Some help with recruiting on our own

RJM posted:

cebu75 posted:

One of the camps he went to on his own this month the coach mentioned he doesn’t even bother to contact the travel coach as he knows he won’t get an honest assessment. He actually said he would call the HS coach before he calls a travel coach. So I guess every coach has their own style. 

This surprises me. Quality travel coaches of quality travel teams have reputations of feeding players to college ball and being objective assessors of talent. These coaches contact college coaches and promote their talent. 

I know if my son had said he wanted to play for Vanderbilt his travel coach wouldn’t have blown smoke up Corbin’s rear. He would have blown off my son. He would have told him Vanderbilt wouldn’t be interested. 

I agree and my sons travel coach does that but with the schools he has reputation with and they are all D1 schools, mostly large. The coach that said this about the travel coaches was a D3 coach in Mass. I think most travel coaches would say good things if a D3 school calls. If Arizona State calls they aren’t gonna say Tommy from our 3rd string team would be a good fit. So after thinking more maybe that’s why the coach said that? 

tequila posted:

RJM posted:

This surprises me. Quality travel coaches of quality travel teams have reputations of feeding players to college ball and being objective assessors of talent. These coaches contact college coaches and promote their talent. 

I know if my son had said he wanted to play for Vanderbilt his travel coach wouldn’t have blown smoke up Corbin’s rear. He would have blown off my son. He would have told him Vanderbilt wouldn’t be interested. 

Don't want to go on a tangent too much here, and I get where you're coming from RJM, but this isn't the case for everyone, especially in many smaller cities (like where I live). There are about two "quality" travel organizations in our area, and they each largely promote players from about two of their teams (out of several at each age group). If your kid is on one of those other teams, the coaches essentially are young/local guys who may or may not have any contacts and seem to be in it primarily for the summer money. If they do have contacts, they are often local/regional which isn't helpful if your son is interested in areas outside of that. Just my two cents .

I think your assessment of travel teams is about right. I’d imagine only in states like Florida and California do you have a huge amount of good teams with national reach. If youre in a smaller state and your coach has a relationship with a region I think that’s fine. But yes just know the owner is pushing certain players first.

My son used to pitch also and was getting tons of looks as a sophomore. Threw 86/87 at PG in Lake Point that year. Has a nasty curve ball and a good change up. The guns were everywhere. Big names were calling the coach. My son didn’t want to pitch though and didn’t want to be a pitcher in college. He said he would rather play RF in college than be a PO. I said fine. I think his coach was pissed though as he would have gone to a big school. As a hitter/fielder he is great but doesn’t hit bombs left and right so he’s not so sexy. Still D1 potential but the coaches aren’t salivating like when he pitched. I would think the coach is still pushing him but before it was such an easy sell before as a pitcher  

Fall is coming and they’ll be going to Florida and doing some showcases as a team. So we’ll see what happens. 

i would throw the Atlanta area in with Fla and Ca. Team Elite and Evoshield Canes in Virginia , Florida can have a ton of teams but only a few are legit.

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Just to add... heard directly from a HC at a P5 this summer say similarly he does not reach out to the travel coach too often, saying he almost always only hears the good things. Will connect more reliably with the HS HC... not on talent/ability though, just to get a better sense of how the player is in the dugout, off the field, and in the classroom. Not to say that this HC doesn't use the travel coach for connecting with a prospect, especially before his junior year.

As for the original topic, I've enjoyed just about every camp my son has attended, and I say that knowing he has not yet received a single offer to date (FWIW, he's a 2020 LHP 6'2" 165 cruising 81-83 w/ 1300 SAT as a soph). Just made a decision to spend the time and money without the expectation, and the ride thus far has been fun. Son and I have learned a lot - not so much from any baseball instruction at the camps - but it's hard to learn about all these schools without first stepping on campus and listening to their coaches directly. My son is a bit of an introvert, and I think it helps him open up a bit getting to know these coaches as people first, not just names, photos and bios. And he's definitely been able to form first-hand opinions about many college staffs from what he's seen and heard...no chance he's able to do that without all that camp attendance.

Knowledge is power. Yes, it can be an expensive hobby going this route, no surprise to anyone here,  I am sure. 

CTBBALLDad,

I can’t use him as a slave telling him to get out there and pitch even if he doesn’t want to. The arm comes in quite useful at SS. He would rather bat and play the field every inning every game rather than play once a week. Its damn near impossible to be a 2 way at a D1. He had to choose and he made a choice he was comfortable with. I give him credit for following his heart. It’s not like he’s a crap SS. He’s damn good, it’s what he associates himself as and he’s a very good batter. Doesn’t strike out, has a great eye, hits line drives, never panics and runs fast. We went to a D2 because he wanted to see some smaller schools. He wanted to see some options as all he’s seen at this point are mid to huge D1 schools. 

Yea as a pitcher it would have been easy. He could have sat back and watched the offers come in. Now he has to put in more work because we all know the big recruiting is for pitchers. But at the end of the day he is most interested in a college education and getting good internships that lead to his dream job. The boy is practical. Maybe if his ideal school says we want you but only as a pitcher then we’ll have to talk, but he doesn’t know what his ideal school is yet. That’s why we went out exploring on our own. But I don’t think he will bend on being a PO and I feel it. I played basketball in college. It’s a lot of travel when you play in a big conference. Too much to cheerlead 75% of the time if your hearts not in it. 

Hell he almost wanted to go all in on basketball but I knew he could go further with baseball and talked him out of that. I don’t have a plan other than helping him figure out what school will be the best fit for him. The biggest name isn’t always the best fit. The Jimmy Soul song comes to mind. “If you wanna be happy” 

CEBU75 -  just keep in mind that once he actually gets on campus, the coaches can and might tell him they only want him to pitch.   Especially after Fall practices. Many a kid has transferred out after one year because of lack of playing time or being asked to play a role they don't want, or even being flat out told "we don't have a spot for you anymore". 

That is why people always say "go where you are loved".  If your son ends up getting multiple offers, the subject of whether the coaches want him as a PO or not would be wise to communicate about ahead of time. (Conversations between player & coaches only)

It is important that you son does not get down if this school does not move forward with him.  My son went to a NAIA and D2 camps where he looked solid and after getting the sidebar chat as he left the camp was on cloud nine.  They went dark and quiet thereafter and he ended up signing with a solid D1 offer.  It's like dating, only much less fun.  When it happens, it happens.

Did you guys attend the camp yet? How did it go? I am familiar with a few NE10 schools and coaches here in New England. Let me know if I can offer any info about the campuses or the area.