So how confidential is it?

At the risk of responding obliquely to your question, I'll say this:

Recruiters are painfully aware that they can't recruit every player that they see that they like; usually because they've already filled their own need for players at that position with those characteristics or they're aware that the player is predisposed to go another direction. Meanwhile, most of them are relative contemporaries and they know one another; and there's a certain amount of fraternal bond that exists among them.

This sometimes causes them to talk among themselves about various players they see; making it fairly frequently the case that a recruiter wearing a certain school's gear ends up serving as a proxy for another. In extreme cases, a recruiter from School A, knowing that he won't be able to see a certain upcoming event will call his former teammate and long-time friend at School B and ask him to watch and evaluate a player at the event in whom he has interest. It is in part because of this that you sometimes read here that you never know who's watching.

Countering all of this is the awareness that some of them are head-to-head competitors; a consideration that tends to trump legacy relationships. The combination of all of this forces recruiters to maintain an informed, street-savvy sense to their communications with their peers and makes it virtually impossible for players and their parents to know a recruiter's actual intent and level of interest when they see them at an event.

Great response Prepster.

Baseball is a small world.    In our recruiting experience, more was known about my son than I thought possible.  That is probably the same case with your son.   

 I see this in shades of gray.  There are going to be schools that are interested in your son.   Questions are asked and relationships developed .  Your son provides a level of information that continues the coaches interest and relationship.   Then there are schools and coaches that are seriously interested in your son.   Verbal offers and assurances are provided and a higher level of information and specifics may be needed to continue that relationship.    Like any sales process there is discussion and possibly negotiation.   The offering school wants to know where they stand relative to the recruits choices if they are offering....they don't want to waste their time and money.  Time is very important to coaches....we heard that many times over.   Sometimes it becomes necessary to share some of that information with the coaches.  My son did a pretty good job of sharing only information that they needed to know when they needed to know it.  In terms of a public message board I think you should reserve a lot of information (no specifics publically) but possibly share some information privately  in a PM if it is appropriate for the situation.

I think we pretty much did the same things as fenwaysouth - and although he didn't say whether he did or not, we never divulged an amount of offer to another school.

But we prepared for that question - when asked, our sons answered, "My parents have asked that I not tell you what School-X offered, but they have told me that it is enough so that I can choose that school if I want too."

Response from coaches was always, "Thats fair, thanks."

Other schools know what kind of recruit you are, and although they may not know exactly what your offer $/% is, they most likely have a good idea.

Depending on where your son is in the recruiting process, coaches from a greater distance away, may have questions as to why a more regionally connected school has not offered your son.  For instance, when Midwest Power 5 schools became interested in Ryno, they called Western Power 5's and asked them why they had not offered him.  That proves how important it is to always be on your best behavior, and always try to put your best foot forward.  Or as many have said, "You never know who is watching".  It is truly a small world, and these coaches have a connection throughout the country.  At one time or another, they have met or coached with someone on a particular staff.   

My concern was less about whether "competing" schools knew what offers were than it was about other player/recruits.

Case in point, my son and another player both from the same HS were asked on an unofficial together.  HC made us an offer and specifically asked that we not share detail with the other player.  He was also being offered, but not for the same amount.

I think having offer amounts listed to the general recruited player base can create a lot of problems for the recruiting process.  Similar to sharing salaries in the workplace. 

 To me, it's less about what the coaches know and more about what all the other recruits know.

Nuke83 posted:

My concern was less about whether "competing" schools knew what offers were than it was about other player/recruits.

Case in point, my son and another player both from the same HS were asked on an unofficial together.  HC made us an offer and specifically asked that we not share detail with the other player.  He was also being offered, but not for the same amount.

I think having offer amounts listed to the general recruited player base can create a lot of problems for the recruiting process.  Similar to sharing salaries in the workplace. 

 To me, it's less about what the coaches know and more about what all the other recruits know.

Ryan was in the same position.  Another LP from his JC went on several recruiting trips together, and ultimately both visited and signed with Purdue.  Ryan knew what the other LP's offer was right away.  I'm not sure if he told Ryan, or the coaches did.  I am assuming they talked to each other.

Nuke83 posted:

My concern was less about whether "competing" schools knew what offers were than it was about other player/recruits.

Case in point, my son and another player both from the same HS were asked on an unofficial together.  HC made us an offer and specifically asked that we not share detail with the other player.  He was also being offered, but not for the same amount.

I think having offer amounts listed to the general recruited player base can create a lot of problems for the recruiting process.  Similar to sharing salaries in the workplace. 

