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New member here who has a line of thinking I'd like to see addressed. (Or point me in the right direction within the site.)

My '07 son is going to have his college options limited by his C+ school work and less than inspiring SAT scores (likely - takes them in several weeks.)

A PG year would serve him very well. What are some of the best PG schools for baseball?

We're in CT but I would place him anywhere if it were the right place.

FYI: He's a junior who will be a four year varsity player, throws 82/83 across the diamond, runs 7.25 and is considered an 8.5 by Perfect Game, if any of that helps.

Getting a decent amount of letters from NE D1's and has played AAU, Legion and done some showcases. His name seems out there a little bit but the grades have me thinking about a 13th year.

Thoughts?
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bball is life
we thought of that route,if your going for baseball look at img acedemy.heard some good some bad.we looked at new hampton for the school end but it was around $40,000.and most have no money for pg's.from my looking most pg schools are in the northeast.the baseball is about the same as any high school ball.we ended up at jc.if you look jc look at avery point,one of the better one's.of course we made a quick decision.but my son is happy,i wonder what if.you have time to investigate and this site has alot to offer.good luck in your persuit.
I'm a little confused here.... If your son is a junior now, that means he has 1 1/2 years to bring his grades up and go DI. If anything IMO you should be looking at a good JC program anyway. If he does well at a good JC it will give him more options and better offers at the DI level. College recruiters look alot more at good JC programs then PG's. He can leave a JC after 1 year... and it will also prove to a DI program that he can handle college courses. The NCAA is coming down on programs that give $$$ to kids who can't stay qualified and coaches are recruiting with this in mind. Again, this is JMO and good luck to your son for the future.

MOUNDMASTER
Moundmaster

My understanding is that most D1 recruiting spots are filled before they play a game in their senior year - the fall before for most. This means his GPA has only this half year to make up the ground. Of course, if he were able to carry things all the way through May or June of his senior year that would be a different story.

Good call on the JUCO route....guess I shouldn't shut down that option.
I have a 2007 son as well. I am very confused by your apparent "throwing in the towel" about his grades and SAT scores talking about a fifth year. Please do not take offense with this next comment, but with that attitude what good would another PG year do? If your son is C+, why not hire him a tutor for each subject, have him spend before/after school with teachers, communicate with teachers stating that your son is on a mission to drastically improve his grades. Teachers love this and most will go out of there way to help.

As far as the SAT goes, great strides can be made by using Stanley Kaplan or Princeton Review courses. I enrolled my son in Stanley Kaplan, it is expensive but works.

As far as worrying about his present grades precluding him from verbally committing early to D1 program. I think you are misguided in terms of what is important .... what is important is getting into and succeeding in college. You have a year and a half to make changes. Trust me if a college sees a C+ student that improves to B+ student they will certainly take notice. This change can be the topic of a really good essay for admissions.

I know this is tough, my son is being sought after by a lot of top schools and it is a constant battle for me to make certain goes max effort on academics.

If you both {parents and student} go max effort on grades you can make it work and open many new doors before spring semester of his senior year.

If the baseball ability is there schools will take notice.
Rsctt83

Thanks for the input. Not giving up at all and he is, in fact, enrolled in a Kaplan program. Without getting into it too personally, he is young for his grade, has a minor learning disability, isn't yet taking high level HS courses because of a very poor freshman year and a transfer. He might need the extra year or he might not. Just exploring the options and measuring their impact on the recruiting process.
My apologies as my comments were not reflective of what is really happening. Having said that I think the solution is very obvious ..... what if you placed him in another school but put him back a grade? I know private schools are very expensive and may not be an option, but if you could place him in a private school where there are fewer students per classroom that should help and going from public to private it is not uncommon in younger grades to drop kids back. I would explore this as opposed to seeking a fifth year.

I truely know how hard this can be and also frustrating. At times I feel as though I am doing HS all over trying to guide my very good baseball player of a son who on the other hand is the epitome of a complete knucklehead when it comes to academics.

I hope it all works out well for your son. Sounds like he is fortunate to have great parents.

Best wishes
Baseball,
Now that you have given a little more info I think you need some more more understanding as far a student athletes. Call for this book ASAP.

