Interested in only one school

Sounds like a very mature young man. Smart beyond his years.

 

 BTW welcome!

Thanks for your kind words.  We would like to think he is ahead of the curve, but to me this is akin to if he was drafted, saying he would only play for a specific team.  Shortsighted or stubborn, I don't know which would describe it best in my mind!

Cats pop sounds like he's telling you he can take or leave baseball.  If it was his passion he would play anywhere they want him.  Maybe his passion is his chosen field of study.  Nothing wrong with that.

Welcome!

It's important to be able to compare programs, because the "fit" is what is very important.

 

If he really doesn't want to go through all that comes with recruiting, I agree he may not really be all that into baseball.

Still pretty passionate, but maybe his dream has changed.  Wonder if he is worried about disappointing us but is afraid to tell us?  I am kerfuffled at this point.

If he hasn't already, he should attend the school's camp. He needs to give the coaches there an opportunity to get to know him as a player and a person. Meanwhile, it'll give him the chance to gain more of an insider's view of the people behind the program.

 

My son was fixated upon one of his state school's programs from the very outset of the recruiting process, but we made sure that he understood that mutuality of interest was required...and that there were plenty of great players around who had designs on the same program. Knowing this and because of the fact that playing baseball in college had been a dream since early on, he participated in the broader recruiting process. He also attended three of his dream university's summer camps (It doesn't necessarily require that many. He simply wanted to attend.)

 

Fortunately, it worked out in his favor; but, if the dream school's opportunity hadn't materialized. he would have been in the uncomfortable position of having to choose between a place where he could have played and the state university where it wouldn't have been possible.

 

Best of luck to your son! 

Thanks Prep, he did attend schools camp this year and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back - getting on to their field, working with the players and coaches.  My son was the one to tell the head coach that he was living his dream and would be back.  I appreciate you sharing your son's story with me and I will pass it along to my boy.  Thanks for your insight, very timely!

does he want to play? and is there a chance he will there? its a needs based decision they have to make. as much as he like the program and thinks he may be able to play there they may not have the need for his position. they may have someone else's son committed to that spot. and depending on what level of school it is there are roster limits.  he needs to flip the recruiting circuit around and he needs to be the one asking what the needs the school may have and if he is a fit there first.  this will cut down on the visits he may take.  I have had to turn down talented players in the past based on the fact that we didn't have the need for them. its tuff to do but it is the reality of the game.  just curious what level of school is the state school? D1,D2,D3,NAIA?

 

best of luck to you and your son.

In addition to what basebypros asked, can you please tell us what his grad year is?

CatsPop,

 

Through your posts, I'm getting the sense that you are frustrated with your son's strategy.  It is a flawed strategy.   Almost all of the posters and recruits on this site start with 50-100 programs and whittle it down over time.  You've been through the drill, so you obviously understand the big picture here.   Also, it sounds like your son was turned off by his older brothers search which really shouldn't be a factor if he truly was passionate about playing college baseball.

 

Researching colleges, communicating with coaches, getting interest and hopefully offers to choose from is the process in baseball and other aspects of life   I'd like to ask him if he plans to date only one girl in his lifetime or only seek employment from one company?  Possibly giving him something to think outside of baseball may help him realize that considering only one school is not real good strategy if he really wants to play college baseball.   Good luck.

Welcome.   It's always wise to have options and backup plans.

It is truly amazing that this forum gets to the underlying factors / layers so quickly and straight to the heart of the matter.  I find basebypros idea of flipping around the recruiting process to be a tremendous one for my son to implement.  Yes NYdad2017 he is very young, Class of 2018, but kids as young as I am led to believe your son might be (2017) have already verbally committed to state schools here.  The school is a D1, pretty strong program, that is on the upswing.  My son has been on two travel teams, one regional and the other a top college development program, that have won a national championship and every possible state championship, in a given year.  He has met almost every goal that he has set and believes that playing for his school of choice will be no different.  He understands that he can not be pro-active enough and will do what ever it takes to be a part of this schools team, even if it means doing laundry, field maintenance, or whatever, a la David Nava.  Thanks for your help and insight!

Thanks Fenway and 13LHP, I just read your posts now and greatly appreciate what you have put out there for me and especially my boy to think about.  Priceless information, this site is so tremendous and valuable.

Thanks.  Yes mine is a 2017.  

 

Don't let the decisions that others make to commit to certain schools sway his, or yours for that matter, path.  Who is to say that the 2017 that just committed at a certain school will be better then your son, if he committed to the same school in 3 years?  

 

Like my guy he is still young.  As long as he continues learning and playing during these next couple of years he'll move along that path.

 

I'd take basebypros suggestion, mention it to your son, and give him time to process things.  

 

Best of luck to you both.

 

 

Thanks NYdad, just gonna keep tweeking and refining the plan.  Best of luck to you and your son too!

