Question during unofficial visit

Congrats to son on the interest!

I don't have an answer yet but I have a question that may help others give you better advice.  What is the reasoning behind "before the start of the summer season"?  Maybe just me but I am thinking most 2019's who have not yet signed and have no firm offers will be looking to the summer season as their primary push.

Perhaps this is the reason for the pause from the coaches????

What is the reasoning behind "before the start of the summer season"?

I imagine most players would like to have a commitment prior to the summer season because the proverbial flood gates open after the college season ends and the coaches are on the road looking at EVERYONE. The popular opinion is that for rising seniors, that summer is really their last shot at finding a scholarship opportunity at the D1 level. By fall of their senior year, most D1s have obligated their scholarship dollars and are pretty much only looking at walk-ons.

Most would agree the window for D2, D3 and NAIA roster spots is still open at this time and that is the most fertile hunting ground for uncommitted players.

I think his pre summer window is a combination of peer pressure, a lot of his other friends have already committed, and of recruiting burn out (emails, showcases, camps, calls, etc...).   

Just my opinion based on my own son's experience, but I would respond that "I am ready to commit anytime  if the right fit/offer presents itself".  The reason is that it can be a bit of a "herd mentality" and it is a small world.   Once the first offer comes in, then your son can let other schools know that he has an offer that he is seriously considering, and it can really get the ball rolling.  If there is a group of schools that your son would be thrilled to attend for academic and baseball reasons, why not let them know that he is ready and force their hand a little. These coaches love having options for as long as possible.  Your son is 6'2", 205 with T87.  Every one of these coaches would love to have another LHP walk in who is 6'3", 215 and T89.  As long as they can wait, they will.  Doesn't mean you CAN force the issue, but by telling them you are ready to commit anytime, you at least open the door for someone to offer him.  If he gets an offer, it is the perfect excuse to reach out to other coaches with whom he has been in dialogue with something along the lines of..."As a courtesy, I wanted you to know that I have received an offer from another D1 school that I am interested in.   I am not in a rush to decide, but I am interested in this school and am going to talk it over with my parents give it serious consideration.  I haven't been given a hard deadline (ASSUMING HE HASN'T), but I suspect at some point the coaches will apply some pressure.  I am definitely very interested in your program as well.  I'd welcome any feedback that you have for me regarding your interest level.  I will be sure to keep you up to date from my end as well."  The other benefit of this is that with your son's size and being a LHP, you never know what bigger schools might show up.  Oftentimes the Power 5 schools start to move on players after they hear that such and such player had multiple offers from mid-major programs.  You would have to have his travel coach or HS coach or someone with connections make that happen.  Not sure if those schools/conferences would be a "stretch" for him, but it would be nice to know if they want him....they ALL covet LHPs!

Also, I'd have him take the SAT again soon.  I bet he improves and that is good "currency", if you will.

My RHP son got his first offer Oct. of junior year (after Fort Myers).  He committed before the end of that year (Dec. 23).  After the first offer came in, everything changed.  Several of the other schools who were following him closely offered shortly thereafter.  It can all happen quickly, and I am not sure about your son, but mine was really glad to have his decision behind him.

Good luck!

2019LHPPOPS posted:

I think his pre summer window is a combination of peer pressure, a lot of his other friends have already committed, and of recruiting burn out (emails, showcases, camps, calls, etc...).   

I understand the peer pressure aspect but you guys need to fight that off.  Your son's timing should be his own timing for the right reasons.  How terrible would it be if he signed to a school early because he felt he had to sign sooner than later and then next summer, he picked up 2-3 mph and ten better schools came calling?  I also understand the recruiting burn out aspect.  But he may be setting himself up for more frustration if he is setting a deadline that will be difficult for probably most schools who have interest since they are focused on their own seasons from now until May/June.  

My advice is to take a bit of a mental break from  the hard pursuit (not to suggest he stop any ongoing dialog), focus on having a great HS season, continued development, taking care of the arm and mapping out a good plan for summer events so he can use that as his primary push time.  I would guess that would work out well for him and he will finish the summer in a very good place.  If specific interest/offers comes about meanwhile, bonus!

Edit to add - typing the same time as Bucsfan... very good advice and I think dovetails well with what I am suggesting.

cabbagedad posted:

2019LHPPOPS posted:

I think his pre summer window is a combination of peer pressure, a lot of his other friends have already committed, and of recruiting burn out (emails, showcases, camps, calls, etc...).   

I understand the peer pressure aspect but you guys need to fight that off.  Your son's timing should be his own timing for the right reasons.  How terrible would it be if he signed to a school early because he felt he had to sign sooner than later and then next summer, ten better schools came calling?  I also understand the recruiting burn out aspect.  But he may be setting himself up for more frustration if he is setting a deadline that will be difficult for probably most schools who have interest since they are focused on their own seasons from now until May/June.  

My advice is to take a bit of a mental break from  the hard pursuit (not to suggest he stop any ongoing dialog), focus on having a great HS season, continued development, taking care of the arm and mapping out a good plan for summer events so he can use that as his primary push time.  I would guess that would work out well for him and he will finish the summer in a very good place.  If specific interest/offers comes about meanwhile, bonus!

