Running and Power

Micah - welcome to the site.  You should not get too much grief on here.  Most folks are here to help others.  

First of all, your not drafted into college but rather recruited.  When you are drafted you have to go where they tell you to go.  When you are recruited everyone has a chance to decide if they would like you to play for them.  If they do they will let you know they are interested and you get to make the decision on where you want to play (out of the interested parties).

What I would tell you is this, if you feel you have the potential then you need to seek out someone in your area who can give you a good honest feedback on where you stand.  None of us here on a board can really give you the feedback you need.  There are lots of things that go into making it to the next level.  

Your size seems a little small to me.  My 16U is 6'4" about 175 and the biggest knock on him is he needs to work on his physicality.  In other words beef up.  As far as your stats go, most colleges are not too interested in those.  They are actually more interested in if you are "projectable".  Do you have the base skill set that will allow you to grow into the next level player.  Each coach has different ways of determining that.  They are going to want to see you run, hit, throw and pitch.  What they are looking for will change from position to position.  

The best advice I can give you is to hook up with a good travel team in your area.  Not one that wins, but one that is geared toward putting kids in college.  There is a major difference there.  A good program has many ties and contacts at the college level and will work those to get you into a school that fits you.  They may sacrifice some wins to get kids in front of the right folks.

Finally what are your grades like?  The first thing a college coach is going to ask you is how are your academics.  If they are poor they may take a pass on you as they are concerned about you staying eligible once you get to college.  

Hello!

Sorry about using the wrong terminology. As far as finding someone to give me honest feedback, I have one already, but he's a nice guy... if you know what I mean. it's not like he bad or anything... but let just say when he goes fishing he always catches a whale of a fish.  

I might be small, but I have never heard that from any one...To me that guy on your team sounds like a giant. Yeah I'm skinny, but I don't think that  changes anything... Look at Dee Gordon...

I found a team, but because of my school I can't join them. I'm due enrolled (Im in HS, but I'm doing college level work... It takes a lot of time) As for my grades I have a GPA of 3.82, and I plan on taking the SAT this spring after they stop changing everything.

On a different note... Because I'm Jewish I can't play on Friday nights and Saturdays. How willing would you be to have someone on a team that can't play on those days? 

Micah. I have a lot of thoughts on your last post but can not spend a lot of time answering right now. I will get back to you tomorrow. 

One me quick thought though, you don't really have someone giving you their honest opinion if they are blowing smoke up your...  You need to seek out someone who will be brutally honest with you

Excellent. . ..don't let anyone discourage you because of your size!  It ain't all that small anyway.

That's a very good GPA and with a decent SAT, you should have a of good choices for college... academically.  

This is going to be a huge issue for most college coaches as about half the games are typically played on those days.    So, unless you somehow turn into some kind of super-stud of a player, it's going to be extremely difficult to find a college coach willing to accommodate a player who can not perform when needed.  So, as suggested, what you might consider are any of the Jewish universities that have BB teams than can or willing to accommodate you.  With your kind of GPA, I would think you'd have a very good shot at being a collegiate baseball player.  You should start looking around for these and see what their is and get them to know you're interested.

Sir, with all due respect, He is an awesome coach. I really don't appreciate hearing someone say that about my coach. He is in fact the head coach/ owner of one of the best teams in the USA... He has brought his team to the East Coast Championship multiple times and is the third best in the nation. I said that he stretch the  truth, but not always in my favor... sometimes against me. So that I could actually challenge myself. ie. in running and hitting. Some times it's for me... it's his way of saying I don't have to worry about that. Listen I'm a brainiack... I have does the Google Science Fair, although I didn't win, I made a new anti-malaria medication active ingredient. I am a perfectionist, and that's not healthy all the time. It's his way... I don't always like it, but it works... He teaches me to challenge myself...

And by his teaching me to challenge myself I now am able to run a 4min 11sec mile. I was able to make contact every time I came up to bat (even though I struck out and hit out a lot) and have a great GPA.

So, please... please don't think of my coach as a bad guy. He's nice, but it's also nice to hear a second opinion, that's why I started this thread. Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not upset, but I think my coach deserves a bit of credit... 

Thanks.

BTW: I will reply to everyone else soon, but I need to get to school! So cheers till then!

