School Specific D1 Prospect Camp: Par for the Course?

My 2018 will be attending a DII prospect camp...I guess i will be expecting the same thing.  It was cheap (118) enough and figured to be a good starting point to get him some experience.  hopefully my 2018 doesn't seem out of place...

did you stay and watch or did you come back?...i was going to leave and then come back for the afternoon games..thoughts?

Sent ypu pm

This camp was a couple hours drive from home, so I stayed and watched the entire thing -- as did lots of parents.  It was not always the most scintillating thing to watch -- but it did help me gauge where my guy stood in relation to the others.    He showed well,  but didn't absolutely dominate like one or two others did. The (few) guys that dominated seemed to draw interest from the coaches, the rest ....  not so much.  At this particular camp, not much coaching or instruction took place.  My son attending another camp last March in So Cal -- Mom took him down so I didn't see first hand.  There there was much more interaction with coaches, it seems. These guys weren't at all in teaching/coaching mode,  just in evaluation mode.   I don't know what the norm is,  given that we've done just two of these. 

My son did a prospect camp last fall as a raising freshman.  We did not expect anyone to make an offer or do much more then maybe mark him down to follow up as he got older.  We did it to give him a chance to see what this was all about BEFORE it really mattered.  I would say about 20% of the players were in a similar situation, with the rest being older players who needed to stand out.

not going for exposure just for experience as well...if he does good great, but not expecting him to be the center by any means at all.  would like to get a solid 60, velocity, and hitting grade reading...not sure if they will do that here or not.

It's only about 30 mins away, but in the city so will probably drop him off, go get something to eat and then come back to watch...just didn't want to be looked at as one of those parents that is up their kids a$$...I just love to watch baseball, that's all

My son attended three DI camps over the years. The first just for the fun of being at a big-time program. The second with hopes of catching the eye of the school he really coveted. And the third one because he was invited.

I saw pretty much the same thing at all three camps. Young kids with little or no expectations getting their first taste of the college experience. Solid ballplayers who probably were not going to end up playing at that school's level. And, kids who obviously had a preexisting relationship with the team. My kid experienced each of those, and it was much better to be invited. Small sample, but I never saw an unknown kid get "discovered".

MidAtlantic:

We've had similar experience with 2016 BucsFanSon.  One question, when you say he was invited, you mean he received word from a travel coach or via a phone call (initiated by your son) that the school really wanted him there....vs. just receiving repeated email invites.  Correct?

Two or 3 D1s send my son camp invites via email repeatedly and noticeably more often than the dozens of others that come.  By this, I don't mean the dozens of schools that send emails out every month or two reminding us of camps.  I mean invitations that come every week or two...3 weeks at most and directly from RC or HC email address.  Anything to read into this?  Our view has been to not read much into it, because these same schools could very easily just get in contact with my son via his travel coach if he was a high priority at this stage.  If you have any thoughts or feel differently, let me know.  In a couple of cases, my son has called to try to ask directly, but has only gotten voice mails so far.  I'm sure we'll find out soon enough since 9/1 is approaching soon.

...and I apologize for getting off topic here.

HC sent son e-mail on 9/13 of junior year with very specific information about him, and how he might fit into their future plans. In the e-mail he asked son to call him and they arranged a date/time when HC would take the call. During the phone call, HC invited him to Junior Day and the camp.

I think it will be hard to know for sure until 9/1 when they can start to send him personal (not generic) e-mails. I like that he called them, but it's probably a longshot without a prearranged appointment. Only 2 more weeks... good luck.

Thx. MidAtlantic, will send you PM.