Edit to add - typing the same time as Bucsfan... very good advice and I think dovetails well with what I am suggesting.

Agree.  I am not saying anything that contradicts Cabbage's advice, though it might seem that way at first glance.  Tell them he is ready if the right offer comes, then sit back and do what Cabbage says. 

Bucsfan and Cabbage - Thank you for the sage advice.  We'll implement both strategies - "ready to commit now if the fit is right," and throttling back on the hard pursuit during the HS ball season for a mental break.   He is also scheduled to take the SAT again (second time) at the beginning of March.  Thank you again, I am a first time poster and very glad I asked the question to this forum.  

My 2018 told people he wanted to commit in September of 2017 because he wanted to finish his junior season of baseball (sorry to repeat, but for those who don't know, Iowa plays summer baseball, so our season ends in July sometime), and have time to make a good decision before school got going.

Two good pieces of advice — know roughly when you want to commit and why and be able to express that easily, but also know that if you fall in love, that could change.

2019LHPPOPS posted:

Bucsfan and Cabbage - Thank you for the sage advice.  We'll implement both strategies - "ready to commit now if the fit is right," and throttling back on the hard pursuit during the HS ball season for a mental break.   He is also scheduled to take the SAT again (second time) at the beginning of March.  Thank you again, I am a first time poster and very glad I asked the question to this forum.  

Our pleasure.  What took you so long?  Don't you know, HSBBW has ALL of the answers!  What an incredible community that has been built over the years (by others, not by me).   Good luck.

Great thread and great advice here. 2019LHPPOPS, FWIW my son has been telling coaches recently "sometime in the next 4 to 6 months" -- I have no idea why, other than that's how he really feels. But I like Bucsfan's and Cabbagedad's approach better!

I think a lot of it will come down to fit.  My 2018 LHP is a bit of a late bloomer.  He had a few offers on the table his summer before senior year and was starting to get more interest from some mid level D1 schools this summer who wanted to see him throw at their camps, all of which were after the early signing date.  He went on several visits to various schools and told the coaches that he wanted to wait until December to commit as he had a few more visits scheduled.  On one of the visits in October he fell in love with the school he committed to and signed early.  The most difficult part was the "what if" .  What if I wait, What if I like these other schools, What if I pick up 3 mph in the spring, what if I have a really bad spring or get hurt????  We discussed a lot of the what ifs and ultimately it came down to comfort.  He found a place that he really liked and wanted to be at.  I told him he has to be the one to decide, but once you make that decision on whatever school and date you commit, dont look back and play the "what if" game.  As cabbage said, don't let the  coaches or peer pressure dictate when your son commits.  He will know when the time is right.  I guess an appropriate answer to the question could be "When I know I have found the right place/fit for me"  From our experience most coaches were very understanding and only 1 was really pressuring him to decide.  Good luck!

FriarFred posted:

I think a lot of it will come down to fit.  My 2018 LHP is a bit of a late bloomer.  He had a few offers on the table his summer before senior year and was starting to get more interest from some mid level D1 schools this summer who wanted to see him throw at their camps, all of which were after the early signing date.  He went on several visits to various schools and told the coaches that he wanted to wait until December to commit as he had a few more visits scheduled.  On one of the visits in October he fell in love with the school he committed to and signed early.  The most difficult part was the "what if" .  What if I wait, What if I like these other schools, What if I pick up 3 mph in the spring, what if I have a really bad spring or get hurt????  We discussed a lot of the what ifs and ultimately it came down to comfort.  He found a place that he really liked and wanted to be at.  I told him he has to be the one to decide, but once you make that decision on whatever school and date you commit, dont look back and play the "what if" game.  As cabbage said, don't let the  coaches or peer pressure dictate when your son commits.  He will know when the time is right.  I guess an appropriate answer to the question could be "When I know I have found the right place/fit for me"  From our experience most coaches were very understanding and only 1 was really pressuring him to decide.  Good luck!

I believe that playing the "what if" game is not productive either, and honestly, there is no real way to quantify it.  Since you will never really know, it is wasted effort, energy, and it can increase heartache.  

When Ryan committed to Purdue, it was late October of his soph. JC year.  At that point, there were many schools that had expressed interest, but not many had given him an offer.  It seemed they were slow playing him.  Note that he had just completed an OV at a  pretty good D-1 in the West, and another wanted him to come down the week after his Purdue visit; so things were definitely happening.  When the Purdue offer came back really strong, it was a no brainer.  All of these other teams had the opportunity, and they chose to slow play him to see if they could get him on the cheap.  

The truth is that it depends on where you are in the process.  If it is Fall of Sr. Year, then you better be ready.  If it is Jr. year, you have a little more time, but you may limit your options by waiting.  It also depends on what pond you are swimming in.  D-1's, D-2's, JC's, etc. have different time frames. 

Additionally, you need to be prepared for a coach not asking you the question, but rather telling you what the expectation for an answer is.  If it is late in the recruiting cycle, the coach may not have the luxury of waiting for you answer.  He may tell you that he has offered several kids, and the first one to accept gets it.  (Ryan's experience.) 

