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Exciting day today for my 2018 with coaches being able to email/text.  We are now at the point where the emails he has gotten today look slightly better than the generic camp invite.  I have been on here for the last 2 years or so and know that there is no one size fits all answer.  However, in the hierarchy of contacts with potential recruits from the college perspective, I am trying to understand how they narrow the field.  I know the schools will get hundreds/thousands of emails/questionaires filled out and that is a ton of data to sort thru.  When you get to this point, have they vetted any of that information to narrow the potential recruit list, are they still casting large net, are they still just trying to generate camp revenue, and is there anything consistent at this point.  I do know the "You'll know when you are being recruited" mantra, but just want to be able to balance sons excitement with the contacts and what might be more in line with the actual recruiting process.  He understands that the generic camp invites go out to thousands so this is just next step on journey of understanding.

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nxt lvl posted:

I thought the new recruiting rules for 2016 made the Quiet Period from August 22 - September 8.

How does that effect the Juniors?? Does that mean that they wont start getting contacts until NEXT WEEK, the 8th of September?

 

That simply means they can't make contact or watch competition during this period. They are now allowed to email, text or phone juniors as of midnight last night. So, if you're in a Labor Day tourney don't expect any D1 scouts there.

This was just sent to my son and is a pretty good guide:

Please see the list below of NCAA rules regarding phone calls, e-mails, contacts, and visits.

High School Underclassman (if it is before September 1 of your junior year)
-We cannot initiate any calls.
-We cannot send you an e-mail unless it is regarding one of our Showcase Camps.
-We cannot return a call or an e-mail unless it is regarding one of our Showcase Camps.
-We cannot have in-person, off-campus contact with you unless it is at a baseball camp.

High School Junior (if it is after September 1 of your junior year)
-We cannot initiate any calls.
-We cannot return a call unless it is regarding one of our Showcase Camps.
-We may have unlimited e-mail correspondence with you.
-We cannot have in-person, off-campus contact with you unless it is at a baseball camp.

High School Senior (if it is after July 1 of your junior year)

-During a Contact Period or a Dead Period, we may have unlimited phone conversations with you.
-During a Quiet Period, we may make one phone call per week to you.
-During a Contact Period, we may have in-person, off-campus contact with you.
-During a Quiet Period, we cannot have in-person, off-campus contact with you unless it is at a baseball camp.

Unofficial Visits
An unofficial visit is when you visit XXXXX University at your own expense at any time during high school or afterwards.  There are no limitations on the number of unofficial visits you may take or the number of times you may visit one school.

Official Visits
An official visit is paid for by XXXXX University. You can take five official visits beginning on the first day of classes your senior year in high school. Beginning October 15 after your senior year of high school, you may take five more official visits.

We woke to the similar Sept 1 emails to son.  One email seemed to be just a bit better than the "template" email camp invite response; the others seemed to be more personal.   I would think the emails give the player comfort that he's been noticed, and the player is officially being recruited by that college.  But the player needs to realize he's still one of how many being looked at by the coach  

Fortunately the recruits can now actually get responses to their emails to the coaches.  

Thanks for starting this thread, I'm curious what our members comments are.

MidAtlanticDad posted:
FriarFred posted:

This was just sent to my son and is a pretty good guide:

Please see the list below of NCAA rules regarding phone calls, e-mails, contacts, and visits.

Good summary. This was from a DI school, right?

Yes - D1 but believe it is also consistent with D2 schools as well and obviously doesnt apply to D3 or NAIA

NCAA September 2016 CALENDARS
Baseball – Division I 
Sept. 1-8 – Quiet Period: Unlimited calls permitted to JUCOs, 2017, and 2018 HS grads. No off-campus recruiting activities permitted. 
Sept. 9-30 – Contact Period: Unlimited calls permitted to JUCOs, 2017, and 2018 HS grads. Off-campus recruiting activities permitted. 
 
