Relate how, when your son was 1st recruited by a College Recruiter.

Most of those first meetings belong to his memories, I have no clue, but I do remember the first coach that I myself met, Terry Rooney, who in 4-5 years has gone from pitching coach at Stetson to Notre Dame to LSU to now Head Coach at UCF in Florida. Great guy.

I honestly can't remember! I sure hope someone comes up with a pill or something before I forget everything.....

I'd probably forget to take it anyway.

Wait a minute, I got it! After a tournament game during the summer before his junior year. The coach from Eastern Oklahoma State introduced himself and invited my son to a camp. He talked to us for a while about scholarships, facilities and the campus. I remember being impressed that he took the time. I also remember being incredibly proud that he thought our kid might be good enough to play at the next level.

Bobblehead,
As far as I know, Notre Dame offers $$ money.

quote:

As far as I know, Notre Dame offers $$ money.

They certainly did 5 years ago.

I recall (not very well sometimes as my wife will attest to) that in my son's freshman year we went to a PG ID showcase at SEC school and the pitching coach was very excited about my son. Talked to him, and ended up sending my son his first college questionnaire. He took it to the high school coach who then returned it with some nice comments but no stats. Instead of stats the coach simply wrote "HE IS A FRESHMAN" more to come.

Well the next year the SEC school had a whole new coaching staff and so we started all over again but had difficulty getting that same interest at first. As it turns out he did end up with an offer from this SEC school but we felt the coaching staff might change again (which it did) and he ended up picking the other top choice.

The rest is not history yet! Really looking forward to this freshman year.

It is amazing how much the coaching staffs change. my son's college has gone through 3 staffs in 6-7 years. The original coach we knew held a showcase in our city and he noticed my son at 15yo. We actually sent a questionaire to them not realizing the coach we knew was fired. Apparently over some NCAA rule breaches. They also apparently lost some scholarships.

JUST I can only tell you what he said. That was 7 years ago. The conversation was more about the game than an attempt to recruit.

My son was taking hitting lessons from a local NAIA coach (Andy Rushing) when he was 14. The AD of the school (who also had a son taking hitting lessons) and I were beside the cages talking and he asked me where I thought my son would play college ball. I explained I had no clue. The NAIA coach overheard our conversation, came over and said with a smile: "We can put this to rest right now. He can commit today and I'll call the paper tomorrow!" I remember that because I thought it was funny.

I can remember the first offer (University of Memphis) and the first phone call (University of Alabama) but the actual events during the recruitment run together because I didn't put much credence in a single "event". Recruiting is a process and 1 event, 1 letter or 1 phone call (at that time) for the most part are insignificant.
Fungo

It was written on a D3 college camp evaluation last summer (between freshman and sophomore year). "Would like to see [2B] in an Eagles uniform some day."

I am not really sure how I ended up puting my previous comment into this frame but anyway...

I wanted to respond to Fungo and say I agree recruiting is a process but I can't say it was insignificant.

IMHO it can be life changing. You, as the recruit, have little control over the entire process but you can take great steps in the parts of the process you can control. If done poorly, on the parts you have control over, may still end up coming out good but I believe the process is very significant.

The very first to show interest was George Fox in Oregon. At the time Pat Bailey who is now at oregon state had been correspnding back and forth for the better part of a year and a half. My son first learned of George Fox at a camp he attended in Arizona as a freshmen.
Coach Bailey said in an email "Matt I look forward to begin the recruiting process with you in the fall" Didn't mean it would happen but at the time my son was pretty excited. About two weeks later I was on the D3 baseball site and saw that Coach Bailey just signed on at Oregon State.
We were so dissapointed because in my opinion he was a class act. But the new coach is as great, we went and met him, my son was going to go there, all signed up, communicating with coach and changed his mind.
Which brings up my first thread on this site, "changing his mind"

AL MA08, I agree that a first contact can be life changing but we don't know that until AFTER the fact. That's the reason I injected "at that time"

quote:

(at that time) for the most part are insignificant.

First contact can also be the last contact so we shouldn't put all our eggs in any one basket until we allow the process to play out.

quote:

but the actual events during the recruitment run together because I didn't put much credence in a single "event"...

Same for me, but I'm attributing it to advancing age and loss of memory in my case.

First "letter" in the mail...got me excited...but I didn't want to admit out loud it was a mass mailing that simply looked personalized. But I knew.

Then the first handwritten letter came...quite specific and personal in content...and I learned what 'real interest' looked like.

But I do remember when the first letter came from the 'dream school,' I was out on the golf course and my wife called...excited herself. Didn't care how bad I hacked up the course for the rest of that day.

I can remember one beautiful late fall day in southern CO. Son's club team travelled up north to play a JUCO team to showcase some of their seniors. He was a soph at the time, a year or two behind most of his teammates. He did pretty well I guess, and after the game the college coach asked for him by name, right in front of and instead of the others. I know it was a real honor for him, but also I remember that he felt a little bad for the boys that were really hopeful of getting a job in the upcoming year. I think that was the first time he realized that not all were going along on this crazy ride. Funny thing though, that coach never did call again.

