Seeking advice

My son is also a  Sr and just graduated early - it was his plan , he was being recruited by D1s etc , he wanted to play juco before Jucos started reaching out to him . Summer of his JR year he decided he wanted to play juco , a top 10  National  Juco program recruited him and he will play for them starting in the fall . Just let me say 100 % scholarship is a nice thing to have for the 1st 2 years .

. playing time is not  guaranteed at any level , but we saw at least 10 kids we knew from the area that went to D1s who didn’t play their 1st year or were redshirted and now have transferd to a Juco . Not saying this if for everyone , but you have to have your eyes wide open .

Thanks C2019. I think he feels like he is missing out on the true college experience that his friends are going through. He is fine with the JUCO offer. I think its just hard when all of his friends are making roommate plans, etc and he might go down a different path if he wants to play baseball next year. 

If he is already questioning his decision then he might want to reconsider. Baseball in college is nothing like HS. Its a grind and not for everyone.

Can you have him reach out to someone he knows who is currently playing college baseball to get realistic feedback and experiences?   Can he discuss with his travel coach to get his input about playing in college? 

It sounds to me like your son is unsure what he wants to do or possibly he knows what he wants to do and it doesn't include college baseball.   There is always the option to walk-on or play club baseball.   If I was in your shoes I would sit down and talk to him about what he wants to do in 4-5 years after graduation or if baseball can provide an opportunity to help him in 4-5 years.   Then work back in a reverse timeline.  See what he says, and encourage him to get as much information as possible about college baseball.  College baseball is a HUGE commitment, and it is a lot of work.  I would describe it as one of tjhose things;  you either have to be all in or not at all.

As always, JMO.

A current HS senior from a very small local school had a nice offer at a very, very good mid-major here in Ohio....and had even been hearing some rumbles of possibly being drafted.  He decided last November, about a week before signing day that he was done with baseball.  He is now attending a school closer to home where he can "be with his friends".   His family owns a really nice business and I'm sure he'll end up back there when he finishes school.  Really surprised a lot of people, but if your heart isn't in it from the start, it's probably best to just skip it altogether I guess

Thanks Fenway! Great post. I don't think he knows what he wants to do exactly post college. He does have a plan B to attend a 4 year school and not play baseball. This 4 year school has a nationally ranked club baseball team with a strong history of doing well. He could always play for them.

I agree he needs to be all in or not at all. He will need to own his decision regardless of what he decides to do.

I know it is a lot of pressure on him to make a decision.

I'm assuming the JUCO is local and he wouldn't be living there? 

There really is no advice to give. He has to make a decision as to what he wants. Have him reach out to some of the guys on the juco he is considering and see how they're doing socially. I'm sure there are still parties and apartments/houses around campuses that the guys hang out at. 

The one thing that did stand out to me was that he was being recruited by a ranked JUCO and a D3. Nationally ranked JUCOs typically have D1-D2/draft talent. If he is a D3 type recruit, make sure he is walking into the right situation at the juco because I'm sure there are going to be some very good players headed there. 

The JUCO offer is local and he would probably not live at home, thus giving him somewhat of a "college experience". The JUCO that offered him has a respected program and many of the players do go on to play D1 or D2 ball after a year or two. The JUCO offer will give my son another year or two to develop or not into a D1 or D2 baseball player, which is what he needs.

I know others on this message board have probably been in my shoes and I thought would get some advice or opinions. 

Toolman my 2019 also is going the JUCO route (btw..we had a nice ceremony Wednesday on NSD).    I think its also tough on him since he has grown up with a big SEC school down the street from where we live.  One of his main criteria was choosing a school not too far away from home.   He had plenty of D2 and D3 reaching out to him, and a mid major D1,  but he did not want to go off to another state to a school in the middle of nowhere.  The JUCO is about an hour away with dorms/apartments that he will live in.  He is also fortunate that a great friend of his is also going their to play baseball and will be his roommate.    Of his core group of high school friends, all are leaving town to play either college football or baseball.   So that has helped.  Another huge selling point is the JUCO coach.  A former MLB pitcher who seems to really care about his players/recruits.   When my son goes up to visit with him or to watch practice the coach will call to check on if he got home o.k.   Another factor my son wanted was ZERO college debt.  With 100% tuition and books for the first two years it looks like that will happen.  I am also partial to JUCO since I am a professor at one (not the one he is going to).    Finally, with further development (got to get that fastball faster because from what I have seen that is all that matters), he will hopefully get picked up by a four year school.  So Toolman congrats to your son and I hope he has a great two years!!

Great advice by others.  If those doubts are weighing heavily, his level of motivation and commitment will quite likely not be enough to get him through the grind of college baseball.  That said, I think many do weigh that concern along the process. 

One of my sons in a similar situation stumbled upon a great "compromise".  He went to a JC in San Diego but found housing very near SD State and managed to partake in many of the big D1 experiences while there.  Win, win.  Without that type of arrangement, your son is correct... the typical JC experience is not the same as the typical big D1 experience.  How important is the opportunity to compete in college baseball to him?  Significant sacrifices will be made.