 
 
Last edited by Gov
FriarFred posted:
MidAtlanticDad posted:
FriarFred posted:

This was just sent to my son and is a pretty good guide:

Please see the list below of NCAA rules regarding phone calls, e-mails, contacts, and visits.

Good summary. This was from a DI school, right?

Yes - D1 but believe it is also consistent with D2 schools as well and obviously doesnt apply to D3 or NAIA

DII has some differences, too. For example, June 15 after sophomore year for phone contact.

Gov posted:
I didn't think D1's could call Juniors (2018's) before July 1 after their junior year.  I kept hearing that had changed... finally found it within NCAA:
NCAA September 2016 CALENDARS
Baseball – Division I 
Sept. 1-8 – Quiet Period: Unlimited calls permitted to JUCOs, 2017, and 2018 HS grads. No off-campus recruiting activities permitted. 
Sept. 9-30 – Contact Period: Unlimited calls permitted to JUCOs, 2017, and 2018 HS grads. Off-campus recruiting activities permitted. 
 
THIS definitely conflicts with everything I was seeing and what is posted above.  If anybody knows differently please speak up...
 

I'm not sure I understand the above, but DI can make phone contact beginning September 1 at the beginning of junior year (Section 13.1.3.1).

http://www.ncaapublications.com/

If you get them, congratulations...enjoy it and make something of the ones that matter to you. Do your part and apply common sense to the process. I recall asking about this date and the rules/emails back in 2014 and Sept 1st came and my son got a few, VCU, WVU & Pitt. Two were legitimate "You're the type of player we see on our team" and one was a hybrid camp invite. 

roothog66 posted:

Nothing much to report. A handful of emails, more personal than camp invites. A couple mentioned having seen him pitch. Most included coaches number. Strangely, nothing from schools he was already in contact with.

Root-

My son's situation would make me think this isn't so strange.  My guess is those schools feel like they are past that stage.

After son comitted there were many paranoid moments for dad where I could not believe how little contact the coaches had with my son.  Some of that comes from reading all the horror stories on here.  Over time I realized they knew he was in the boat and they were busting it to find his teammates to keep the program at a high level.  He's on campus now and living the dream.

Those schools have a "better than email" relationship with your son I would guess.  But I get it.  In this process it is easy to scratch your head over lots of stuff.

Good Luck to your son

Son received a few emails today.  Few questions for those who may have insights.

is it only D1 schools that will typically send emails on 9/1?

About what percentage of D1s, would you guess, send out emails on 9/1?

schools my son has had contact with  did not email, schools he has had less    Or no contact with emailed. Is that unique or is it not surprising?

is it an accurate measure to judge what level and number of schools may be looking at your son by looking at the emails received 9/1.

will more of these emails likely trickle in for a week or so?

Thanks for any input you may have.

 

MidAtlanticDad posted:
FriarFred posted:
MidAtlanticDad posted:
FriarFred posted:

This was just sent to my son and is a pretty good guide:

Please see the list below of NCAA rules regarding phone calls, e-mails, contacts, and visits.

Good summary. This was from a DI school, right?

Yes - D1 but believe it is also consistent with D2 schools as well and obviously doesnt apply to D3 or NAIA

DII has some differences, too. For example, June 15 after sophomore year for phone contact.

September 1 quiet period rules does not apply to D2.

I have a couple of questions from my more experienced friends here as well as an observation or two. First, the observation. My 2018 received basically two kinds of emails yesterday. The first group would be fairly generic that seem to be reaching out to increase their data base. The second were emails that spelled out exactly when and where they had seen him and a couple specifically asked him to call them and asked if he was close to committing anywhere. All were from schools he had not even as much as reached out to with emails. A few really peaked his interest.

The other thing that has baffled me is the seemingly total lack of interest from mid-major schools. There have been a handful of mid-major schools that he has emailed, unsuccessfully tried to call their coaches, and even tried to set up visits. These schools have all but ignored him. His interest is genuine and it's a little annoying because they would seem to be schools that logic would say they should pursue him heavily given interest. Does this seem normal? Is it perhaps that a lot of mid-majors simply don't budget for aggressive recruiting? 