Micah -

Sorry that you did not want to hear that.  I never said your coach is not a good guy or that he did not know what he was doing.  What I said is that if he is not being honest with you, which is what you insinuated, then you need to look to an independent person.  It sounds like he is looking out for you, but I would still have concerns that he is using mis-guidence to motivate you.  You really want someone who knows how to look at talent and let you know where you sit in relation to the college recruiting game.  They need to be honest with you.  They need to let you know at what level they see you fitting in.  They need to honestly tell you if they feel you have no chance.  This is different then a coach using negatives as motivation for you to get better.  

Here are some other thought:

Not being able to play on Fri night/Saturdays:

This is going to be a huge issue in multiple ways.  First of all as mentioned most college games are on the weekends.  Typically most schools play one game during the week and then play on Friday, Saturday and sometimes Sunday.  By not playing on Fri/Sat you have removed yourself from 80% of the games.   In addition to being an issue for college games you are going to need to showcase in order to catch the college coaches attention.  Most of those showcases take place on Saturday.

Size

When I say small, your ht/wt is out of proportion to the average 16 YO.  You are about 75th percentile in ht but only 50th in weight.  I personally think you will need to bulk up some.  You have time to deal with this between now and next year.  I am finding that having a "projectable" body type is helpful in the recruiting process.  Unfortunately this is determined by genetics and you don't have much control over it.  If your parents are big strong athletic types your probably in a good spot.

Not playing on the right travel team

Not sure what  your saying here.  Are you saying school interferes? Im not sure how things work in your state but here in IL the travel teams work around the schools baseball schedules.  I would guess its not much different where you are.  

Welcome Micah!

You can only control what you can control. You can't control your height. Dont worry about your size. My S graduated HS at that size. But, you need to get into the best physical condition possible to maximize your chances. And you can control your skill level - by working harder than everyone else.

The not playing on Shabbat will block you from D1s. Even assuming you have the necessary skills, not only will you miss Friday night games, you would miss all daytime Saturday games, and Sunday away games (the team travels either Thursday or early Friday and doesn't return until Sunday night). Because D1 rosters are capped, there is no room for a player not available for the majority of games.

D3s may be more flexible. But, only a coach can tell you his position. Moreover, coaches come and coaches go, so even if you find a coach who understands and allows a PT player, who knows if his successor would feel the same way.

Years ago, Maryland recuited an Orthodox basketball player; I recall other players mentioned in papers from time to time. Perhaps Google them and see how their schools resolved the issue. 

Additionally, while inconceivable today, your views about Shabbat playing may evolve.

The only thing you can do now is work, work, work; improve, improve, improve (in class and on the field). Get your skills where you are recruitable, then worry about the rest of the puzzle.

I think Bishop hit the nail on the head. The Friday Saturday thing would be a HUGE issue. I have a great respect your commitment to your faith, but realistically, playing ball for a school other than one that shares in that practice I'd say is a very small chance. like...I hate to say it ...but, being realistic, its pretty much not going to happen. Not trying to be rude. just trying to make sure that you are heading down the right path. You can work your tail off to prepare physically, and you might get some good offers from good schools. But i cant imagine those offers will hang around after you break that news to your potential coach unless they have been in a situation like this before. If you have really exceptional talent, theres a slim chance you might find a school who is willing to work with you to schedule makeup practices or something. Even if a coach did take you knowing this, it would probably really effect your playing time. Coaches want someone who is committed to the team. lets say your team plays or practices every day but sunday. that means you will miss 1/3 (2 of 6 days per week) of the time participating with your team. This would have a huge effect on the amount of playing time you might get, as well as your growth as a player. If you did get a lot of playing time while missing all this time, other teammates would surely grow resentful and it would start to effect the team culture, which can get ugly. These are all the types of things a coach would have to think about before getting involved with a student in this situation. 

I don't know much about the Jewish faith, so please forgive me if i sound ignorant here. But, i might suggest speaking with your parents and maybe your Rabbi about your aspirations to play ball and whether or not you might consider making a bit of a lifestyle change/religious compromise to accommodate these days of the week in order to work towards this goal. I'm sure that these people could serve as a great source of guidance in your life.

Otherwise, Like Bishop said. Start looking into Jewish schools that work and schedule games under this practice and see if you can find a good fit. people at your synagog might be able to point you in a good direction and help guide your decisions. Chances are the team atmosphere and everything would be really comfortable at a school like that as well. 

