Hi all. Son is 2021 RHP, HA type kid. Any thoughts on the late June North-South Academic camp at Richmond U. for a PO? He's interested in Brown and Swathmore and I think they will be there. For WWBA 16U in July in Marietta, anyone know if this event is scouted by mostly DIs? Son could bloom late but right now he's a DIII kid (6'1, 175lbs, cruises 82-83, tops 85). Not sure how much recruiting value WWBA will have for him if he doesn't take a leap in velo in the spring. Thoughts?
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No-one replied to this yet, but you've got several comments on your Brown thread. Here are some thoughts about this.
Has your son emailed Brown to express interest? (and Swarthmore, for that matter, and 10-15 other schools). The best thing would be to do so, and if they reply, to ask THEM where they will be, and what they want to see.
We found that Ivies send coaches to the major 17U tournaments to watch players, that includes WWBA but also others. If they aren't at WWBA, they have access to the data through Diamondkast, so they can see what happened (and yes, some did look - son's velo was not what they wanted, and they saw that). Also, if you go to WWBA, you are showing that you have played against high-level competition. HA showcases, not so much - but, measurements like velo, 60-time, EV are, of course, still valid.
Son only went to one HA showcase, Headfirst Long Island in August. It worked out great for him, because he had a great showcase. You could say he was prepared for it by a summer of high-level tournaments; also, these coaches talk to each other, so exposure to one might mean exposure to others also. It's really impossible to measure how each thing my son did fit together to produce the result that it did, but it worked.
Final thought: take video of his high-school games pitching, send that out also.
The WWBA won't have much value for him if he isn't 87+. It is an overwhelming majority D1 with the rest of the schools in lower divisions being more local. On top of that if you're not on a team with well connected coaches it's almost completely useless and you'll be going to games with maybe a few colleges there to see the other team. Lightning can strike, but there are cheaper ways to go about this. I understand that Diamondkast and those things exist, but the coaches are in Georgia, if they're not coming to watch you play they're going to see somebody else. Especially for a PO who might pitch 2x max.
As far as the Richmond camp, I don't know which schools have attended in the past, but VA is not close to either of those schools. A bit of a hike for them. I'd call and see which schools have attended in the past, might be something worth doing, but your best bet would likely be driving north into NJ or PA. 85 would definitely catch the attention of the staff at the Swarthmore camp. For your son going to a HA camp where he blends in might not be the best route, but going to a smaller camp where 85 will stand out could be better for him.
The guy who runs the program is very well connected. The question will be where my son is at come July. The program has placed tons of kids mid to upper-level DI for years. The team one age group up is about 85% committed to ACC/Big 10, etc. so the pipeline connection is there if my kid can get himself in the conversation somehow for DIs. We will see, but the opportunity for eyes on him should be there. What they see is a work in progress...
Most of the time, if a D1 school does not list or advertise other schools then there are probably not too many other D1's attending. Plenty of local D2, d3, NAIA's etc. will be helping out.
I was not familiar with this particular camp so I looked it up. Looks pretty good to me!
Over 25 of the country’s top academic colleges/ universities will be in attendance, including:
1 UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND (D1, #23 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
2 Princeton University (D1, #1 in National Universities)
3 Harvard University (D1, #2 in National Universities)
4 Brown University (D1, #14 in National Universities)
5 Georgetown University (D1, #24 in National Universities)
6 Lafayette College (D1, #39 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
7 College of William and Mary (D1, #40 in National Universities)
8 Lehigh University (D1, #50 in National Universities)
9 Penn State University (D1, #57 in National Universities)
10 George Mason University (D1, #153 in National Universities)
11 Towson University (D1, #197 in National Universities)
12 High Point University (D1, #1 in Regional Colleges South)
13 University of Charleston (WV) (D2)
14 Swathmore College (D3, #3 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
15 Bates College (D3, #21 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
16 University of Rochester (D3, #29 in National Universities)
17 Franklin and Marshall College (D3, #38 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
18 Hendrix College (D3, #92 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
19 Randolph Macon College (D3, #111 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
20 Babson College (D3, #1 in Entrepreneurship)
21 Roanoke College (D3, #130 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
22 Virginia Wesleyan University (D3, #164-215 in National Liberal Arts Colleges)
23 University of Mary Washington (D3, #16 in Regional Universities South)
24 Cairn University (D3, #126 in Regional Universities North)
25 Milligan College (NAIA, #13 in Regional Universities South)
As far as the WWBA...
PLENTY of pitchers there throwing 85 or much less. That is also true of the Jupiter tournament in the fall although you will see most starters 87+ and much higher. Relief pitchers not so much. It's a difficult tourney to win (as is any of the WWBA's) so those top-tier pitchers (90+) throw a minimal number of innings during pool play so that they are available during bracket play.
And yes, WWBA tourneys are attended by D1's -- for many reasons but mostly because they have the budget for it (my opinion) and it fits their recruiting timeline.
