Recuiting player or camper?

It's against NCAA rules to offer free attendance at a paid camp.

You should contact the coach and ask of their interest level, that is the only way you will know for sure. Personally, I would carry the same, if not more, skepticism that you have shown. The number one reason camps exist is to make money, not offer recruits a platform on which to showcase their skills.

First of all, congrats to your son on getting his first call. That must have been quite a thrill. The only way your son will know if the coach is genuinely interested is to ask him. It's a fair question and since you will be paying for the camp, you need to know what to expect to get for your money. The coach may still say, I just want a closer look.
Is this a school that is high on your son's list? If so, maybe your son needs a second look at the baseball program using the camp as HIS platform.

attending the camp will also give the player the chance to visit the campus "unofficially"

ALL college camps are about raising money. But, the real question is can your son profit from going? College camps are a great opportunity for your son to work with the coaches one on one, as well as visit the campus. They will put their best foot forward. If the don't, well, you know the rest...

My son ended up committing to the school where he did his first college camp at age 15. Although he was one of the youngest at that time it certainly created some early interest. Either way, it was a great experience and he learned a lot from the college players and coaches. He also did two other college camps which did not create interest but was a great opportunity to see what's out there in the way of competition.

Obrady,
Interesting post. When you say they want to get a “first hand look” at your son indicates to me they haven’t seen your son play. Historically coaches don’t "actively recruit” players they haven’t seen. On the other hand (and a more positive note) I haven’t heard of them calling campers and extend a personal invite to their camps either. This is either a new twist to increase camp attendance or a new twist in recruiting players or as you say somewhere in between. I will add that I'm skeptical when I get a phone call asking for money. I would also wonder why they waited four months to call. Since protocol hasn’t been established (in my opinion) on coaches calling with camp invites, I would have to let this one play out, go ahead and pay the camp fees (if travel expense is minimal) and see if the coach is truly interested.
Fungo

My son's experience with camps has run the gamut. He got a phone call (illegal?) in the fall of his junior year from a Big 12 saying they had seen him play at a showcase and wanted him to come to their camp. Many hundreds of dollars later (the school was out-of-state), our son never heard another word from that school despite emailing them fairly frequently after that.

This summer, son got a personalized email inviting him to camp from a Big 12 recruiting coordinator who had never seen him play but seemed to like some of the stats and other information son had emailed him. We were skeptical, but bit the bullet and paid the fees. Son did very well at the camp, but the coaches did not express any evident interest in him and we thought the camp was a bust. Imagine our surprise when a JUCO with ties to this Big 12 contacted our son out of the blue. They had received a recommendation from the Big 12 who saw him.

My son just committed to a school whose camp he attended last December. The school had seen him play just 2 innings prior to that (summer after sophomore year) and we could definitely tell that son's performance during the camp had interested the coaches. They came to see son play 8 times this past summer and made an offer, which was a dream come true.

So..... some camps are a waste of time while others can be very beneficial. Obviously, you have to play well to attract attention.

Best wishes to your son!

go to the camp. the coach expressed enough interest in calling him. i honestly do not believe, for the most part, that these camps are all about raising money. imo, mostly, the camps for any age are the camps that raise money. the camps for the graduating senior are the ones to go to.