Questions to ask

Have you read past posts about official and unofficial visits? They are complete with information from others about what to expect, what to wear, what to ask, etc.
Go to green Find tab up top and type in: " Official visit questions "

Lots of good stuff!


On a personal note when talking to the coach's:
We didn't ask where the lockers were, but we did ask how many players they were recruiting at son's position? Where did son rank amongst those players? Was there allotted tutorial/study time?
We did alot of homework before hand.
Don't ever assume. Get the facts if you have questions.

My prospective is that you are trying to evalute the college as a place where you will live and learn. Baseball coaches and athletic departments do a pretty good job of selling; it should not be too difficult to get some prospective as to what the baseball program is all about.

My recomendation is to focus on what it means to be a student at that college. Make arrangements for your son to go to a class or two. Visit with a professor in an area that he may have an iterest in. Eat in the dining hall, spend a night in the dorms, hang out with kids that go to school.

I have yet to find a kid that plays ball that can not adapt to a new team, coach or program. However, finding a place where they will be happy, engaged and healthy is what you should be looking for when you visit a college.

Hopefully you have found the first series questions that you should ask during the recruiting process, if not we can point you to the other threads.

Once you get through those and you want to get into the next phase of questions, you would be surprised of some of the benefits of being a student/athlete at some programs, here are some that you may want to consider when sending a talented player to a entrusted program that will mold the player for the future that could impact your decision if the program is a good fit, if others would like to contribute to questions you would like to ask but may want to think twice before doing so but could be important, that would be great:

How many years is each of the coaches under contract for?
How often are the coaches replaced?
What considerations are given when firing a coach, just in effective coaching or win/lose record?

How many players do you bring in during the fall season?
How many players do you cut, when are they cut?
How do you let them know, are the cut list posted or is there a face to face discussion?
How many players do you have to kick off due to grades?
How many players are kicked off due to drugs, alcohol, or other crimes?
How many players have been out due to Jail?
How many players have been suspended or kicked off due to cheating?

Are you guaranteed a roster spot?
If you’re ERA goes over 5.0 will that effect playing time or your scholarship?
If your batting average stays below the Mendoza line will that effect the playing time?
If you average 3-4 errors per game or inning will that effect the playing time?
Will scholarships go up if you do well?
Do you cut or reduce scholarships after one year?
What other paid jobs are available to athletes?

If you get hurt, does the school cover all medical cost?
What type of medical treatment is provided?
If you get hurt, are you cut from the team?
Does the team have dedicated trainers at practices and games?
Does the school provide a full array of trainers that the athletes go to year round?

When you travel a long distance, do you fly or drive.
What is the cut off of driving or flying?
When you fly, do you fly charter or commercial?
Do you travel the day of or the day before games on long trips?
Do you stay over at night or travel the day after the last game on long trips?
When you drive, do you take cars, vans, bus, or charter bus, do the buses have TV’s and rest rooms?
What types of hotels do you stay at on the road, at Hyatts or Motel 6’s?
How many players are in the room?
Does each player have a bed or do they share?

Do you have pre and post game meals for the players?
Does the school provide all meals on the road?
If the school does not provide all the meals, what are the meal allowances on the road?
Does the team provide meals on home game days?
How many tickets are we given for family at home games and away games?

Does the team provide laundry service for the players for practice uniforms?
Does the team provide laundry service for the players for game uniforms at home and on the road?
How many sets of uniforms does the team provide?
Does the school provide travel clothes?
Do the players have to pay for any uniforms, cleats, gloves, bats, catcher gear, etc?
What make of bats are provided, how often are the replaced?
What make of gloves are provided, how many do you get of you play multiple positions?

What summer leagues do you send your players to?
Does the player have a choice in determining where you play in the summer?
Does the player pay for housing, board, and transportation to and from, as well as, when there and on the road to away games?
Does the player pay for meals while there and on the road?
If summer school is required, does the school pay for that?

What type of academic support does the school provide?
Does the school pay for all the tutoring needed for athletes?
Does the school provide for early class registration for athletes?
Does the school provide academic counseling to athletes that inform what are the athlete friendly teachers and classes?
Does the school provide lap top computers to athletes?
Does the school provide wifi on the computers?
What provisions are given to athletes on taking class notes when on the road?
What provisions are given to athletes on taking test when on the road?

What other special considerations are given to athletes?

Wow, Homerun04, I'm impressed! That's an even longer list of questions than the one I compiled early last fall!