I agree with the above. You can either see yourself there as a student/player or not. The offer is what will make you make a decision one way or another. Setting a timeline for a decision is not something we plan to do. The decision will be made when an offer to a school he can see himself at is made. I think a lot of people get wrapped up in the "what ifs" and the desire to accumulate multiple offers. Does it really matter how many offers he has if the first one checks all the boxes and meets your needs financially, academically and athletically? Delaying if it does meet these criterion seems, to me, that you are really not wanting to go to that school but using it as a bargaining chip/back up plan...and needlessly delaying the decision and increasing tension/anxiety along with it.

Direct back to the OP.

On a visit with son and after a couple hours with the RC touring us, we went to meet with the head coach in his office.  It was apparent that the coach hadn't seen the RC in a while.  He talked for awhile, sometimes rambling, sometimes asking RC for updates on other matters.  He may have not been expecting a recruit, or distracted with something.  After, he asked for any questions thinking that would close out the meeting.  I asked (with all the confidence and knowledge I gained from HSSBW) "I see your recruiting classes are usually around 15.  Two years ago there were 16, but I only see eight on the roster.  Where do the kids you recruit go that aren't on the roster?" He furrowed his brow and quickly and sincerely answered in more of a whisper type voice "What have you heard?".  I didn't know what he meant and was confused.  

Later, when son and I got in the RC's car to resume the tour, RC started laughing.  He said that the head coach had misunderstood my question.  He thought I had some info on a particular recruit that might renege on his commitment and go to another school.

I just wanted to hear a head coach say in front of my son "Not everybody makes it."

rynoattack posted:

...

When Ryan committed to Purdue, it was late October of his soph. JC year.  At that point, there were many schools that had expressed interest, but not many had given him an offer.  It seemed they were slow playing him.  Note that he had just completed an OV at a  pretty good D-1 in the West, and another wanted him to come down the week after his Purdue visit; so things were definitely happening.  When the Purdue offer came back really strong, it was a no brainer.  All of these other teams had the opportunity, and they chose to slow play him to see if they could get him on the cheap.  

 

...

Hey Ryno,

Thanks for sharing... curious, were you able to later confirm your suspicion that any of those other schools were slow-playing him for that reason (or any other) or is that the general assumption?  Sometimes, it's truly a timing thing and I was curious how much background you may have actually been able to somehow tap into.  Great "fly on the wall" stuff that we always try to figure out.

Seems like that's the only thing we're missing here on the site is more/better insight to the process from the college coach/RC perspective.  

cabbagedad posted:

rynoattack posted:

...

When Ryan committed to Purdue, it was late October of his soph. JC year.  At that point, there were many schools that had expressed interest, but not many had given him an offer.  It seemed they were slow playing him.  Note that he had just completed an OV at a  pretty good D-1 in the West, and another wanted him to come down the week after his Purdue visit; so things were definitely happening.  When the Purdue offer came back really strong, it was a no brainer.  All of these other teams had the opportunity, and they chose to slow play him to see if they could get him on the cheap.  

 

...

Hey Ryno,

Thanks for sharing... curious, were you able to later confirm your suspicion that any of those other schools were slow-playing him for that reason (or any other) or is that the general assumption?  Sometimes, it's truly a timing thing and I was curious how much background you may have actually been able to somehow tap into.  Great "fly on the wall" stuff that we always try to figure out.

Seems like that's the only thing we're missing here on the site is more/better insight to the process from the college coach/RC perspective.  

Not other than his PC telling him that these school's were going to offer.  In the fall of Soph. year at a JC, they bring in college coaches, and pro coaches for a Scout Day.  Ryan showed well, so the feedback from many coaches was good.  Some of these school's that had told PC that an offer was coming were schools that had known Ryan for many years.  They had seen him at PG Events, Travel Tournaments, and some had even come watch him pitch a few times in high school.  

An example of one of Ryan's teammates, who visited the school mentioned with him, was that he was from the area, and they wanted him to be a preferred walk on.  I think they thought he would take the offer since he was from the area.  However, he was invited to the OV with Purdue also.  He ended up getting a pretty good offer too, so he took it.  

In both of these instances, I think the boys could have waited a little while longer, and offers would have come. However, it was late October, and the early signing period was only a few, short weeks away.   Ryan's teammate accepted right away, and since the coach told them that the first guys to accept the offer would get it, that added pressure to Ryan.  Purdue had never been on the radar, and my wife was pretty set that she didn't want her baby to go that far away.  We talked about it as a family the night the offer was received, and decided that:

• The offer was really good.
• Purdue was a highly rated Academic School.
• Good Alumni Network.
• Facilities are amazing.
• We had met coach Waz when he was at Oregon, and Ryan attended their camp.
• The PC was the PC for one of Ryan's coaches at CSI.
• Ryan really enjoyed his visit, and he felt comfortable on campus.

So truthfully, Ryan was not prepared for a Purdue offer, and they kind of came out of the blue; but Ryan did have a plan of what he wanted from a school, and thankfully, Purdue checked all the boxes in a way that he would never have to say "what if".