 To me, it's less about what the coaches know and more about what all the other recruits know.

That's interesting because a couple of schools were pretty up front about what they were offering others. And if the school didn't share, parents did.

We were told to keep it confidential. Especially in the verbal offer stages. 

So my just curious question is — are we wrong to think that baseball is a small world and everyone pretty much knows that's up? 

After a few showcases the past few months I picked up on how some of the HC's from one school would be using other coaches to scout a kid.  Just "happened" to notice my kids name circled on a top D3's sheet to find out he was a drinking buddy with the D1 coach my son was talking with... The D1 coach seemed aloof at the event, but after each game and session he was in heavy conference with the D3 coach. 

These coaches stay at the same hotels and consume together... you have to know they talk...  Players have to avoid BS ing a coach about what other colleges are interested in him or colleges that have offered.  So easy for them to verify. And if one coach sees a negative attitude of a kid in the dugout, that observation seems to get around with the other coaches.  The moment a kid shows up in the parking lot for any event he should be at the top of his game.  Eyes are everywhere.

Son got a call from a D1 HC yesterday saying a coach at an alternate conference D1 had recommended him... The D1 school making the recommendation was at the top of my sons college list.... son had been bummed he didn't get an offer from that school but did appreciate the recommendation. 

Iowamom23 posted:

Nuke83 posted:

My concern was less about whether "competing" schools knew what offers were than it was about other player/recruits.

Case in point, my son and another player both from the same HS were asked on an unofficial together.  HC made us an offer and specifically asked that we not share detail with the other player.  He was also being offered, but not for the same amount.

I think having offer amounts listed to the general recruited player base can create a lot of problems for the recruiting process.  Similar to sharing salaries in the workplace. 

 To me, it's less about what the coaches know and more about what all the other recruits know.

That's interesting because a couple of schools were pretty up front about what they were offering others. And if the school didn't share, parents did.

Being offered or not wasn't the concern.  How much was.

Are you saying that schools told you what financial offers they were offering other players?

Nuke83 posted:

Iowamom23 posted:

Nuke83 posted:

My concern was less about whether "competing" schools knew what offers were than it was about other player/recruits.

Case in point, my son and another player both from the same HS were asked on an unofficial together.  HC made us an offer and specifically asked that we not share detail with the other player.  He was also being offered, but not for the same amount.

I think having offer amounts listed to the general recruited player base can create a lot of problems for the recruiting process.  Similar to sharing salaries in the workplace. 

 To me, it's less about what the coaches know and more about what all the other recruits know.

That's interesting because a couple of schools were pretty up front about what they were offering others. And if the school didn't share, parents did.

Being offered or not wasn't the concern.  How much was.

Are you saying that schools told you what financial offers they were offering other players?

I guess they weren't specific. Just telling my son his offer and then that they were offering "very similar" to someone else he knew. Or letting him know that his offer was "the highest" they were giving (which we always took with a grain of salt, sometimes a full shaker). Never really thought about it much at the time because I was really only worried about my son's offer.

Parents will always share - typically either as a complaint (too small!!) or as inflating what it really was ("Full ride!!").

I never really saw any parent look good by giving the information out.

Gov posted:

So my just curious question is — are we wrong to think that baseball is a small world and everyone pretty much knows that's up? 

After a few showcases this past few months I picked up on how some of the HC's from one school would be using other coaches to scout a kid.  Just "happened" to notice my kids name circled on a top D3's sheet to find out he was a drinking buddy with the D1 coach my son was talking with... The D1 coach seemed aloof at the event, but after each game and session he was in a heavy conference with the D3 guy. 

These coaches stay at the same hotels and consume together... you have to know they talk...  Players have to avoid BS ing a coach about what other colleges are interested in him or colleges that have offered.  So easy for them to verify. And if one coach sees a negative attitude of kid in the dugout, that observation seems to get around with the other coaches.  The moment a kid shows up in the parking lot for any event he should at the top of his game.  Eyes are everywhere.

Son got a call from a D1 HC yesterday saying a coach at an alternate conference D1 had recommended him... The D1 school making the recommendation was at the top of my sons college list.... son had been bummed he didn't get an offer from that school but did appreciate the recommendation. 

A couple of my son's games this summer looked like a reunion, with coaches visiting and chatting. And toward the end of the process, a couple of schools that had made him offers, but kind of knew he wasn't likely to pick them, let him know that they had talked to other coaches about him — a couple of schools that already had interest, and some new schools he hadn't heard from before.