 

Willymac posted:

I am a 2018 as well. I recieved an email from some d1 schools today. One said that i was on their recruiting list and asked me to fill out information so that they could recruit me. I was wondering if this is something a school would send out in a mass email or if it is more personal. Thanks

just bumping this so Willy gets some help.

One very important thing to keep in mind during the recruiting process. Schools recruit a player not the other way around.  It really doesn't matter how much interest a player has shown in a program, unless there is mutual interest.

I would pursue the programs that have shown a sincere interest at this time.

TPM posted:

One very important thing to keep in mind during the recruiting process. Schools recruit a player not the other way around.  It really doesn't matter how much interest a player has shown in a program, unless there is mutual interest.

I would pursue the programs that have shown a sincere interest at this time.

While there's a lot of truth to that, I also find many schools didn't know they had an interest - maybe didn't even consider it, maybe for geographic situations, etc. - until my 2018 showed an interest in them first. My question was more geared toward more obvious matches. To get more specific, my own son has interest in a particular middle of the pack Sun Belt school that doesn't appear to have any 2018 commits, both my wife an I are alumni, my son would be most likely one of the top players at his position showing interest, etc. I tend to wonder if their recruiting effort just isn't well organized. I'm convinced the emails aren't read and voice mails not heard. It could also be that some schools save their energy for picking off seniors who were targeted but eventually dropped by bigger schools (it does seem that this particular school doesn't commit guys until late).

Also wanted to add - and sorry I'm so vague here - that my son did get a text yesterday from a coach who asked him to call asap. It's a school that, frankly, we had never considered but was interesting for a lot of reasons. He called and they had a talk. This coach had seen him play three times and offered on the phone. It's unlikely he'll accept, mainly due to geographical concerns, but it was interesting to see that there was genuine, serious interest from schools we didn't even know were watching him.

Willymac posted:

I am a 2018 as well. I recieved an email from some d1 schools today. One said that i was on their recruiting list and asked me to fill out information so that they could recruit me. I was wondering if this is something a school would send out in a mass email or if it is more personal. Thanks

Willy, If this is a school you're genuinely interested in, fill out the questionnaire.  My son received a couple of these yesterday as well... we're viewing them not as a mass email to 1000 kids, but maybe a large emailing to 200 players or so that were selected using a filter thru PG or PBR. 

You can always call the coach and ask where they saw you play and what showcases or camps they'll be at in the next 2 months.

2018 received 8 emails yesterday:

2 were an improved version of a mass email likely generated through a PG or PBR filter. 

4 were personal emails

2 were very personal emails asking for specific follow up information.

6 of the 8 were schools he's reached out to, and 2 of those have seen him play.  The 2 who've seen him play were the 2 that sent very personal emails.

Nothing exciting, but son was pleased get confirmation that he's on the radar of schools he's interested in.  It will be interesting to see where he's at with these schools a year from now.

 

roothog66 posted:

Also wanted to add - and sorry I'm so vague here - that my son did get a text yesterday from a coach who asked him to call asap. It's a school that, frankly, we had never considered but was interesting for a lot of reasons. He called and they had a talk. This coach had seen him play three times and offered on the phone. It's unlikely he'll accept, mainly due to geographical concerns, but it was interesting to see that there was genuine, serious interest from schools we didn't even know were watching him.

I will repeat one more time, schools recruit players, unless your son is a stud, then he may have multiple offers.

roothog66 posted:

I have a couple of questions from my more experienced friends here as well as an observation or two. First, the observation. My 2018 received basically two kinds of emails yesterday. The first group would be fairly generic that seem to be reaching out to increase their data base. The second were emails that spelled out exactly when and where they had seen him and a couple specifically asked him to call them and asked if he was close to committing anywhere. All were from schools he had not even as much as reached out to with emails. A few really peaked his interest.

