Recruited walk-on

This topic has been discussed many times in depth. Recruited Walk On may be the new buzz word.
I don't believe for a minute that you get all the benefits other than the chance to make the roster and the travel roster.
The main difference is that the NLI guy who get BB money basically has a roster spot locked. That doesn't mean playing time but if he were cut he takes a roster spot with him.
You won't believe the number of people who PM me that there son was cut after the fall. Many of them great ball players. To me there is a much greater risk as a WO recruited or otherwise.
Welcome to the site. You might want to look up some of the previous discussions.

bbfan10 welcome to site. BobbleheadDoll has good advice go to top bar click on find and type in Walkon Recruit and take 30 minutes to read over some previous posts, you'll be glad you did and you'll love the site. Good Luck

bbfan


No harm in asking the coach to give you a letter stating that he will be on the roster as a "recruited walk on"---I have seen coaches do this--all it does is assure the player that he is on the roster

Welcome to the HSBBW!

I have to go with Bobbleheaddoll on a few points.

Most players that are recruited are not always recruited for a specific position but their ability and experience in the field (outfield, infield). Many coaches then determine who will play which position after fall practice. How can the coach guarantee a recruited walk on a position?
FYI, he can ask 10 to walk on in the fall, because there is no NLI he is not obligated to keep him for the spring. I do believe that the only players that do get a LOI (letter of intent but not an NLI) are those that receive academic money, but you might ask, I could be wrong.
What benefits is he talking about?
You also might want to ask how many others he has asked to walk on besides your son.

Thanks for the information its been very useful, have even more questions for the coach.

quote:

I don't believe for a minute that you get all the benefits other than the chance to make the roster and the travel roster.

BobbleheadDoll expresses some valid concerns about guaranteed roster spots, but "all the benefits" could very well be handed to your son, such as access to athletic academic advisors, tutors, team gear and equipment, etc. I doubt that the typical coach would keep any of his players from receiving those things.

I don't think that you can dismiss a recruited walk-on offer out of hand. A lot depends on the coach's integrity, the history of recruited walk-ons at that particular school, whether athletic monies have been offered to prospects who play your son's same position, etc. It would behoove you to ask lots of questions and get a feel for things at that school. Here are some questions to ask:

1. How many recruited walk-ons do you typically have each year? How many do you plan to have this coming year?
2. What type of success have your recruited walk-ons enjoyed in the past?
3. Do you plan to have more than 35 total players next fall?
4. Have you ever cut a player for issues other than academics or off-the-field problems?
5. Are all your players, including recruited walk-ons, guaranteed a roster spot once they arrive on campus in the fall?
6. Would my son be guaranteed 4 years with your program?
7. How many players who will be playing the position you want my son to play have already signed for athletic monies?
8. How many players at this position do you plan to recruit after my son?
9. What do you see as strengths and weaknesses in my son?
10. In your mind, what would my son need to do to earn an athletic scholarship at your school in the future?

If you like all of the coach's answers, try to contact some players at that school, as well as their parents, to confirm whether what the coach is telling you is true. Best wishes!

My experience as a walk on who played one year at a D1 and was cut the next (No sour grapes, didn't earn a spot.), albeit in another sport was that scholarship players are given every advantage in securing a spot ahead of walk-ons, recruited or otherwise. If you are going to walk on you are taking a risk and had better be very sure that you are going to improve more than any others and soon.

Recruited walk-ons do make teams, and they were recruited for a reason, but they are going to the plate with a 1 strike count when it comes to competing with scholarship players.

Infield08 posted while I was still writing. I like his answer a whole lot better than mine.

Another thought:

It would be helpful to find out why your son is wanted as a recruited walk-on. Did they just discover him and were out of money to offer when this happened? Is it because he's a late bloomer and can't make an immediate impact, but could in a year or two when he has bulked up? Is it because he's a pitcher and the coach wants to change his arm slot, which might take a while to refine? If any of the aforementioned reasons are true, you may want to keep this school in mind. On the other hand, if your son is, say, the third '08 catcher who is being recruited by this program (with the other two receiving athletic monies), your son is probably being looked at as a bullpen catcher, and you may want to look for greener pastures where he is more highly sought after. JMHO

Not knowing what the school is, one question I would ask is whether the program is fully funded. How many scholarships do they have and how are they distributed.

Ther is many a great program that has 2-5 scholarships. If this is the case, most of the kids will be "recruited walk-ons."

