Next"
by: Bob Howdeshell

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/no_early_signing.htm

I heard a college coach called after July 10th to a prospect and the prospect told him he was suppose to call on July 1 Lol. Man, even when I thought I was bulletproof 20 years ago, I wouldn't have been brave enough to say that

Coach's response? "Ok, my bad, BUH Bye!"

penja

That isnt being brave--it is called being stupid

quote:

Originally posted by FormerObserver:
And, only the top ten percent of that 10% will play at the top 50 programs.

It's actually more like 5% of the 10%

Former

When it comes down to it the statistics don't really matter as far as an individual player is concerned. The NCAA clearly states their estimate is calculated by dividing the total number of players in a sport by 3.5 to determine the number of seniors. A more realistic number would be in the 5 to 8 range. As most players in the grades 9-11 wash themselves out by their senior year. Of the seniors they offer no statistic concerning the academic qualifiers. By taking a quick review of my son’s baseball team which has made the playoffs for 28 of the last 30 seasons. Team had 44 players with 6 being seniors of the 6 seniors ZERO are playing major college baseball. 1 is playing college football. Of the 5 not moving on to a major college for sports only one ever had the intention to play baseball in college as far as I know, he was the only one who attended a showcase. That player is now at a junior college. So as far as my calculation is concerned 100% from that senior class that ever had any intention to play college baseball are playing college baseball.
Now from the upcoming senior class there are 10 players of those 10 seven have indicated an interest in playing college baseball. At lest 2 will have a good chance to be division 1 players with 1 of those 2 having a good chance to be drafted in an early round. So I feel sure at least 30 percent of that class will be playing college baseball maybe 70%
That is why I just don’t think any statistical analysis is useful concerning an individuals chance of playing college baseball.
And even if the numbers were correct should that keep you from trying to play in college?

For my son....The serious calls came in September......the highest level call (D2) came in November.....the one that "fit the bill" came in January............so patience is the clearly the key

quote:

And even if the numbers were correct should that keep you from trying to play in college?

Naw, dad4boys, it shouldn't.

I put that post out there for two reasons, but didn't indicate the reasons in the post.

1. The top 50 schools don't have to call all the baseball players in the country to find some that will play. So, that cuts down on the phone calls, some.

2. I think those articles provide some relief for those going through the anxiety of recruiting. Waiting on phone calls ain't much fun......

High School seniors = 114,159
College "seniors" (or sophomores when related to juco's) = 13,137
That means their are 114,159 graduating high seniors versus 13,137 slots open

114,159/13,137 = 10.1

IF the article is correct that there are 13,127 slots available, then about 10% of those slots would fill the recruiting requirements of the top 100 schools, if they recruit an average of 15 players. If half of them are juco xfers, then the slots would be filled with about 5% of the 13,137 high school players.

I could have just said that not very many play at that level.

Some would have believed that statement, some will think about the math, and this time next year, it will ALL be quite clear.

quote:

Coach's response? "Ok, my bad, BUH Bye!"

Lol, Right! I totally agree. It is a privledge to be thought about that way not a birth right.

quote:

Originally posted by CollegeParent:
This thread has been hijacked by accountants!! Yikes.... 08Dad I am Gator CPA from '84!! SFSU has a great career center for accounting grads. A good undergraduate program makes sure the biz community knows its grads can make the grade and activly promotes its students.

Good luck.

Sounds like you and I were there at the same time!!!!!

Great thread