Now that the recruiting process is all over and done with for my son, I will confess that I emailed my entire list of questions to a recruiting coordinator before my son's official visit at the school. The RC asked a fellow baseball coach to call me and answer everything. When he called me, he seemed a bit reserved and I wondered if he was flabbergasted at my inquisitiveness. At that point, I backed off a little and commented that I was sure we would get many of our questions answered during the visit. I asked if he had ever gotten a list of questions like that before and he replied "no, we never have" -- and he has been coaching for quite some time! Believe me, at that point, I wanted to crawl under a rock! That said, the coaches were very gracious during our visit and did not seem to hold anything against me or my son.

In hindsight, I would have taken my list of questions on the visit and kept them to myself until close to the end. Most likely, I would have learned a lot simply from listening to them and many of my questions would have been moot by then. If there were still a few unanswered questions, I would have scanned my list and asked the most important ones. Honestly though, you can get a pretty good feel for a program simply by conversing with the coaches, and in the end, many of your questions don't seem all that important in the big scheme of things.

That said, let me recommend that parents of prospects seek out current players, players who have just graduated from the school, and parents of players and ask LOTS of questions about the program and coaches if they are willing to talk. You can learn a lot about a program based on what people say -- and don't say.

Obviously some of the questions were way out there but some that may seem strange do actually pertain and once you are in, you are relatively committed and you have no say, like players having to sleep together or on floors and very long bus/van rides. You have to make a value judgement as to do you care about some of the small things.

What are some of your other questions that you asked?

quote:

How many players are kicked off due to drugs, alcohol, or other crimes?
How many players have been out due to Jail?
How many players have been suspended or kicked off due to cheating?

If I were a coach I would be a little concerned if a prospect asked me these questions

I asked my son what he wanted know. He said he already knew everything he needed to know. I wanted to know about the academic support structure. I wanted to know about the programs philosophy on player development. Outside of that I could have caredless. Regardless of where you go you are going to have to compete. And you are going to have to perform. No matter what anyone says the bottom line on your happiness is going to be are you getting better and are you winning. If its all predicated on how much you play then find the worst program talent wise in the country and go play some baseball.

You have to trust that the coaches have a clue about your kid. If they are recruiting him they must believe that he can play for them at some point in time. If they didnt think that they would not be recruiting him. That does not mean it will always pan out for your kid there. Its up to the player to do what he has to do between those white lines.

Some of those questions are funny to me. I can bet you that several of those questions at schools I know and coaches I know would be the fastest way to ensure that you would never get any kind of an offer. And quite honestly you could not get out the door fast enough for them.

We did some behind the scenes research. We spent sometime reading the archives on the website, you could get a feel for what had gone on in the past, if your school has a good public relations person that keeps the baseball website going.
The main thing that we wanted to check out on our visit and pre-visit was the HC's reputation and integrity - he was now to be spending more time with our kid than we were, and pretty much having control over everything, so he had to meet our approval. He did. Next, we wanted to spend some time with the academic advisor and really find out how strong that area was at the school. Very strong.
On our visit we had one lunch alone with the team representative who we were able to ask questions about day to day life on campus, travel, etc. He was able to be open and honest about those things, since it was just him and us.....which I feel was be design. We left with most of our concerns answered. I know I had a couple of follow up questions via email - got a quick response, son continues to be happy with his choice.

I would take Infield08's advice. It is good to have questions and concerns of course, just let some of the answers come to you during the course of recruitment, in the end if you still have unanswered q's ask, just make sure it is not an inquisition, I'm sure we wouldn't have liked it too much if the HC had a two page list of personal questions about our family

Believe me if they are going to offer your son a roster spot money or no money they have done their research prior to the meeting. They have already asked the questions they want answered to the people that matter. I would suggest you have a lot of your questions already answered before you meet the coaches. Its not very hard to do. You do your research. You talk to current , former players. You talk to parents of current , former players. You talk to friends of current and former players , parents. You talk to baseball folks you trust and if you dont know anyone you make some phone calls and you find out everything you can. I have had several posters pm me and call me about programs in our area , coaches etc. Never go in blind and only have their responses as your only source of information.

What do you think they are going to tell you? A bunch of bad stuff about their program? What are going to tell them about you and your son? A bunch of bad stuff? You are going to paint the best picture you can about your son and they are going to paint the best picture about their program.

Have you ever seen a bad letter of reference ???

I am with Coach May--my guys knew what they wanted and what they wanted to ask---they didn't need Daddy--there was now "we asked" --it was simply "he asked"


Different strokes for different folks

TR I'm not sure how you do it, but you do. I guess if my kid played for you, he'd never need me again.

I don't think I've ever seen such a detailed list. I guess it worked huh?

