Prospect Camps, Showcases and tournaments

Figure out your list of target schools. Contact them expressing interest. Ask the best places to get in front of them. Then build your business plan based on time and budget. Be careful about being willing to go anywhere geographically. There's more involved than baseball and academics. The school also has to fit socially and culturally. By culturally I've seen kids go to a different area of the country, not feel 100% comfortable and transfer. One of them was a kid who hit .300 as a starting freshman at a D1. Also a kid might not like being so far from home he can never get there. Some kids don't adapt well to a different climate. As my daughter said in the parking lot at Boston College (softball), "Dad, what were you thinking when you moved us from Southern CA" (to PA). She went to college and played in FL.

Good advice RJM..... SluugerD, there IS so much more to think about.  Having said that, I will do things differently with my 2017 than I did with 2014.....definitely a couple PG events...but will be more focused with realistically looking at his talent level and matching that to more school specific camps.  Your son should be contacting the schools that "bookmark" or are "following" him...tell him not to wait for them to contact him.  He, and you, have to get out and sell/promote his talents

When it comes to decision time go where you are loved. A few years ago I asked the dad of a State player if the U had shown interest. The dad said the U showed enough interest to make an offer. State showed love. They really wanted him. The kid started as a freshman at State. 

100% true, There is nothing like going where they really want you.

Good advice -- go where you are loved.  

What I'm trying to figure out, though, is the best strategy for getting him exposed to someone who will love him.   

I neither want to spend a fortune, nor turn let this be a HUGE  time sinkhole, nor short change the kid and his opportunities. 

I'm secretly hoping that he does so well at the Sunshine West showcase in June that more folks will come knocking at our door.  But that may be a pipe dream.  Also hoping that the coaches who seemed to have loved him at the prospect camp he did in March, actually come through.  He'd love to play for them.  They put on a really good and convincing show at their camp.  

SluggerDad,

In approaching your son's situation, I think there are at least four important things to keep in consideration:

1.) most college recruiting in baseball is still mostly regional(taking out Stanford, Vanderbilt and a few others);

2.) There are probably 10 D1 type players graduating from CA. high schools annually for each one slot open on a D1 roster in CA.:

3.) D2 is even more challenging in CA. than D1 in some ways because there are so many drop down D1's each year and so many JC players with experience each year competing for D2 spots.

4.) Unless your son is an elite type player, getting noticed from CA. D1's is pretty darn tough.

If your son truly is looking nationally, and he has very good academics,I would strongly recommend every effort be made to get him in the Stanford All Star Camp after his junior year.  He will get evaluations by many top academic D1's from our State and others(along with getting looked at from others we might not think of as being in the top academic schools) as well as  top academic/baseball D3's from all over the Country.  The Stanford Camp is one place where there is a strong combination of the regional D1 recruiting along with national D1 and D3 recruiting. It has proven to be a very valuable Camp for many, many CA. players in accessing college coaches and programs on a national scale.

If your son has a BAWS opportunity, and believes he is a D1 player to compete for very few D1 slots in CA. it seems like an opportunity he should take to get in front of CA. coaches. I would also strongly suggest that if the opportunity arises, getting on a scout team/scout league is hugely important now.  College coaches love the new scout teams/leagues.

Finally, if your son has not done this, I would urge you to get him to some D1 games before the college season ends.  Both he and you have to critically look at the quality of play and determine if he fits(looked at critically and candidly).

To show you how this works at times, during our son's Milb experience, he ended up facing a pitcher he faced in CCS both his junior and senior year. Our son ended up in MILB by being drafted from a top D3 program in Texas.  The pitcher ended up at a local JC and then at a 4 year program in upstate New York. Both also ended up getting placed in strong Summer leagues which helped the MILB scouting.

Both were D1 players and pretty good ones, too.  The issue for them and so many others is that CA. has probably 1,500 players similar to them each year and all the D1's in CA probably have in the range of  100-150  open spots, combined, each year.

For any strong, but not elite,  CA player who is also a strong student, I think they are best served by knowing what it takes to get on the field at CA. D'1, getting in front of local coaches at the best opportunities(BAWS?) while  maximizing their national recruiting exposure in situations which have proven success for CA. players(the Stanford Camp, for example.)