The other thing that has baffled me is the seemingly total lack of interest from mid-major schools. There have been a handful of mid-major schools that he has emailed, unsuccessfully tried to call their coaches, and even tried to set up visits. These schools have all but ignored him. His interest is genuine and it's a little annoying because they would seem to be schools that logic would say they should pursue him heavily given interest. Does this seem normal? Is it perhaps that a lot of mid-majors simply don't budget for aggressive recruiting? 

 

I don't know if its normal or not - but we had a similar experience with our older son - who was considered a top tier recruit.  Like your other story, he even reached out with a very personal letter to my alma mater (mid-D1) and gave 3 or 4 specific reasons why he would be interested including 'Grandma lives and works near campus.'  No response other than a camp invite - and our son ended up being near the top of all kinds of lists.

My thought is they just assumed they have no chance - especially from a kid over 1,000 miles away.  Still, I thought it was at best, lazy on their part.  That coach never rose above mediocrity and no longer is a college coach.

Yet another interesting story related to your son's phone call - when our older son got his first calls on July 1 (yes, that was still relevant back then), an ACC coach offered him on the phone too.  Our son told him, 'yes, he was interested.'  Yet he never, ever heard from him again.  Weird.

I'll say this again - having said it before - and I know others have had different experiences so take this with a grain of salt.  But looking in the rearview mirror, September 1 had no relevance whatsoever to either of our son's recruitment or decision.  None.  Zero.  Just another day on the calendar.

 

Last edited by justbaseball

Just to be a "me too" guy, my 2018 received a flurry of those emails.

Yes the content on them has shifted slightly from "come to our camp" to "we like you. do you like us?"

My 2018 responded to most of them. A few schools replied back immediately. One asked for transcripts. One he was definitely not interested in and told them so. My boy knew that coach from past camps and they are staying in touch anyway.

Maybe something. Maybe nothing. It's fall ball season. A couple camps coming up. He's still playing and having fun.

roothog66 posted:

Just as an aside, I wouldn't consider my son a stud, but rather an "almost stud." At least right now, he isn't the guy that upper level D1's absolutely have to have. He is the guy they'll go after when thy don't get the guy they felt like they have to have. So, we cast a wide net.

I wasnt implying your son wasnt a stud, just that it really doesnt matter how much interest a player shows, it doesnt mean interest on their part.

I agree with what JBB has posted, this really may not mean much in the general scheme of things.  Its just the beginning of the contact period.

TPM posted:
roothog66 posted:

Just as an aside, I wouldn't consider my son a stud, but rather an "almost stud." At least right now, he isn't the guy that upper level D1's absolutely have to have. He is the guy they'll go after when thy don't get the guy they felt like they have to have. So, we cast a wide net.

I wasnt implying your son wasnt a stud, just that it really doesnt matter how much interest a player shows, it doesnt mean interest on their part.

I agree with what JBB has posted, this really may not mean much in the general scheme of things.  Its just the beginning of the contact period.

I wasn't really responding to anything you were saying, TPM. My point was that, just as you will sometimes here from a school with interest in you that you might not have even thought about, often you will show interest in a school that hasn't thought about you until they know you have interest. Then they might take a look and develop interest. For the vast majority of players, they will need to steer attention in their direction. My son is not a total unknown, but is currently being recruited seriously by more than one school that hardly knew he existed before my son showed interest in the school. Then they did a little research and liked what they found. Recruiting is a two way street. Schools want kids to want to play for them just as much as players want schools to want them to play.

Well, maybe I just dont follow your point. If you had the answer why would you ask?  Obviously there are programs recruiting your son,  so new contact my not be necessary.

When a coach sees a player he wants, he really doesnt care if you have interest or not, they will find a way to get you qinterested. That would include inviting a player on an unoffiial visit, making a point to watch him play, etc.  This is the courting period.  There is a lot of time left for things to happen for 2018s.

 

I don't know if I've somehow offended you. My only question is would it be normal for a mid-major to act as I've found them to act. My point was that laying back and waiting for a school to notice your talent doesn't work for very many kids. Often, you have to the one to get them interested. I have experience from two viewpoints. The first is from my days as a pitching coach at a highly respected large high school. This experience is 20 years old and not really relevant anymore. In those days, recruiters came to high school coaches for info on players. Heck, they quite often didn't even know how hard he threw - just knew it a kid threw hard or he didn't. That experience is now useless.

