PG academic showcase

WY,
I am a big believer in the phrase, "Leap and the net shall appear." What an honor to be invited. Obviously someone thinks you should be there. Would going to a smaller showcase first really prepare you that much more? If you can do BOTH, great, but if wanting to go to the smaller 'case first precludes your attendance at the Academic, my opinion is to go for the PG, have a blast, play your hardest, and leave with a really dirty uniform and a smile.

"Every normal man must be tempted at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
H.L. Mencken

WYplayer,

First, congratulations on being invited to PG's Academic Showcase ... that shows you must be a good ballplayer AND a good student!

Second, my advice to you would be Yes and Yes. Yes, do try to attend a PG showcase after your soph year (I checked your profile), but Yes, also do try to get to a smaller local showcase first if you can, since this PG event won't happen for a few months.

If you are a good ballplayer, soph year is a good time to prepare and work hard for the next couple of months, then attend a PG event in the best condition possible, try hard, have fun, observe and learn. Even if you don't have your best performance ever, you will still have junior year to attend another PG event after you have seen what it's like. My 04 son attended his first PG event in spring of his junior year, and I wish he had gone a year earlier since he realized what he needed to work on. And remember that the Academic showcase is a bit of a specialty event, not one of PG's few largest events ... not all top players will have the grades and test scores to be considered for the Academic.

One other note about PG: They are nice people who, while honest in their player profiles, will find something positive to report about any player who is good enough to be invited to their events. No, they won't make the weakest player at an event sound like a top prospect, and they sure won't try to fool any scouts (their reputation is on the line). But they also won't make the player feel embarassed for having attended. And they will consider your age/year in HS when reporting on your ability and potential.

PGStaff,
When you have a good guess, please let us know on this site how many college coaches you think will be attending the academic showcase in June.
Thanks.

WY...We're from Illinois and I know the Chicagoland area baseball pool very well.

If you are not playing with a competitive travel team in the summer, you should definitely do the showcase scene....if you can afford it!

PG is as good as it gets.

My son is headed to Princeton next fall. If I can answer a question or two for you re Princeton, call me or ask the question on this site.

815-469-4520 My son is a senior at LincolnWay East.

TARatko and others,

The Academic Showcase is a new event for us. It was organized at the request of several colleges that have stringent academic requirements. Some of these colleges are Ivy League schools, and others scattered throughout the country.

These schools do attend some of our other showcases, but they only glue in on those that fit their academic requirements. So if a player can't get in their school, they are wasting time watching that player. We decided to hold a showcase that has nothing but talented players who are also talented students participating.

We then needed to decide on the standards we would use. We could not use the Ivy League standards because they are exceptionally high. We wanted to have more than just Ivy League schools at the event. While still leaning towards those with the very best "Ivy League" type academic records, we lowered the requirements a little, to include more good players/students and interest more colleges.

We decided to use the following criteria.

A player must have in addition to baseball talent, at least one of the following:

Minimum 3.3 GPA
Minimum 1100 SAT Score
Minimum 24 ACT Score

We will make sure every college program knows about this event. We expect the majority, if not all, of the Ivy League Schools and many of the other top academic institutions to attend. We also expect other colleges to attend. Afterall, they will not have to worry about the academic side of things and can watch players who will easily fit their school's academic requirements.

We decided to hold this event in this time period and place because it will be easier for recruiters to attend both events. It allows them to see a lot of players in one place and in a short period of time, thus saving time and money. We already know of a few schools who will be spending over a week in Florida, in order to see, the Sunshine, the Academic, the Unsigned Seniors and of course the PG National at Tropicana Field. All will be held between June 12-20.

What we have realized over the years is there are many top prospects with outstanding academic credentials. Of course, there are many more that don't have great academic records. There's a lot of talent at all our events, so rather than diluting the talent level, we are just sorting out the top students. We don't "expect" any individual to attend either event. We do expect both to be full. However, just as the recruiters, we do know of some players who are going to attend more than one event.

Hopefully, this answers the questions.

Thank you

PGStaff

Do the players invited have to be from a certain graduating class and above (ex. '05's)and/or do they have to have a grade of a certain level and up from a previous PG event?

As always, thanks for the information.

Work hard and you will be rewarded!

The Academic Showcase is geared towards "05" grads, but we will have several younger players attending. We are just looking for good players who are good students for this event. There is no certain player ranking or grade required.

Thanks PGStaff.

Work hard and you will be rewarded!

PGStaff how many players do you expect attend this showcase and how many schools do you expect to be there looking at players? I realize you still send out information to schools that still don't attend.

The only problem is for some northern players who have been invited. The showcase is scheduled during out final exams, kind of ironic for an Academic Showcase don't you think?

Guess I'll just have to fly down, play ball for two days, then hit the books on the flight back. Nothing better than taking a break from finals with one of the best showcases in the country. Look forward to attending, thanks for the invite.

NDbaseball,

We expect many of the higher academic schools to attend, as well as others. We never know for positive who will be at an event until they show up.

It is ironic that the Academic Showcase interfers with finals in some areas. We are sorry, but we scheduled it for the reasons given in the earlier post.

We would never expect a top student to miss finals to attend a showcase. For sure, we don't recommend it.

Have received invites to the PG West and PG Academic. A couple of questions for PG. Could one change from the West to the East so that we could be closer to the PG Academic location at the end of the PG East - would save flying from Phoenix to Florida.

Also, the East and West showcases opens up the way to the Nationals. Will the PG Academic give you an opportunity of being invited to the Nationals also.

Thanks.

PG staff:

My son was honored to receive invites to the PG Academic and Sunshine East Showcases, but he is on a travel team that is playing tourneys both dates. Are there other showcases at the end of summer or fall that he would qualify for that would be comparable to these events? We're unsure of fall schedule, but would like to get him to something before or at beginning of Senior year. One of his HS teamates just went to the pitcher showcase and did well.

PGStaff:

You have a PM.

Thanks

Steve

"It might be, it could be, it is.........

Hope everyone understands... it's a little easier answering questions regarding "individual" circumstances via email or PM rather than replying on the message board.

For answers to questions please email jarp@perfectgame.org or pgjerry@qwest.net

Thank you

Sent e-mail thanks.

PG Staff this intriques me. My son is LHP with 1400 sat as sophomore.(comes from his mom) He's getting all sorts of (non-sport)letters from Stanford, Yale etc. He loves to pitch but really never thought along lines of sport scholarship. Does the academic aspect open any doors re baseball?

Just Me,

Academics opens many baseball doors. More importantly it opens doors to many other things.

Congratulations on your son's outstanding SAT Score. If he can also pitch at the highest levels, he will be in big demand.

PG this is probably a dumb question but why does the academics open baseball doors? What is the dynamic?
I dont think he will ever pitch at the highest levels bur who knows?
He likes ball, and he is a fierce competitor most fields of life. Im thinking that A good academic school with opportunity for some onfield participation, maybe even with club ball or something would add to his life.
How does one check into these things?

Regarding club ball, you should talk directly to the school you are interested in.