It was December of my son's junior year and he was attending a D1 camp with about 80 participants. During a presentation on hitting, the recruiting coordinator singled out our son and mentioned him by name. A little while later, the hitting instructor saw my son hitting in the cage and he asked an instructor, "What's his bat speed?" The next day during some scrimmages, the recruiting coordinator called my son over and talked with him for about 15 minutes one-on-one. When the camp ended, the fielding coach seemed pretty chummy with my son and husband and told my son to feel free to shower in their brand new clubhouse before heading home. We had a pretty good idea that the school was interested in our son and two weeks later, when our son was on the phone with the recruiting coordinator, the coordinator confirmed their interest. It took a while to stop pinching ourselves!

I agree it is all a process, but Bobblehead asked about when he was "first" approached...

Coach from UC Davis introduced himself to me after watching 16 year old son pitch for his travel team in Arizona - complimented him and asked about grades - I was more excited than my son was, as he had never considered going there.

The first time I heard my son talk with any "awe" about a place was when his team visited Arizona State, heard the recruiting talk, including use of the stadium PA, and walked the stadium and locker room. He told me - "I could see myself going here Dad." The Area Code scout was very cool too... When you get the first cards of the pro scouts then you feel on top of the world (even if they are bird dogs), as you know its the next step in the process.

My memory isn't too good on this, most likely because the summer of his senior year, he traveled alot and we were not with him.
One thing sticks in my mind, Jupiter Wood bat tournie, pitching on blue field 4, junior fall.

Some coach says, that kid is going to be a Tiger.

Some parent comes to tell me it's the Clemson recruting coach, but not to get too excited about it. We didn't, coach did.

Lesson, don't pay attention to some people.

My son got a few letters after a camp. Sent those back filled out, never heard from them again. Went to another camp - no contacts. Tried to get son to contact D3 coaches - only sent emails, never called. Goes to school of his choice (a D3 school), walks on - no one knew who he was. Makes the team and ends up starting most of the year. Does very well in his Calculus and Engineering courses too. Dad's surprised and happy. Now Dad is just becoming happy with him growing up and watching him find his way in life. He's off campus this year and asked Mom last summer to go over some cooking. He's called from time to time with cooking questions and walks/runs the dog that another guy at the house he's in brought. Baseball season's just around the corner - will have to think of how to get to some of his games this year (school's 8 hrs. away). Oh, that's right my wife's aunt is a little over an hr. away from the school so maybe we could stay with her to cut down on costs and gas is cheaper now too. Sorry for the rambling on.

Tim Robertson

There are some great stories and info here to learn from.

This is easy to remember because it just happened a few months ago. Son was 14 and attended a statewide showcase. There was he and 2 other 2012's there that the showcase director had invited. He did really well at the showcase and about a week later got a letter from an ACC school that said they could have no further contact with him beyond that letter, but he could call them any time (they gave the recruiting coordinator's number) and visit any time he would like, and gave him a place to go online and fill out a questionairre.

I think I remember his first written contact from a college. It was summer of freshman yr in HS. A fantastic D3 school that Krak knows about (smile) sent him a letter with a questionaire - saying they had seen him somewhere, etc.

Then the rest slips my memory, but I do recall that it seemed to be like a snowball rolling downhill from then on until summer 08, when it hit the all time high.

So that's it - a process that should build and build to a crescendo...and then when it is all over, it becomes a blur, you fall in your chair and say "whew!"

After going to the College Select showcase in Norwich last year, we got a call from the head coach at Skidmore. He was interested and recruiting catchers. Unfortunately, Skidmore is a real high level academic institution, and my son's grades/sat's were under the averages there, and its a very expensive school. If your grades/sats are under the averages, you're not going to get alot, if any, academic money, and that is certainly a factor.

But getting that phone call was VERY cool!!

My son was approached by a college coach last year at WWBA 18U after his freshman year. It was one of his favorite schools and the coach just walked up and said "Good game. I will be talking to you more when I can recruit you. Keep up the work on the field and in the classroom." He was impressed that the coach knew who he was. I hope he stays that humble.
We sent out e-mails stating our interest this week and was impressed that one head coach of a D1 emailed back that afternoon and wrote personal things. All of the others were from recruiting coordinators and were generic. Made a great first impression.
They sure moved up on his list real fast.

Best way to be exposed is to get invited to an area code tryout by a pro scout...100-150 college and pro scouts attend. My son got invited last year as a sophmore. Letters started coming in after Sept.1 this year (junior year). He picked two D1 college camps this fall that he wanted to go to and that he received letters from. After both camps he received offers. He is going to let the process run it's course and decide before the early signing period for 2010's. My advice is to attend an area code tryout and in the summer and fall play on a team that attends showcases.