I'm simply saying that there are schools recruiting my son that had zero interest in him existed until he courted them.

I'll give you an example. A certain Big XII school. My son emailed several times. Called every coach on the list a few times. Set up a school tour and tried calling to ask about meeting the coaches. Nothing but crickets. He and his mom went anyway (it was on the way back from Atlanta) and took the tour. Then they went by the field. A guy drives by in a pickup and asks if he's looking for anyone. Dalton introduces himself and the guy tells him he is the head coach. Tells him to come back after lunch and he'd have someone come open the gates so he could see the field if he wanted. After lunch, HC doesn't send anyone, but shows up himself and spends two hours showing the kid around. They now have a relationship and an offer is probably coming soon. Coach admitted that he had gone to lunch and pulled up his PG profile page. This coach had never considered my son before he showed up on his doorstep. He then sent the pitching coach to watch him in San Diego. It's a two way street. It's not as simple as "schools recruit the player, the player doesn't recruit the school." Outside of the small group of players who can point to a school and say, "I'll take that one," players have to take an active role in selling themselves.

This is an exciting thread...September 1st...I remember.... eMails sent (camp propaganda), true intentions (I've seen you play and I like it), and general ones hoping that you answer to get your email address as "alive" for future camp info. Nonetheless, it is exciting because our kids future baseball depends on how we react to all of these things and what advice we give the kids on how to follow up.

One thing that I have observe while reading all the comments is that everybody is correct. It is a two way street and priorities depend on from which point is being seen. For instance, a HC (school) is the one that offers, no offer, no play. If a kid is a stud, HCs are going to be fighting for the kid telling him why their program and school is "the one" for him, and in this case more power is to the kid. Power conference teams generally don't go out and about to 'scout' players, very few do and they just go to see a particular kid. The big schools collect the best players around them, close by, without really having to work too hard to woo them. For example, Uinv of Miami has about 80% of their players from FL and most from Miami, same with LSU and others. For the big schools, a kid out of town is usually recommended by someone the HC trust and if possible, they will check him out. But for what I have seen, a power conference HC is not running to look at kids. Once the have their studs in line, they will beg them to come to their place, and if the kid is good, he gets drafted and HC tries to get his lower choice. 

However, there are some great players (that may not be close to a big bb school) that don't get to be seen by some HC and that are indeed studs. But if the coach does not see you, you can not be evaluated. Which now brings me to the point I want to make. A player's responsibility is to "market" himself to the schools that his interested in; and how do you do that?  Yes, players can email all they want to coaches and the bigger the school, the less likely that the email will be seen or replied to (except put in the camp list). And I don't blame the coach, just imagine how many email he must receive! So, it is really a combination of things. Create your profile, build a "website" as your reference with all information, like johnny_mack_baseball@xxxx.com, and reference with coaches and other communication. Everybody knows that players have to market themselves at showcases, summer tournaments, and whatever other avenue they can find HC eyeballs and the "five" minutes of attention, and this is hard and also you need a little luck. If a kid is a good player and has very good grades, focus on academic D1s and high baseball academic D3s for a best chance. If a kid is a good player and has so so grades, good but not great, focus on mid-D1s lower lever where you can have some 'reach' to get the HC involved (look at your site, tell him that you are coming to his camp so he can see you, etc). If a kid is a good player and grades are not what you as a dad wanted, then look at jucos. If a kid is not that good then we have a problem. But us a parents we have to focus where our market is for the kid.

Just my opinion on a great discussion. Just a final note, I once heard a PC tell the HC that so and so called (a mom of a kid) and that he talked to her and she was saying...my kid this and that, etc,...and the HC said, why did you answer the phone?...they don't return unsolicited calls and usually don't want them, just like we do with telemarketers, no matter how great their product is!

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