I guess the plus side with my son was I never had to worry about his attitude in the dugout or on the field or being rude to one coach and that getting back to another. Life, and baseball, is much easier if you just raise nice kids.

justbaseball posted:

Parents will always share - typically either as a complaint (too small!!) or as inflating what it really was ("Full ride!!").

I never really saw any parent look good by giving the information out.

Growing up I was always taught to keep things private.   How much money you had or didn't have, the offers you receive, anything that dealt with money should be kept very confidential.  I will honor my grandparents and parents by closely following their wise advice.

Iowamom23 posted:

Nuke83 posted:

Iowamom23 posted:

Nuke83 posted:

My concern was less about whether "competing" schools knew what offers were than it was about other player/recruits.

Case in point, my son and another player both from the same HS were asked on an unofficial together.  HC made us an offer and specifically asked that we not share detail with the other player.  He was also being offered, but not for the same amount.

I think having offer amounts listed to the general recruited player base can create a lot of problems for the recruiting process.  Similar to sharing salaries in the workplace. 

 To me, it's less about what the coaches know and more about what all the other recruits know.

That's interesting because a couple of schools were pretty up front about what they were offering others. And if the school didn't share, parents did.

Being offered or not wasn't the concern.  How much was.

Are you saying that schools told you what financial offers they were offering other players?

I guess they weren't specific. Just telling my son his offer and then that they were offering "very similar" to someone else he knew. Or letting him know that his offer was "the highest" they were giving (which we always took with a grain of salt, sometimes a full shaker). Never really thought about it much at the time because I was really only worried about my son's offer.

That makes sense and it's very common.  As in my previous example, they told us that my son's offer was better than the other player's.  I doubt they told him his offer was less than my son's.  We also had a coach make it clear that he had one open slot for a position and he was offering to two players (one being my son), and that as soon as one of them accepted, the other offer was rescinded.  He wasn't doing it to pressure anyone, but was being honest.

From our experience, similar to what JBB describes parents telling one another, coaches definitely wanted to make it clear when they were making a generous offer by their standards.  They wanted to ensure that son was "feeling the love".  By comparison, average or middle of the road offers came with no real fanfare because they were just that, average.

I don't think what you've seen is anything where some confidentiality is being breached or anything out of the norm.  I think it's pretty standard that coaches try to let recruits know where they stand in their wish list, particularly when they're high on that list.

Reminds me of when son was getting alot of attention after de-committing and on the heels of a pretty good CG outing ( 16Ks and 3 hits) playing up at 18U, one school said "you wont have to pay anything out of your pocket"...school was private and a good baseball team. 

Most were communicated and asked to be kept private which he did. Only one came with a pre-requisite to complete a form relating to our income.  That was the 2nd worst offer we got from a Power 5 and the low offer (low percentage) was a mid major.

3and2Fastball posted:

justbaseball posted:

Parents will always share - typically either as a complaint (too small!!) or as inflating what it really was ("Full ride!!").

I never really saw any parent look good by giving the information out.

Growing up I was always taught to keep things private.   How much money you had or didn't have, the offers you receive, anything that dealt with money should be kept very confidential.  I will honor my grandparents and parents by closely following their wise advice.

Me too.  That advice has served me very well.

Prepster posted:

At the risk of responding obliquely to your question, I'll say this:

Recruiters are painfully aware that they can't recruit every player that they see that they like; usually because they've already filled their own need for players at that position with those characteristics or they're aware that the player is predisposed to go another direction. Meanwhile, most of them are relative contemporaries and they know one another; and there's a certain amount of fraternal bond that exists among them.

This sometimes causes them to talk among themselves about various players they see; making it fairly frequently the case that a recruiter wearing a certain school's gear ends up serving as a proxy for another. In extreme cases, a recruiter from School A, knowing that he won't be able to see a certain upcoming event will call his former teammate and long-time friend at School B and ask him to watch and evaluate a player at the event in whom he has interest. It is in part because of this that you sometimes read here that you never know who's watching.

Countering all of this is the awareness that some of them are head-to-head competitors; a consideration that tends to trump legacy relationships. The combination of all of this forces recruiters to maintain an informed, street-savvy sense to their communications with their peers and makes it virtually impossible for players and their parents to know a recruiter's actual intent and level of interest when they see them at an event.

 

This this this.

and/or....coach passes along a potential recruit to his buddy in a different conference because he already has enough at that position recruited (not on the roster yet).

Happened to Keewartson.  Best referral ever.  But we didn't know it at the time

I tried to keep the scholarship amount private, but other parents did not.  All the players seem to know though.  They talk.  

The thing to remember:  % scholly does not always equal playing time or the talent of the player,  in many cases.