Hello folks...
I haven't been the best friend of showcases in the past, but have listened to many of you and found many valid arguments you have presented in support of them.
I recently had a discussion with 2 Division I college coaches on the merits of showcases. Both of them agreed that the key ingredient for a successful showcase is to attract players and colleges from the same recruiting territories. I didn't understand what they meant, but now I do. I will try to explain.
Many colleges/universities don't have the full complement of scholarships, so they need to spend wisely. In the case of public schools, this means they have a pot of money to spend. And depending on a player's locale, will cost them one sum (in-state) or another sum (out-of-state) tuition. This apparently is not the case with many private schools. These schools typically allow in-state or out-of-state scholarships to cost the same with regards to the pool of money they have available.
For this reason, it is incumbent upon the showcase organizers to regionalize in many cases. It is for this reason that I take exception to many showcase tournaments. I have known players over the years here in MD to spend gobs of money going to FL or TX to play in showcases, only to find out later that the colleges in the mid-atlantic area weren't represented. For the exceptional player, this is not a problem, since that player will have opportunities to sign with the big-time schools anyway. But for the marginal Division I kid, the target market of the showcase folks (in my opinion), the long distance showcase seems like the wrong way to go.
Would appreciate others thoughts on this...
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