Sending Emails as a 2010 still

If I were you, more than emails I'd pick up the phone and call the coaches at schools you're interested in attending. Even more important, if some of those schools are close enough to drive to and still playing fall ball, I'd get in the car, go watch them scrimmage and then go down on the field after the game and talk to the coach. But, you're running out of time with quiet/dead periods coming up, so I'd do this sooner, not later.

Overall, you still have time. Very few students have the opportunity to sign an NLI in November, even though it sometimes seems like everyone else is doing it but you. Lots of guys end up with deals after the early signing period has passed, and it is much more important to find the right overall 'fit' than it is to sign early.

You need to compile a list of programs that fit what you are looking for academically and athletically. Then locate the email addresses / phone numbers of the coaches for those programs. The best way in my opinion is to email over a recruiting video first so they have a chance to see some footage of you and then follow up with a phone call. If you are concerned with "fit" then signing early is not going to be the best option for you.

PS Check your email

I'll disagree with tholm a little bit. I would not encourage you to send over a video prior to calling and speaking with the coach. Most unsolicited videos are not seen by the recruiting coordinator or head coach unless they are expecting it, or have requested it. Those other videos usually get viewed by a volunteer assistant and then trashed unless he thinks it's worth the other coaches seeing.

The best thing you can do is get personally involved, make those call and visits. Show them the person, and you can't do that as well in an email.

Thanks for all of the responses. I think the problem I've ran into CatcherDad touched on: I've sent my video to many coaches, and followed up with phone calls to many schools of interest, however, rarely have I received responses because they aren't expecting it. I've also played well this year in a large geographical range (OK, IL, GA, FL, Mid Atlantic Area). So I hope the right fit comes up. Please correct me if I misunderstood, but phone calls would be the right thing at this point?

Lastly, if some schools are not in driving distance, how would I be able to get in front of these d1s and d2s due to the quiet period?

Thank You All

quote:

I also have one or two JUCO options(but being a 3.96 student with upper 1900 SATs, this isn't what I'm looking to do either)

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss JCs as an option, espiecially if you want to continue playing in college and/or need to prove to a coach that you can play at the college level. There are plenty of academic and athletic opportunities at JCs. Leagues in CA are like a year round college and pro showcases.

Academically some prefer JCs as a starting point, even with good grades, especially if they are not keen on sharing a classroom with 900 other students.

The best thing my son ever did was to transfer back to a JC.

QA few questions here:

Have schools of your choice seen you play?
What events did you play in this past season ( spring/summer/fall)?
What team did you play on this summer and fall ?

With your academics and you have been seen you should be getting interest if you have baseball talent that interests them

TRHIT. You have a PM.

For others, briefly,

1. Yes. They have seen me play.
2. East Cobb, Jupiter, Team One, etc..
3. Teams from MD. Pro-Scout Team too.

MidAtlantic - you are getting excellent advice in this thread.

I think you are in a pretty good position having the JUCO option to fall back on. That has always been my advice is find at least one program that wants you and work from there.

CollegeParent is exactly right about JUCO's. These are not institutions designed for second-class students. The reason they are called "Junior" is because they only offer two years of a four-year undergraduate degree. I attended a JUCO and after my time there, I was accepted into some top academic schools with no questions asked. My JUCO GPA did all the talking for me. When I graduated from the four year school, my diploma only listed the four year school's name. English, math, science, humanties, etc. are the same at a JUCO as they are at a four year school. I would argue they are better at the JUCO in many cases because of the smaller class sizes and individualized/ personalized instruction.

I like 06catcherdad's advice about calling them. This will help you focus your efforts. You can tell right away whether they are interested or if you should focus somewhere else. Keep calling them until you talk to the recruiting coordinator or the coach. Don't just sit around waiting for the phone to ring or an e-mail to appear. Make this happen and it will. Also, each time you speak to a coach, ask them if they are aware of other opportuinities. Sometimes, a school may like your talent but they don't have a need for your position at the present time. They very likely might be aware of other opportunties however. If you do get a lead this way, let the next coach you speak to because of the lead know that you were talking to coach so and so and he recommended that you call.

MidAtlanticBaseball, if you do end up at a JUCO and desire to transfer to a 4-year university, do your homework beforehand and find out if the schools you are interested in welcome JUCO transfers. Here are some excerpts from educational resources on the web:

quote:

Various factors that affect higher education also have spurred on such reputable institutions like Cornell to broaden, even market to the community college population.

quote:

Depending on the type of college and the program into which you plan to transfer you will likely face different obstacles. Some colleges and universities require a rather well-endowed GPA, such as the University of Virginia that requires a 3.4 and limits the programs into which state community college graduates may transfer. Others, like the UC system expect a 2.4 GPA, without limitations on majors or departments.

quote:

Most of the private schools at the top don’t take very many transfer students. For example, Harvard only took 75 last year — and that is twice the usual amount. On top of that, most of the transfer students they do take are from highly regarded four year colleges, not from community colleges. Yale gets between 800-900 applications per year for transfer students, and only accepts 25-35. Princeton does not accept transfer students. Brown accepts about 100. Cornell may be your best bet. They accept about 700 per year. I suspect that the majority of students who transfer to Cornell get into the state sponsored colleges — so your chances are best if you want to study engineering or agriculture. The bad news is that I don’t think you will get into an Ivy League school with a 3.8 from a community college. The good news is that you can get into an excellent public university. If you really want Ivy — your best bet is to continue doing well at a public university, then apply to Ivy League schools for graduate school.

