PG Profile - Schools Interested In

In my son's experience it really didn't matter much if at all. He listed a few of his dream schools his sophomore year then added certain schools that had contact with him (basically, schools that he talked to through his travel coach and/or called and they knew of him). For what its worth, he committed to a great school that he is very happy with....he never listed them on PG until about a month before he received an offer.  

I think it's more for the parents/kids.  I don't think schools use it.  You can list conferences if you like.

None of it matters at all. 

You can list schools that's ok. What I always thought was funny is when a profile says committed to Big State U, yet still shows "interest" in 15 schools. At that point the player should be interested in ONLY 1.

Francis, you are over-analyzing again.  Just have your son contact the schools he is interested in directly.  The likelihood of any meaningful action based on the school or schools one listed on their PG profile are rather slim, I'd say.  This is another one of those things that isn't really worth putting much head space into. 

A school would most likely have to have some interest before checking a player profile.  If they have interest and the player has done his job and contacted the school he is interested in up front, this becomes a mute point (except maybe a subsequent feel-good point "hey, look he did list us"). 

I suppose one could argue that a school may do a search for players who have interest in their program.  But big schools and/or strong programs are not going to look for players this way - perhaps use for tertiary cross-reference at best.  And, again, if the player has interest in other schools, he should have contacted them directly along with viable references to begin with.  

And on the other side of the coin, if a school likes a player, they aren't going to kick him off their board because he listed a bunch of other schools on his PG profile. 

About as irrelevant to a recruiter as anything could be. Complete waste of time on the parent's part. If anything, it makes the parent look like an over-involved dweeb. 

Interest list is more important than you may think.  True story 2017 son was playing in PBR Event and one of the mid major D1 schools in our state had a former college team mate of the recruiting coordinator attend the event to see if anyone jumped out at him at the catcher position. He noticed 2017 son and told the recruiting coordinator.  Coach actually corresponds through summer coach to have son  give him a call.  Son calls recruiting coordinator who proceeds to tell him he would like to get him on campus for unofficial visit and to see a football game.  He then tells him but before you come you probably want to add our school on your interest list before you meet the head coach on your visit.  I am not saying they all look at the interest list but I can tell you this school certainly did.

A player would be better served to write a thoughtful note to a select set of schools after doing an appropriate amount of due diligence. 

No coach is going to be impressed by a list of dozens like the one described in the OP. 

No doubt, I agree with Prepster. Interest list on PG will maybe tell a school this kid would like to come to ours and 100 other schools. A note or email to the coach says a lot more. Reaching out to the school is worth exponentially more than a PG interest list.

I can't see it being beneficial, but could see it being a red flag if a coach looks at those things and see you have 100 schools listed. I'm obviously not a coach, but as a hiring manager if I'm looking for ways to cross people off the list, so to speak.

That said, if you're throwing 94 on the black do what you want ;-)

It doesn't matter what schools you list on a PG profile.  It doesn't matter what a 14 yr olds exit  velocity is.  It doesn't matter how many emails you send out.  It doesn't matter if you hold back a year and re-class.  What matters is whether or not you can play the game.

So many people seem to have their focus on all the wrong things.  Or no understanding of how the recruiting process takes place.

Do the things that make you a better baseball player. Practice and train.  Then play well in travel ball during 16U and 17U summers.  And play well for your HS Varsity.  Attend a few well targeted showcases along the way, assuming you have something (enough talent) to show.  Become a student of the game.

If you do those things it will work out. If you don't do those things it wont work out. You cant talk your way into an opportunity to play college baseball.

coaches talk. They will have a laugh about someone like the parent listed above... and probably avoid him like the plague, except of course, if he CAN throw 94MPH.

adbono posted:

It doesn't matter what schools you list on a PG profile.  It doesn't matter what a 14 yr olds exit  velocity is.  It doesn't matter how many emails you send out.  It doesn't matter if you hold back a year and re-class.  What matters is whether or not you can play the game.

So many people seem to have their focus on all the wrong things.  Or no understanding of how the recruiting process takes place.

Do the things that make you a better baseball player. Practice and train.  Then play well in travel ball during 16U and 17U summers.  And play well for your HS Varsity.  Attend a few well targeted showcases along the way, assuming you have something (enough talent) to show.  Become a student of the game.

If you do those things it will work out. If you don't do those things it wont work out. You cant talk your way into an opportunity to play college baseball.

Agree with everything said here, but there is one important thing to add that also matters. Hugely. And that is academics. Does he have the ability to succeed academically at the school, as evidenced by GPA and test scores. It will always be one of the first things a coach inquires about. 

On the Perfect Game website you can call up each school and see the list of interested prospects based on what the player (or parents) enter. Pay the fee and you can see the interested prospects’ national rankings. The prospects appear to be listed in order of ranking. You can then see where your player ranks against this list. Better to be at the top, not at the bottom...You can also look at the years that have already committed/attended and compare how your player ranks against this list. I think it’s a pretty useful feature when trying to find your player’s fit.

I would think that the D3 coaches would be highly likely to do a quick search of non-committed recruits interested in their school - jucos might also. D2s are probably less likely to use the PG database and D1s probably don't use that search function (assuming the coaches have that ability) at all. So a good strategy might be to list all D3s that you have an interest in (instead of the big D1s that everyone is interested in). Just a thought.