Good luck to your son and you. I hope these ideas and thoughts are helpful.

Lot to think about here. Thanks

Wow, great post IFDad.

Do you have a take on the BAWS underclass event?  My 2017 son has an invite and would like to go but I'm thinking that it's too early for a kid who is unlikely to draw interest from CA D1's.    If he plays in college I see him more as a D3 player at a high academic school, so I think that saving our pennies for Stanford is the better strategy.

JCG, if it is either/or, or you and your son are solidly of the perspective his best options are likely to be D3, with a national geography,  I would have to come down solidly  in favor of the Stanford Camp.

With a 2017 who is a nice player with nice skills at this point, but not with some "elite" type skills, it is challenging, for me, to support the idea he is going to get solidly  on the D1 radar at the underclass event, if that would be the reason to attend. There are reasons other than exposure which I could support.

  Evaluating the two for exposure and cost,  and with D3 being a more realistic longer term view(I fully understand we can be tougher sometimes in our judgements), the Stanford Camp has more favorable upside for your son, in my view, while also keeping the D1 option in play if he progresses in a different way that can be seen at this point. Hope this is helpful and along the lines of what you would like for comparative purposes.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, IFDad.  I'm still kicking it around.  There are other reasons to go - I do get that. He loves playing and hanging with the area's notable travel guys and going up against great pitching.  BAWS is not all that expensive, but with summer team money and summer engineering camp money, (not to mention what his brother us up to)  it's getting to be a very expensive summer. 

SluggerDad

I've maintained for a long time that folks have to determine what is most important to them in terms of academics, athletics or finances.  Nothing I've read or seen in the last 8 years has made me change my mind on that.   So, sit down with your family to map out how this all works together and the various options.  It is all intertwined, but one thing will be most important.  Nobody on this board knows your situation like you do.

If baseball is most important to your son, then go to the best prospect showcases that you think are a fit.  Look at the list of schools, who they recruit and where they recruit to get a sense of it all.   Go to a couple games to determine the appropriate level.  Then roll the dice like the rest of us, and hope it comes up sevens.  The top baseball programs are recruiting freshmen and sophomores.  If your son is among them then maybe you have a shot.  If he is not then he has some work to do to get the right exposure or possibly begin considering mid-major programs.

If academics are most important then begin researching the schools by your son's intended major then research how the baseball team recruits and where they recruit.  This should be pretty easy to determine on your own, but feel free to have your son drop an intro note to the coach to request their recruiting venues.  Look at baseball specific showcases such as Stanford Camp, HeadFirst, PG Academic and others to establish interest and then follow up with a specific camp to try to get an offer. 

If finances are the most important then look at your state schools or hope he gets a significant academic or athletic scholarship or he qualifies for a large need based Finanical Aid package at a prestigious college or University.

The more baseball talent and more academic stats your son can put up the more options he'll have.  It is very important to know exactly where you stand in terms of supply and demand in each of these areas above.  I hope this helps.   Once you have a clearer picture to exactly what it is you are looking for then I think the HSBBWeb Board can be a truly valuable tool.  Good luck!

I have heard that 90% of all kids go to school less than 200 miles from home, If that is true, than all but 10% of money spent at destinations further than 200 miles is wasted.....hmmmm!

Doctor - you are making a common mathematical error.  For the kids who intend to go away, the travel is 100% effective.  For the kid who doesn't intend to go away the trip is 100% waste.  For the kid who thinks he wants to go away and then changes his mind after the visit, the trip is 100% effective.  For the kid who thinks he wants to go away but the parent can't afford, or doesn't want the kid to go, then the trip is 100% waste.  There is no such thing as 90% waste or 50% waste when it comes to zero sum decision making. Its either 100% or zero.  I have two degrees in the same discipline.  One of those was a waste of time…I just don't know which one.  Correlation is not causation.

And sometimes you have to spend money to find out that you don't want to spend money!

Then there is the advantage of creating interest outside the local area.  When the U of Florida or LSU or any high level program start recruiting the local player, the local college needs to step it up.

This happens all the time.  Kids from Georgia being recruited heavily by UCLA.  What does that tell the Georgia recruiters?

It's never a waste when a player creates recruiting interest.  In fact it can be very important and valuable leverage.  