Thanks to everyone for all the great insight and information. A litle more info on my son's situation. After Arizona Junoir Fall Classic my son started recving numerous letters and text messages from coach's. We locked in on one piticular school and coahing staff felt very comfortable (big mistake), they built a relationship with my son over the next year, visited the campus,they came and watched him play numerous times,called at 8:00am July 1st and told him not to worry they would take of him.When it came time to commit, it was like we dropped off the face of the earth. Tough way to learn the recruiting lesson.We started the process all over again, sent him to 2 acmps down south recently, 1st camp 2 days after we got home coach called and spoke to my son asked for his transcripts we faxed them down, next day coach calls again and tells my son admin. has cleared him and discussed the recruited walk-on scenario, stated they had numbers issue with scholarships. In the mean time I sent him to another camp, coach calls states they like to have him in the program but would like to see him play this spring before they commit to anything but did mention a partial scholarship.I've probably rambled on to long, one last thing, coach that called last week just took a MLB coaching position. Thanks for all your help bbfan10

bbfan,

Your most recent post explaining your son's situation with a partial offer sounds so familiar. The reason I say this I kinda had a feeling I knew which D1 program you were posting about, and confirmed it when you stated this coach took a MLB position. He's a good pitching coach, but he didn't follow thru with his recruiting on our son last year, and only recontacted him after he was already signed on scholarship and playing Summer Collegiate Baseball in Canada last year. The head coach also wasn't communicating with his pitching coach about recruiting our son as he said they weren't in need of another catcher. So why was this pitching/recruiting coach still recruiting our son with calls and text messages then? Seems like they need to coordinate and get more organized. It also seems strange that he is now heading towards the MLB position!? JMHO

Hopefully there will be other offers coming your son's way !

The original coach (D1) who built the relationship with our son throughout his junior year and this past summer was the one who did not have the decency to even let our son know that they signed another kid after they made promises to him and our family, I know that things change but a phone call would have been nice. We had to find out on a recruiting site. It was a hard lesson learned by my son. After that the best thing we did was have him tryout and play on a scout team this fall and the coach he had has been very helpful and a great mentor for him, and it was FREE. Both camps he has been too since then have been great. Both staffs were great to my son and made him believe in his worth and abilities to play at the next level again. Even though one of the coaches has moved on to better things we wish him the best.My son is not a pitcher as a first position but he can pitch, but mostly plays SS and CF. He has speed a good bat and the ability to play many positions. My hope is for him to find a good program with good HONEST coaches, good academics and somewhere where he can play for four years...but I guess that is everyone's dream.

Redstormdad: The school that wanted my son as a recruited walk on was not the one who lost the coach to MLB. Forgot that in my last post.

quote:

My hope is for him to find a good program with good HONEST coaches

That is so key, whether the coaches are offering you money or a walk-on position.

Ask around and you should be able to find out about the coaches' character and integrity at various programs. Current players and their parents are great resources. If you need help in figuring out how to contact them and what to ask, just PM me.

You dilemma is one that has been experienced by many here and not uncommon. Coaches develop relationships all junior year, call July 1, and show much interest in the player, the player puts all of their eggs in one basket and the offer your son is expecting never comes. That is why it is very important to understand the process and how it works BEFORE July 1. Most likely your son may have been 1 of 3-4 the coach was calling for the same position. FYI, it works both ways, many players will give the impression he is very interested and then chooses another program. That's how it works, not just in baseball but in all college sports.

Changing positions before one gets to college is a tricky situation. Pitching in HS is much different than pitching at a D1 school. Unless that pitching coach is willing to put in a lot of time and effort working with him, your son will see lots of time on the bench. Your son has to decide what he wants.

My suggestion, never settle because you are a afraid an offer will not come. It's important to get exposure at this time and your son has until next fall to committ to a program. An important thing to remember is that if he does make the decision to walk on and money never comes later on, once he joins the roster he will have to sit out for a year if he wishes to transfer to another D1.

Infield08, sorry to sound ignorant but what does PM mean? Also he does not really want to pitch in college, the coaches just mentioned to him that with the new schedule change it might come down to him pitching some innings.

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TPM...

quote:

You dilemma is one that has been experienced by many here and not uncommon. Coaches develop relationships all junior year, call July 1, and show much interest in the player, the player puts all of their eggs in one basket and the offer your son is expecting never comes. That is why it is very important to understand the process and how it works BEFORE July 1. Most likely your son may have been 1 of 3-4 the coach was calling for the same position. FYI, it works both ways, many players will give the impression he is very interested and then chooses another program. That's how it works, not just in baseball but in all college sports.

This should be engraved and given to all parents and recruits. While it may appear dishonest and disingenuious, and at some level it is...and in a perfect world the comunication process would be much better...it is simply the reality of how the process works for may coaches and programs, even some honest straight up coaches and some very good programs.