2005-06 Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete
One copy free by calling 800/638-3731

If your son has'nt taken certain HS courses he may not even qualify for DI or DII for that matter. As far as th GPA you can get recruited and you just have to qualify by the end of your senoir year. But, if your son is gonna be that close it could backfire and he has no where to go. As far as I see it he should try to graduate HS and start looking for a good JC right away so they can see him this summer. There are some special guidelines for students with learning disabilites but I don't know if your son would qualify for these. The guide will give you alot of info and go online to

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal
baseball
moundmaster made a huge point, if your son hasn't taken the required course he may be a nonqualifier out of high school.then d1 baseball is a long hard road to get to.if i didn't know better this sounds just like what we went through.if your son has a learning disablity get it documented.we never did.
ncaa .org is very informative, the book for college bound athletes is a good read.i know education is the most important thing.but baseball keeps my son in school.granted he's not going to work for nasa but he is in school and learning.

this website has a diverse group of people who have the knowledge to answer most any question.keep asking. you'll be sure to get many points of view that you didn't see, or think of.you have time to gather info.that will be the biggest thing in your favor. good luck
We went through exactly the same scenario with my son, young for his grade, minor learning disability, low grades (SAT not bad) and talented baseball player. We looked at all scenarios, JC, PG year etc. He could not play Div 1 or Div 11 baseball because he was not eligible, but in the end he decided to go to a small, non competitive Div 3 college in the Boston area and play baseball there. It has worked out to be the perfect place and he is doing well, grade wise and baseball wise, and he is enjoying it. We pay for extra academic support which makes a big difference. Instead of paying $30,000 for a PG year and then paying for 4 years of college perhaps your son should go to a small Div 3 school and if that works out and he raises his grades he could transfer.

There are dozens of schools that offer PG and baseball in the Northeast.  That Salisbury team was outstanding last year.  My son plays summer ball with some of the kids mentioned in that article.  I've heard through the grapevine that they aren't as strong this year, but that is pure rumor.  I do know their catcher in an LSU commit.  Coach Toffey is a terrific guy and a solid baseball coach.  My son attends a different prep - Phillips Academy Andover.  They have 4 D1 committed pitchers this year, as well as a couple of D3 commits that I'm aware of.  If they can score runs, they should have a good season.  

I know this is a really old post, but your comment is quite recent. We live in Europe and my son is a very young senior. He's really interested in doing a PG year, but almost all of them are in the New England area and only play ball in the spring. Our son needs exposure to college coaches, is that still possible at a PG School or does he need to look for PG programs with a fall program as well (like IMG, but too expensive). Another option would be a Community/junior college, but I would like him to stay on a campus. I hope you can help me. We're not American, but have lived in the US several times. Our son started to play baseball when he was 7 and we lived in Virginia. All he wants is return to the States and play college ball. A few colleges have showed interest, but they where not my son's favorites. 

Thank you!

I'm not aware of any New England preps that run a formal fall baseball program.  I may be incorrect, but I've not seen one.  A lot of the serious players find fall leagues that play mostly on weekends, but that can potentially create a transportation issue depending on your situation.  I'd recommend he attempt to get some college exposure prior to starting his PG year.  At that point, the majority of recruiting is wrapping up, certainly in D1.  There would be some D3 recruiting left, but for many, the kids would have been seen at some point in the summer and it would be last looks in the fall.  Perhaps a Perfect Game showcase or tourney on one of their assembled teams.  Perhaps doing some school specific camps.  There is a timeline here on the site that may be of some use to you.

Here's the problem I see with doing a PG year. Until he gets his grades up schools won't be interested. By the time he gets his grades up it will be past the time for his recruiting class. 

I would go the JuCo route. If he's NCAA eligible out of high school he can transfer after one year.

Add: I just realize I responded to a nine year old post.  The kid cou,d be married with kids by now.

Last edited by RJM

Both my 2012 (D1 player) and my 2016 (soon to commit to a D3) were in the full time program at IMG once upon a time.  My 2012 was also very young for his grade (13 year old as a hs freshman) so the PG year was something we pursued purely for age/maturity as he was gifted academically and athletically. 

I highly recommend not doing IMG for a variety of reasons including cost.  I've posted many times on this topic.