I am a HS coach and one of our opponents is a private christian school. Regardless of their level of success (which has actually been great as of late) those kids seem to really carry themselves well on and off the field and have a strong, like minded, team culture and sense of school spirit. They are all going to school there because they share a common faith in their lives. This translates well into a team setting. us public school coaches work really hard to nurture this type of camaraderie and these kids almost seem to have it built in (to a degree)...A Huge advantage. they even pray around home base after their games and invite anyone from the other team to join. Whenever someone gets hurt (opponent or teammate) they all take a knee and pray also. 

Sorry for the "tough love" but I'm only saying these things with the intention of helping, not trying to cut you down or discourage you. Its important that you choose a realistic, attainable goal to strive for. Sounds like you have some big life decisions coming up. I wish you the best of luck! We are here to help!

-CoachZ 

No doubt playing in college while remaining Orthodox is a very long  shot, but as long as you're looking at schools that would allow you not to play on Friday and Saturday you could look at Seventh-day Adventist schools.  I believe they follow the same sabbath rules and there are quite a few schools.

Hey y'all!

Lunch break... so I just wanted to say that I am going to give a better response latter on... but right now I wanted to say thanks (especially for the tough love) and  say a few things.

1.

Considering religion....For me changing my beliefs for a game... that's just not happening. For me I view baseball as a tool. I want to become a physical therapist (Masters Degree) when I grow up. So as you can imagine it will cost a bit.  I didn't want to get in debt.

2. Considering School and Baseball... School is more important than Baseball. I realy work on my grades and well I spend pretty much all day on it and there's maybe 2 hours a day to spend extra on it... Thinking I could play college ball might be a bit crazy now that I think about it. lol 

Thanks for all your answers you all brought my head from the clouds.  

See y'all around and thanks for the welcome!

-Micah

Brandeis University has about the best baseball schedule for religious Jews. A few games occur on Saturday, but most avoid the Sabbath. Don't know if it has the foundational major you need - but keep in mind that something like 70% of students change their major as exposure to new fields stimulates new interests.

I wonder what would happen if Christians refuse to play on Sunday?

Brandeis University... just looked it up... I want to stay in state (NC)... But thanks for the info...  

LionBaseball:

I think that the game of baseball would look much different...no more weekend games? hmmmm strange to think that would happen... but who knows it might!

Oh I want your opinion I cant find what the average 30 yard dash time is for a HS player... The fastest one I ran was a 3.430 second (that was yesterday)... I know I'm changing topics but just wondering...  

30 yard is not used in recruiting.  Its the 60 yard dash they look at.  Google pro-style workout and you will find a good description of how showcases are run.  This is what most schools will use to start their evaluations of you.  In general, 60 yard dash, 5 to 6 grounders at your infield or outfield position (or both), 10 swings in the batting cage.  10 swings or so off a t.  If your a pitcher you will throw about 10 pitches.  5 fastballs, 2 change ups, and 3 breaking balls.  If your a catcher you will receive some pitches behind the plate and then throw down to 2nd.  They will measure your throwing speed with a radar gun when throwing from the infield or outfield.  Same with pitching.  In addition they will measure your bat speed and ball exit speed with a radar gun when you are hitting.  The catchers will have their pop-time measured.  While all this is going on the coaches/scouts/evaluators will be watching your form and looking at your body style.

If they like what they see and measure then they will start contacting you for more information.  They will want to talk about your grades and your ambitions.  They will want to talk to your coaches and maybe others who know what type of kid you are.  If all that checks out then they will start to look more and more at the way you play.  They may request video or they may want to come see you play.  Every school goes about this in a different way.

I know you mentioned before your BA, OBS and other data but most colleges will not care about that.  They want to see how you perform vs. the stats.  At the youth levels through HS stats are often not kept properly so they are pretty much ignored.  In addition they do not know the level of competition you are playing so any stats are basically meaningless to them.  

They are, however, interested in measurables.  Things like 60 yd time, bat speed, ball velocity, etc. Someone once posted a guideline as to what most schools look for by division.  Hopefully they will see this and repost it for you.  That will allow you to get an idea of where you stand.

Yeah, I know that the 60y is vital, but I was wondering the 30y time because that would give you a good indication on the home to first time and a third to home time (on a popup). 

Thanks for your answer!