I would caution expectations though.  It is uncommon for a player to enter JC pegged as a D3 talent to emerge as a D1 target.  The majority of these types of players end up D2, NAIA or done.  And, as others have mentioned, most players underestimate the level of competition going in at decent JC programs.  

What you described with your son is similar to what I am dealing with. The JUCO is in the same city that we live in and the university he would attend if he doesn't play baseball is in the city we live in. So, my thought is he could still get that "college experience", live in apartments with the baseball team, and attend the football games, tailgate, "party", etc. I've had the financial talk with him and tried to get him to understand that component of his decision.

I appreciate all the replies.

I have not read any responses so if this is a repeat, I apologize. 

That’s really a tough one. I get both sides of the argument but I have repeatedly told my son to TRY not make life changing decisions based on his high school friends. Now, I know how difficult that is for 17 year old but he has to pursue his dreams and sometimes that’s a lonely journey for a season.

Social media may change this but most people are not friends with kids they went to high school with. Most of the folks that I know developed lifelong friendships with people who they went to college with or afterwards. 

The flipside of that is if he will be miserable without the true college experience, is it worth it?

Lastly, I hope this isn’t the case of its “D1 or bust” because if he loves the game, he’ll definitely regret not playing. 

I sometimes wonder how many kids who dream of playing college ball have any idea what is the schedule in a day in the life of a college baseball player. That the schedule is so tight there isn’t time for eight hours of sleep. There are mid week road games with bus trips that arrive back on campus late. There are weekend series where the team bus arrives back on campus at 3am and the player needs to get a signature from the professor of his 8am class to prove he showed up. If he doesn’t keep his grades up none of this will matter. On the bus a bored teammate majoring in basket weaving will be pinging his ears from behind as he tries to study.

If a kid is on the fence he needs to understand what he’s getting into. Otherwise he will quickly fall off the fence to the no play side as soon as something doesn’t go his way. 

The other consideration is transferring credits from the Juco. There has been many threads about this, Many ball players have gone the JUCO route and found out that they do not have enough credits transfer, to qualify, or they did not take the right classes at the JUCO. I do not know anything about the JUCO your son is considering, so I am not pointing fingers. However a large part of that responsibility, falls to the athlete and not the coaching staff. 

But to play College ball is a huge commitment. If he is waffling about it, I would caution against it. There are two kinds of Regrets here. I wish I would have played ball, and I wish I would had time to enjoy the rest of the college experience. He has to balance what is important to him. Not anyone else. 

I went through this myself, for myself.  I grew up in south Texas and when I was graduating my friends were all making plans to go to Texas or aTm. I had the opportunity to play JUCO ball out in west Texas and I took it.  The school was in the middle of nowhere and was the complete opposite of the big/ D1 college experience.  While there I thought it was awful.

However, as my 50+ year old self looks back, I would not trade it for anything.  I have lifelong friends from those days.  And, yes, I often wonder how it would be if I made the other decision.

I guess my point is that he will have wonder/ regret with either decision.  He will also remember fondly about the decision he did make.  I think in the long run he wins either way.

>>> I wish I would have had time to enjoy the rest of the college experience. <<<

I felt this way when I finished playing college ball. I asked both kids if they felt it when they were done. They did. But like me with a chance to do it over they would choose to play again.

Both kids spent their summer after college graduation at the shore having a good time. They worked summer type beach jobs and played. They had spent every summer since age eleven with baseball/softball being the primary summer activity. We went on vacations in August. But baseball/softball always came first.

To quote my son, “I’m going to have a few beers this summer. In my more lucid moments I’ll create a game plan to find a job in the fall.” In August he informed me he already had a job lined up to start in September. It was from his previous summer internship.

In most cases the "college experience" that baseball players have is vastly different from the "college experience" that regular students have.  After 4 years of college, my son ended up with very few friends within his major, let alone the general student population.  His circle of friends was basically his teammates and their girlfriends.  As a friend of mine puts it, when you're playing college baseball, baseball is your frat.  I tend to be anti-frat, but I get his point. 

After 4 years, son was one engineering project class from getting his degree.  He had to go back for one extra semester, which the school paid for.  He called it his Victory Lap.  He also told me that until that semester he never realized exactly how much of the typical "college experience" he missed.  

I've known a number of kids who played a year of DII ball and decided that playing a little baseball at their 2d, 10th, or 47th choice was simply not worth forgoing the "college experience."  I get that.  But, I also understand the kids that make the opposite decision.  Bottom line, college baseball isn't for everyone.  Either way, I don't see it as something they, or their parents should lose any sleep other.  Make a decision and move on.  Or, as Satchel Paige said, "Never look back, something might be gaining on you."

Toolman .......Something else I’ve stressed to my son is that having a successful college baseball experience on his resume will be a big bonus no matter what he decides to do in life.

Go D3..still time to hook up as a pitcher...send videos asap.