Jeff,

Don't ruin it for your son, but the kind of communication you describe, in that setting, is a violation of NCAA rules.

Not that it doesn't go on all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Connell:
My son was approached by a college coach last year at WWBA 18U after his freshman year. It was one of his favorite schools and the coach just walked up and said "Good game. I will be talking to you more when I can recruit you. Keep up the work on the field and in the classroom." He was impressed that the coach knew who he was. I hope he stays that humble.
We sent out e-mails stating our interest this week and was impressed that one head coach of a D1 emailed back that afternoon and wrote personal things. All of the others were from recruiting coordinators and were generic. Made a great first impression.
They sure moved up on his list real fast.

Some will argue that the coach writes the same thing to everyone but I do not agree, personal things mean he is watching closely and wants you to know that, because that does make a difference how you view him and his program.

The encounter was what some may see as a permissable bump. Not to worry, your son didn't violate any rules.

I know. It did all throughout the three weeks we were there. Some of it may not have been intentional since he was there for the 18U and 17U week. Some may not have realized he was only an upcoming sophomore.
Since I started this. How do we handle it or should we worry about it?

You do not have to worry about a coach approaching your son, the violation would be against the coach.

Coaches know what they are doing don't worry about it.

It's more interesting from the standpoint of appreciating how ridiculous the NCAA rules are than anything else. It's a completely unenforceable rule and it is commonly violated in small measures.

But it is a reminder that (a) we parents need to avoid getting into lengthy discussions when our sons are underclassmen and we're not standing on university property, and (b) if the coach doesn't speak to you, it doesn't mean he's not interested. It may just mean he's being very scrupulous about the rules. So what is often mistaken for a cold shoulder can be nothing more than a sign of someone who is doing their very best to play it straight.

His first phone call was from a high profile Western school on July 1. Unfortunately the call came in at 6:30AM! Needless to say he woke jerseyson up so I'm sure he made a great impression. When I asked him what the coach said, he thought for a minute then said, I think he asked me if I was interested in a full ride?

Come to find out later that summer my son and some other guys at a high profile PG event were talking and this recruiters name came up. Turned out most of the other guys got that same call, and the same offer!

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
It's more interesting from the standpoint of appreciating how ridiculous the NCAA rules are than anything else. It's a completely unenforceable rule and it is commonly violated in small measures.

But it is a reminder that (a) we parents need to avoid getting into lengthy discussions when our sons are underclassmen and we're not standing on university property, and (b) if the coach doesn't speak to you, it doesn't mean he's not interested. It may just mean he's being very scrupulous about the rules. So what is often mistaken for a cold shoulder can be nothing more than a sign of someone who is doing their very best to play it straight.

This is where a good summer coach that knows what type of schools your player in interested in can be a big help. Your coach can talk to the schools all day long. At it happens alot at the bigger tournaments.

As silly as it is, I found myself on occasion standing within 3 feet of the coachs talking about my son but the college coach couldn't even say more than hello.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
It's more interesting from the standpoint of appreciating how ridiculous the NCAA rules are than anything else. It's a completely unenforceable rule and it is commonly violated in small measures.

But it is a reminder that (a) we parents need to avoid getting into lengthy discussions when our sons are underclassmen and we're not standing on university property, and (b) if the coach doesn't speak to you, it doesn't mean he's not interested. It may just mean he's being very scrupulous about the rules. So what is often mistaken for a cold shoulder can be nothing more than a sign of someone who is doing their very best to play it straight.

Good post, never approach a coach unless he approaches you first, before or after July 1.
Yes the NCAA has some silly rule, my understadning is that a hello is permissable.

Question, what about a coach who you have known for years even before you were a prospect? Does the NCAA allow that to remain?

prior relationships are fine. there just can't be any talk of recruiting. how the NCAA enforces that i don't know!

This will sound weird but my guys first call was from the Louisville basketball program at 11:15 PM at nite--wierd but true .

My son was at his very first college camp last winter as a sophomore.... he had been going through the different stations there....after the 4 or 5th one asst. coach approached him and said "Hey how would you like coming here on a full ride?". My son laughed a bit, and literally went to the next station. He approached him again and said "No really, how would you like to come here, books, tuition, room and board?"....UHHH...was my son's response this second time. So the coach went to dad and said "Hey, i just offered your kid a full ride, i don't think he believes me!". Told dad that it was a real offer. Called the head coach told him what had just transpired.... Next day the head coach approaches my son and makes it clear that it was legite. The boy could barely speak when calling to tell the rest of the family. Very best experience for him, blew us all out of the water....This was all really happening, everything he had worked for his young life! Awesome memory!

So did he take the offer?

They told him that the offer would be waiting for him when he was ready to commit..so i guess technically no, he didn't refuse it or take it....it sits on the table. We thought perhaps he was too young to make that choice, at that time?! right or wrong?