The key is you have to have talent.  We had a kid that wanted to go to the college 15 minutes from home.  They wanted him to walk on or attend a JUCO the first year.  He went to an event out East and a couple ACC schools made him some good offers. Next thing you know he is offered 60% from the same local college that wanted him to walk on.  So he becomes one of those staying close to home, but everything changed when he created interest from schools in the southeast.  BTW, the player above decided to turn down the offer and go JUCO.  He was then drafted by the Dodgers and last year he was named the Dodgers Minor League player of the year.

Every time a baseball player takes the field, it can become a very valuable experience.  And it can also be a waste of time and money.

Lots to think about here.   California is definitely competitive baseball territory and it is hard for a strong, but not an absolutely dominating player to find a spot.  Many are called;  few are chosen. Complicating things for my son is the fact that although he's a decent enough student, he's far from being a top student, so that narrows his options considerably.  No Ivy's or even near Ivy's  for him. Probably no elite D-3 colleges, either.  He does have the advantage of  being an artistic type -- though he's more focused on  design, than (studio) art per se.   Design and baseball are the two things at which he excels.  Unfortunately, not too many art/design schools have (competitive) baseball programs.   (There are exceptions,  USC, for example, has a separate school of art/design, as does  UCLA.  But those sorts of places are the exceptions rather than the rule.)  Art and design programs care a lot about the portfolio as part of the admissions process.  He should have a good portfolio.    That means he might be able to squeeze his way into a better school than his straight academics would otherwise get him into.  We're thinking that the best total fit for him is  at a Cal State type place or it's equivalent in another state -- second tier, rathe than first tier state universities, roughly -- but with with strong art/design offerings.  (Cal State Northridge, for example, has very strong design program. )  Of course,baseball wise some of the Cal States are awesome.  So he'd be happy with that -- actually more than happy, ecstatic. 

That helps you focus a lot. Forget about and D1 California schools unless he is a stud. Look for good DIII schools that have a strong art/design programs. If he wants to actually work, I would look into industrial design so he can use his artistic skills and actually get a job.  

There are a number of conferences to look at and review. SCIAC, NWest, SCAC and ASC are the ones closer to California.(SCIAC is in California) Go check out D3baseball.com and look through their site and it will give you an idea of the schools.

This is a great graphic to show you were all DIII program are:

https://maps.google.com/maps/m...b3b44&dg=feature

Good luck.

Certainly, given the competition, we believe a good D3 is much more likely.  But we're not prepared to forget completely about D1, especially since  we've had some very strong and positive feed back from at least one California D1 already.  After a prospect camp there, the head coach and the recruiting coordinator gave us very positive feedback which ended with the statement  "we don't want this to be our last contact with you, so feel free to give us a call or write anytime."  Then they even initiated a follow up  conversation with the HS coach.  If they were to make an offer,  he'd be out of his mind happy.  But that was about a month ago.  So we're not holding our breath.  

His  body type definitely doesn't  profile as typical D1.  But he's  a very athletic, extreme fast-twitch guy --  with elite foot speed and elite bat speed and what everybody says, including the coaches at the prospect camp I mentioned,   is a really great swing, that regularly generates gap to gap power.  Gotta work on that arm-strength thing, mainly. 

I guess I'm thinking after reading all this that maybe the  high profile, non-school specific events he is doing this summer -- PG Sunshine West,  PG/WWBA 18U National Championship, and BAWS and maybe the Stanford Camp  (fortunately, for two of these no significant travel at all)  -- that should give us information of how competitive he is for D1.  If he shows well,  that's great.  If not all that well, we completely focus on D3 into the fall,when it's time to start the application process in earnest.  All those things will be behind us by mid to late July.    We might also  also do the all Cal State System showcase in September  (just found out about that one).  Cal States range from D1 to D3. 

One thing about the kid is that he's utterly realistic and knows how hard this whole business is.  He won't be crushed if it's a competitive D3 somewhere rather than a close to home D1.   He mainly just wants to play (and learn design). The kid absolutely loves the game and works his tail off at it.  And has had lots of success. So there's going to be a place for him somewhere or other, I presume. 

There is some very good baseball played in the CCAA (D2). Quite a few players have been drafted after playing.  Most schools are Cal State.  Some are hard to get into. Some, not so much.