When Daddy is writing checks, Daddy gets to ask questions too.

You are kidding with some of those questions, right?

Coach May is right on, you ask some of those questions and you might not see an offer.

The only questions we were prepared to ask as parents pertained to academics, the rest was left for son to find out. We did as sugggested, did our homework. The best way to find out is to rely on other parents and players for some of your way out questions.

We never got to ask, most everything was answered in describing the program that was necessary for him to make his decision when the time came.

How about two additional questions:

How much are each family expected to contribute to the program?
How much are each player expected to fund raise for the program?

Thanks to everyone. Good stuff. I must say that no one could ever accuse me of being a potted plant, but reading some of this stuff I thought to myself there's no way I can ever ask these questions. I may be wrong but I could never bring myself to do it.

Personally I'm going to follow Coach May's path.
Thanks again. FWIW, son is going to Clemson-Duke football game and we'll be in Dirtbag territory as well. As always, people on this site are great.

Great forum. I didn't take the "questions" so literally. I found the entire list great things to consider -- and would definitely prioritize which specific questions needed to be answered outright.

I just noticed that this years NCAA College Bound Student Athlete did not have the questions to ask as the previous years did, so here was last years:

Questions to Ask as You Consider Colleges

You may want to ask your prospective college coaches the following questions as you consider colleges.

Athletics
1. What positions will I play on your team? It is not always obvious. Most coaches want to be flexible, so you might not receive a definite answer.

2. What other players may be competing at the same position? The response could give you an idea of when you can expect to be a starter.

3. Will I be redshirted my first year? The school's policy on redshirting may impact you both athletically and academically.

4. What expectations do you have for training and conditioning? This will reveal the institution's commitment to a training and conditioning program.

5. How would you best describe your coaching style?
Every coach has a particular style that involves different motivational techniques and discipline. You need to know if a coach's teaching style matches your learning style.

6. When does the head coach's contract end? How long does the coach intend to stay? The answer could be helpful. Do not make any assumptions about how long a coach will be at a school. If the coach leaves, does this change your mind about the school/program?

7. What are preferred, invited and uninvited walk-on situations? How many do you expect to compete? How many earn a scholarship? Situations vary from school to school.

8. Who else are you recruiting for my position? Coaches may consider other student-athletes for every position.

9. Is medical insurance required for my participation? Is it provided by the college? You may be required to provide proof of insurance.

10. If I am seriously injured while competing, who is responsible for my medical expenses? Different colleges have different policies.

11. What happens if I want to transfer to another school?
You may not transfer without the permission of your current school's athletics administration. Ask how often coaches grant this privilege and ask for an example of a situation in which permission was not granted.

12. What other factors should I consider when choosing a college? Be realistic about your athletics ability and the type of athletics experience you would enjoy. Some student-athletes want to be part of a particular athletics program, even if that means little or no playing time. Other considerations include coaching staff and style. Of course, the ideal is to choose a college or university that will provide you with both the educational and athletics opportunities you want.

Academics
1. How good is the department in my major? How many students are in the department? What credentials do faculty members hold? What are graduates of the program doing after school?

2. What percentage of players on scholarship graduate? The response will suggest the school's commitment to academics.

You might want to ask two follow-up questions:
a. What percentage of incoming students eventually graduate?
b. What is the current team's grade-point average?

3. What academic support programs are available to student-athletes? Look for a college that will help you become a better student.

4. If I have a diagnosed and documented disability, what kind of academic services are available? Special academic services may help you achieve your academic goals.

5. How many credit hours should I take in season and out of season? It is important to determine how many credit hours are required for your degree and what pace you will follow to obtain that degree.

6. Are there restrictions in scheduling classes around practice? NCAA rules prevent you from missing class for practice.

7. Is summer school available? If I need to take summer school, will it be paid for by the college? You may need to take summer school to meet academic and/or graduation requirements.

College Life
1. What is a typical day for a student-athlete? The answer will give you a good idea of how much time is spent in class, practice, study and travel. It also will give you a good indication of what coaches expect.

2. What are the residence halls like? The response should give you a hint of how comfortable you would be in your room, study areas, community bathrooms and at the laundry facilities. Also ask about the number of students in a room, co-ed dorms and the rules governing life in the residence halls.

3. Must student-athletes live on campus? If “yes,” ask about exceptions.

If you really want me so bad, why can't you at least spring for the 25% minimum?

quote:

If you really want me so bad, why can't you at least spring for the 25% minimum?

With the max roster size for athletic scholarships lowering to 27 next year, we will probably see increasing numbers of recruits ask this question!