We looked at a lot of post grad programs throughout the US.  www.boardingschoolreview.com was a starting point for us.  Visited a number of schools.  The best academic schools adhere to the traditional timing for their sports, i.e., baseball is a Spring sport only and typically doesn't start until March at the earliest due to the weather.  This timeframe is after college baseball recruiting is done for most schools.  That means a PG player will have applied to colleges and be committed to play college ball before he sees the field the Spring of his PG year. 

As I think has been noted above, the Summer between Senior and PG years is the most critical for college baseball recruiting.  If a player has not already committed, getting exposure via showcases and camps is most critical at this time.

If I had to do it over again, and I wish I could, my 2012 would not have done a PG at IMG as academically, he didn't need it.  He would've done a "gap year" that we created with the following:  taken some junior college classes (though not enough to impact collegiate eligibility), SAT/ACT test prep and test again to maximize the number of schools he could be a candidate and maximize merit scholarship opportunities, work to make spending money and savings, volunteer, continue to develop his baseball skills via individual training, work on speed, strength, and agility, etc..  For game action, in many areas of the country there are fall and winter leagues/programs.  Our local college runs a league for high school kids here.  In the Spring, there are places to play in a few areas.  Adult leagues, college camps, etc. all can provide some game action.  My son ultimately played in a SoCal league the Spring of what would've been his PG year after we left IMG.

@ VIRGINIA...you may want to contact Bryant and Stratton College - Virginia Beach.

http://www.bryantstratton.edu/...ginia/virginia-beach  (college website)

http://www.bscbobcats.com/sports/bsb/index  (baseball program site)

The school has staffed itself, arranged for facility usage and launched a JC baseball program this year. The baseball staff is very experienced and is actively recruiting for the coming year. This area is a lucrative area for D1-D3 colleges, not to mention MLB. The program at Bryant and Stratton will fill a need currently not addressed well within Virginia and should do very well. The new head coach is Richard Morris, formerly at Roanoke College; Director of Baseball Operations is Norbie Wilson, a legendary high school coach in Virginia Beach and formerly the head coach at College of the Albemarle, a JC in NC; Recruiting Coordinator is Paul Bottigliero, previously at Old Dominion Univ. in Norfolk.

NotThatGuy posted:

@ VIRGINIA...you may want to contact Bryant and Stratton College - Virginia Beach.

http://www.bryantstratton.edu/...ginia/virginia-beach  (college website)

http://www.bscbobcats.com/sports/bsb/index  (baseball program site)

The school has staffed itself, arranged for facility usage and launched a JC baseball program this year. The baseball staff is very experienced and is actively recruiting for the coming year. This area is a lucrative area for D1-D3 colleges, not to mention MLB. The program at Bryant and Stratton will fill a need currently not addressed well within Virginia and should do very well. The new head coach is Richard Morris, formerly at Roanoke College; Director of Baseball Operations is Norbie Wilson, a legendary high school coach in Virginia Beach and formerly the head coach at College of the Albemarle, a JC in NC; Recruiting Coordinator is Paul Bottigliero, previously at Old Dominion Univ. in Norfolk.

Thank you so much. I'm going to look into this first thing tomorrow. We actually lived in Virginia Beach and our son threw his first ball at Great Neck baseball. He had a great time there. 

Just a short update. We've decided to go for the PG year. We just learned that he has been accepted to all 5 schools he applied to, incl Bridgton who plays in the same fall League as IMG. We now have to make a decision also based on the financial aid that has been offered. Summer showcases and camps are also being looked into. Any suggestions?

i would like to thank you for allthough input you've given in fulfilling a boy's dream. 

"If I had to do it over again, and I wish I could, my 2012 would not have done a PG at IMG as academically, he didn't need it.  He would've done a "gap year" that we created with the following:  taken some junior college classes (though not enough to impact collegiate eligibility), SAT/ACT test prep and test again to maximize the number of schools he could be a candidate and maximize merit scholarship opportunities, work to make spending money and savings, volunteer, continue to develop his baseball skills via individual training, work on speed, strength, and agility, etc..  For game action, in many areas of the country there are fall and winter leagues/programs.  Our local college runs a league for high school kids here.  In the Spring, there are places to play in a few areas.  Adult leagues, college camps, etc. all can provide some game action.  My son ultimately played in a SoCal league the Spring of what would've been his PG year after we left IMG."

This idea is something I have thought about for a long time. I think your plan is extremely well-thought out. 

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