ClevelandDad: JUCO is definitely a option I haven't shut the door on. I've tried not to shut ANY doors for recruiting. I'm still looking at all my options equally.

Infield08: I appreciate your excerpts very much. This is a conversation I've had a lot with my parents. They, as many parents would, want me to attend an IVY or Small IVY-but not turned away from JUCO if it's what is right. But, more importantly, they want me to make sure I get a good degree from a good school. I appreciate the information that I can share with them on specific IVY transfers. All of this information is great.

I've already contacted several schools, just based on this information, so thanks so much!

With regards to sending over a recruiting video I tend to disagree with the common thought here that they get seen by a "volunteer" and end up in the trash. I know a few recruiting coordinators and their feeling is that the video is the BEST way to see a player from out of their local area. A good recruiting coordinator will watch EVERY video that gets sent over. In most cases, an unsolicited phone call will end in the same thing, the recruiting coordinator or whatever coach you happen to get on the phone will ask you to send over a recruiting video. Cut out that phase, send over the video, and then follow up. If the coach tells you he hasn't seen it, let him know that you sent it recently and it should be there at the school. Just my 2 cents.

If I were a coach, I would watch all videos sent to me. I believe I watch most of them posted here on the hsbbweb. There is nothing to lose and lots to gain imho.

I think the youtube link or other comparable technology is the best way to send a video these days. You can then deliver it instantly to the coach via e-mail.

21 I totally agree.
Son didn't attend showcases and we relied on video, email and follow up phone calls. Some of the larger schools had assistants that viewed the DVD and reported to the HC or co coordinator.
We had great success with video but the follow up is important. I had to chase one HC for over a month. Finally he viewed the DVD and called with an offer.
Not sure why people struggle with this.

Let me just clarify so we are all on the same page. If you are talking about sending a video to a big time D1 program such as Florida, Florida State, Arizona State, Cal Fullerton, etc. then most of you are right in that some volunteer assistant probably gets those and does what he pleases with them. The big time programs don't rely on video because they don't have to, the get whoever they want. However for every other program (mid level D1, low level D1, D2, etc.) send the video because most likely it will get seen by the recruiting coordinator.

All of this information is great. Thank you very much to everyone.

I've used the video as much as possible, sending it to coaches as a preview if they want to see me play, or for out-of-region coaches. Unfortunately, I've never really gotten feedback. Either: I saw some things I liked, or nothing. Is this a bad thing? Would there be a more effective way of doing this? I do infact offer my video to all coaches, so I hope that helps.

21 I agree but we did have response from Miami. Yes it was from an assistant who viewed the DVD. The fact is that most schools have assistants that are volunteers.
I would think that this guy isn't concerned about big time U.

Are you following up to see what the coach thought if he has viewed your video.
The school my son chose didn't respond to a questionnaire we filled out. No video sent. I called and got him on the line. Told him I was surprised he didn't respond to the questionnaire. Was surprised that he didn't with a player who had great marks etc.
He pulled the questionnaire and noticed we had a DVD and asked us to send it. We did and he immediately called and said "We have to talk". He was concerned about eligibility because he was pitching against MiLB players and pro players. We had to talk to the AD about this. Once eligibility was established a verbal offer was made. We negotiated a better deal. The offer was FedEx the next day.
You have to follow up.

MidAtlantic, have you considered attending some college camps during the quiet period? A lot of college coaches work at these camps during the quiet period, which is the only way they're allowed to lay their eyes on you during this time. More than a few of the boys who've played for me have ended up with college baseball deals that were helped along, or initiated, by attending one of these camps.

There are a bunch of them out here in the West, and I'm sure you've got a bunch back east as well.

I've tried to follow up with emails/phone calls, bu most of these have gone unanswered. I do rarely receive some feedback, but nothing substantial-mostly "Okay, I'll try to make it here (insert place I'm playing next)."

Also, CatcherDad I would be interested what these camps are. Are they camps to specific schools? Or is it an instructional camp with college coaches? I will attend Southern MD Baseball Camp -which brings in a lot of coaches. I'd be interested in what camps are out West-as there are several schools I am interested/talked briefly with out there.

Thank You.

Hi, MidAtlantic; you have a PM

I can't speak for your part of the country, but out here some of the upcoming camps include St. Mary's College prospects camp, USC prospects camp, the "Big 3" prospects camp, which is a camp run jointly by Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Long Beach State. There are other camps, such at Top96 that also get a lot of college coaches to work at them. Many schools have Christmas camps also.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
21 I totally agree.
Son didn't attend showcases and we relied on video, email and follow up phone calls. Some of the larger schools had assistants that viewed the DVD and reported to the HC or co coordinator.
We had great success with video but the follow up is important. I had to chase one HC for over a month. Finally he viewed the DVD and called with an offer.
Not sure why people struggle with this.

he called back with an offer? that video must've been great!

I sent emails and profiles and even asked coaches what they wanted to see. They say they can never get to all the emails. But they say if a DVD comes to their office they see every DVD. So send that DVD with profile. Follow up in a week or two. Ask if they've seen it and what they think? Go from there. My son and I did all that, got lots of return emails. But the one thing that got him a full ride was an Area Code Tryout. You never know. He is a senior with a full ride at a JUCO but looking at options to get into a D1. Take the sure thing and work for a better fit if you see one. But a JUCO if it is in a D1 JUCO program that gets alot of quality players drafted from is not all bad. If you can put up numbers at a quality JUCO school you will get your opportunities down the road. You can get playing time at the same time get your core courses out of the way and jump right into D1 being an impact player out of the gate.IMO Hit the ground running!! Go for it! good luck