Prepster posted:

About as irrelevant to a recruiter as anything could be. Complete waste of time on the parent's part. If anything, it makes the parent look like an over-involved dweeb. 

Hahaha tell us how you really feel.

Francis, was the Kremlin listed?

For the 10,000th time: YOU CAN'T GAME THE SYSTEM.

What you can do is have the highest academics/scores as each respective kid can (i.e., meeting your individual academic POTENTIAL) + the highest baseball skills as each respective kid can develop (i.e., meeting your baseball POTENTIAL).

A coach seeing a kid who fits those two criteria will make an attempt to learn more. A coach HEARING about such a kid will learn more. 

When S was recruited, we (as a family, but with parental veto rights) had decided which school types were acceptable. Our decision didn't stop dozens of other schools from reaching out either in person or by phone - big, little, D1, D2, D3, NAIA, rural, city, north, west, close, across the country - to sell their program. (And the best, most long lasting coaches, can sell snow to Alaskans.)

(He was a 5' 11" 155 lb LHP who sat 88 - 91 who developed late junior year, didn't attend showcases (except HF and Stanford), and didn't play travel ball (except for scout ball).

Now, we did "demonstrate interest" to our top choices by actually visiting the schools over breaks and holidays extending over several years. As part of the visits, S (alone) would head to the baseball offices to see if he could speak to a coach - and many times he actually did. But the purpose of these visits was to get him to focus on each school's differences and similarities and therefore "own" the final decision.

(And, keep in mind that college choices evolve; I've known kids who began the search KNOWING they wanted to remain close to home and matriculating to a college across the country- and reverse.)

All a family can do is control what can be controlled: academics and baseball skills. The rest evolves and is outside a family's control (i.e., who contacts the kid).

Prepster posted:

About as irrelevant to a recruiter as anything could be. Complete waste of time on the parent's part. If anything, it makes the parent look like an over-involved dweeb. 

that maybe but if they like who he is as a kid and has the tools they like it won't matter.

Shoveit4Ks posted:

Francis, was the Kremlin listed?

I heard that they red shirt a lot there. 

Francis7 posted:

Shoveit4Ks posted:

Francis, was the Kremlin listed?

I heard that they red shirt a lot there. 

Francis wins hsbbweb for today.

Go44dad posted:

Francis7 posted:

Shoveit4Ks posted:

Francis, was the Kremlin listed?

I heard that they red shirt a lot there. 

Francis wins hsbbweb for today.

Please, don't encourage him...

JK...

D1's do use it to the right degree.  They can do a search of players that list their school or conference but understand if you are not in the top players as has been said it will not matter.  I have talked to a few RC's who said they used it to see what players are interested in their school/conference that they may have missed right before WWBA or big events that are in their area.  I think it is a big deal if done right because it allows them to know who might be interested that they may have missed because of geography.  We put it on my son's because we lived in the Midwest for several years but he wanted to play in SEC and ACC.  One SEC guy told me he used it because that is how he found a couple of West Coast kids who listed his school as in their list of 10.  He said I would have never assumed they would be willing to come here.

But as has been said, don't exaggerate it and don't expect results unless you are a real player.

A better way to show initial direct interest is by carefully completing the recruiting questionnaire from the schools which interest you.

To follow up an a response I made earlier.

I reached out to two of my personal friends - one the HC of a top 20 P-5, the other the RC/PC of a mid-major.

Both answers were similar: they recruit based upon their eyes and to some extent video (like the video on PG). Neither places any weight on PG rankings (doesn't mean they  wont trumpet the rankings when introducing their new recruiting classes,  however). They learn about potential recruits from events they attend and through extensive networks each has built (and continue to build).

Once a potential recruit has been personally seen and evaluated, each uses the PG (and similar groups) biography stuff for further "secondary" research - BUT neither give any weight to school preferences. (Interestingly, one said he had personal knowledge of coaches that DO pay attention to PG rankings.)

Each has the confidence that their respective schools can be sold to recruits. 

The info is obviously anecdotal, and different coaches at different levels and budgets have differing approaches. This was just FYI.

FWIW - keewartson posted no schools that he was interested in.  Left it blank entirely.  When he verbally committed, he posted that one school.  It all worked out.

Son basically had conferences on his profile. 

My 2020 is ranked in the top 500 nationally on PG and got emails/texts from coaches at 2 D1 schools (mid majors) on his list.  This happened right when they were allowed to contact him this past September.  They had both seen him in Georgia this summer but specifically referenced his interest in their school and setup unofficial visits.  My son doesn't want to leave Texas so he just had 6 schools on his list.

He wasn't contacted by a ton of schools (just one other mid major not on his list), so I think there are specific cases where it can help.  As others have said, getting on the national radar or having a great showcase/event is the first step, but doing some research and building a list of schools you are interested in may open a line of communication at the very least.

I used the "schools interested in" to get my son to think about what schools he was interested in.  Never really thought is meant much to recruiters.  Also, my view/guess is the rankings are a list for recruiters to look at, see if they missed anyone, etc.  I'm sure the scout view lets them query the data... 2021's / Florida / 90+ etc.