To make a long story short...based on the recruiting communication (letters, emails, invitations, calls answered by the coaching staff, long conversations...) my older would have been a July 1 offer at his dream school and one of the most universally respected DI's in the country. July 1, nothing. Understanding the process a little bit, realizing that he was likley NOT their top choice we gave them space, beliving that the process would work down to us, but continued to email them schedule updates regularly to let them know he was still their man. In mid August we got this email..."Exactly what is it that you want from us?".

We all want to believe that our son's are "The only One"...and maybe sometimes they are...but the numbers alone will tell you that they are more likley one of a number of very good players a school is looking at/juggling. We say this over and over...The process is not over until the paperwork is signed, admissions and financial details finalized.

The second thing to remember is that "signed. sealed, and delivered" is only the entre. I am hearing more and more players that arrived at college unprepared, physically and emotionally for the realities of playing college ball. Enjoy that last year of HS...revel in your good fortune, celebrate, cheer, but make no mistake...When you step onto that field/weight room for the first time the honeymoon is over. You are but one of many VERY talented, very experienced players fighting for limited spots. They would not have taken you if they didn't believe in your ability to compete, but compete is the optimum term. The step up is very large, your clippings/rep no longer mean(s) anything, and you need to bring your A game and come fully prepared to compete at a new level from Day 1.

44
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bbfan10, sorry for the lingo. "PM me" means send me a private message. To do this, click on "Infield08" at the left of one of my posts and a green box will appear with a number of options. Click on the one that says "Invite Infield08 to a Private Topic" and a box will appear in which you can type questions (and answers) that you don't want posted on the general forum. I'll send you a PM right now and you should get a notification at the top of the message board saying you have one.

quote:

by route-44: realizing that he was likley NOT their top choice we gave them space, beliving that the process would work down to us, but continued to email them schedule updates regularly to let them know he was still their man. In mid August we got this email..."Exactly what is it that you want from us?".

that is a pretty valuable bit of experience you noted ... suggest bold type for -
"In mid August we got this email..."Exactly what is it that you want from us?"
as many will read over it without understanding it ... still thinking they can affect the recruiting process by being persistent.

the cases where persistence or marketing "seemed" to work were cases that would have had the same outcome with no persistence

after a coach knows about a player they will either want him or not ...

"A" list - now
"B" list - maybe later
"C" list - later than the "B" list

mass marketing will not change their lists ... things out or your control such as the decisions of other player CAN and DO change their lists

quote:

the cases where persistence or marketing "seemed" to work were cases that would have had the same outcome with no persistence

Bee, I think your assertion is probably generally true. However, there are exceptions to the rule.

My son "mass marketed" himself the summer after his junior year. Some schools did not respond at all to his emails, but some came to see him play as a result of his frequent communications. (A few traveled outside their typical recruiting area to see him.) My son's select coach remarked to us that he was amazed at how many college coaches he talked with knew about our son. He commented that name recognition is quite important, as coaches will specifically watch players they know about when they come to scout games.

These coaches would not have know about our son apart from his emails, as he played for a relatively obscure private school program during his freshman and sophomore years and sat behind talented seniors during his junior year at a large public school. (7 of those seniors are now playing college ball.) For him, persistent marketing was essential and proved to be quite beneficial.

Infield08,
Marketing is important, so many players take the sit back and let's see what happens approach and it doesn't work. However, you can do all the marketing you wish, if a player is not right for the program he will get passed over. Your marketing worked because obviously your son had the talent to get the interest.
This business is funny, you can be the flavor or the week until something better comes along and it works both ways. Many times I have seen players string along coaches for a long time as well. I don't see anything unethical, telling a player you are interested is just that, interest. A player telling a caoch he is interested is just that, interest. How many times has a coach been frustrated because a player tells him he is not going pro and coming to college, then bam he gets drafted and signs in the 20th round. If parents and players can understand what goes on, this is normal, it makes the process easier for both sides and will help you to understand how hard you need to work at it. Never take anything for granted.

I understood this more clearly after the draft. So many teams telling son they were interested, coming to every game with an entourage. Funny thing, the team that drafted son, he had no clue anyone was watching and never to this day has met the drafting scout in person. The same can be said for the recruiting process.


I might add one final thought for the original poster. Pitchers get the first scholarships available, that is usually a large portion of where the coaches money goes. The coach is asking your son to switch positions (become a pitcher). This is a better deal for him than for your son, IMO. Nothing better than having an extra arm for "free".
But that is something that is between you and your son. Make sure you consider all possibilities before any commitment.

Best of luck.

quote:

by IF8: Bee, I think your assertion is probably generally true. However, there are exceptions to the rule.

your point is well taken, but you may have missed my main point ...

"after" a coach knows about a player they will either want him or not"

marketing won't convince them to change their minds after they've checked him against their needs