 

Thank you.

CatsPop,

 

First of all welcome.  Did I read correctly that your son is a 2018?  If so, does that mean he is around 13 years old?  

 

Nothing wrong with a desire to attend a certain college, but there are things to consider, especially if he happens to become a very talented player.  

 

Often the in state schools will not make their best offer to the in state player.  This is especially true when the college knows the player has a strong desire to attend their college. So even if your son has decided where he wants to attend college, I wouldn't make that well known.

 

If the potential financial package is of any importance, in state colleges offer in state kids that they want based on how much demand there is for that kid.  Getting the best in state kids is important to most every college recruiter.  If they can get the kid without spending much money it's even better.  

 

So he might never change his mind about attending only that school, but he sure can increase his value to that college if he has some other options. My suggestion is to keep his desire to himself for awhile.  If other colleges show interest, see just how interested they are.  If other colleges are interested in him, it's likely the school he wants will be more interested in him. And at his present age, there's always the possibility he might change his mind.

 

BTW, Nava attended more than one college. In fact, he might not be where he is today had he not attended more than one college.

 

Best of luck

Thank you so much for passing along your knowledge PG!  My son just turned 14 and has been playing with a lot of 2017s.  This coming spring is a natural break / dividing point for them because many of his teammates will be playing HS ball.  I have been following you and your posts for over a month now prior to joining yesterday.  I realize how truly meaningful and poignant they are + feel blessed that you have offered your wisdom to us.  You brought some serious clarity to me very quickly just now.  I intend to continue to search the site and sit back a little more in the future.  CatJr has done a majority of his own decision making, with a couple of nudges here and there from us, and I would like for it to continue that way.  Lots of food for thought you gave today.  Thanks a million!

Screech!......2018!  You are looking a little too far into the future at this point.  A lot will change over the next few years as he gains knowldge and hopefully..... the skills to play in college.

For your son to make a decision like this in 8th grade could be an extremely mature and educated one based on his "life experience", or it could be an immature and rash reaction to an isolated incident. I really don't think it matters at this stage. My advice is to respect his decision, while being prepared to help him change course if he decides to look elsewhere. That means not signing him up for camps, not making him fill out recruiting forms, send e-mails, etc.  Anything that he perceives as part of a "long, drawn out recruitment". Now if he doesn't want to play the big-time travelball circuit, that's a different issue since that will impact his development.

If he's preparing himself to play at a top D1 program (and based on your home state, I'm guessing top academics), he should have plenty of other options should he start thinking about a Plan B later. And later could be as late as Junior or Senior year.  He's already playing with a high level team, so he doesn't sound like a "Rudy".

Regarding early commitments, and your son being left with less options later, please read other discussion here about early commits. Some (possibly many) early commitments from 9th and 10th graders never pan out. Two of three in my small baseball circle did not. His biggest risk there may be the availability of scholarship money. If he has the talent, many will find a way to make it work.

Your son may not follow the boilerplate approach to recruiting, but he can still reach his goal of playing college baseball. IMO, talent will always be the biggest factor, and good grades will expand his options.

CatsPop,

 

Flattery will get you EVERYWHERE!  Just kidding, but there are many people who participate here and have a desire to help others.  You will figure out who those people are over time.  There is a lot of experience here and many very nice people.  We don't all always agree on everything, and once in awhile things get crazy, but in the end we all have some things in common. Kids and Baseball!

 

So once you wade through all the business related announcements and advertising posts, you will find the people who come here for a different reason.  People who like to talk about baseball!

 

I think those people are going to like your approach.

I'm willing to bet the "one school only" philosophy changes as the boy mentally matures, his baseball talents physically mature and he's exposed (by playing) to teammates making several different college baseball choices.

 

I look at this like a kid dying his hair purple. Its a phase he'll grow out of. So don't get stressed and give it too much attention.

Is he a pitcher?

What if he plays a position that the dream school already has several players ahead of him who r really good? He may be on bench waiting for it to open up unless he is an amazing player.

no matter what u choose always have a plan B even in matters not baseball related.

2018?  He's not even in HS yet.  Every kid wants to play for their big in state school at that age.  My son was pretty good in middle school, but I was worried about him making the HS team, not which college he would wind up going to.

 

My advice is to take these comments he is making with a grain of salt.  You are putting the cart WAY before the horse.  While it is good you are thinking about this stuff now so you can be informed over the next few years, it is not really time to be worried about your son's thoughts about already having chosen his college.  I think everyone here will agree that the years pass by way too quickly.  For now, I would do what you have to do to make sure your son makes his HS team a year from now.  Then enjoy that ride for a while.  Many, many things will change over the next four years.  That includes where your son thinks he wants to go to college and whether he wants to continue his baseball career.  When my son was a senior in HS, I could not believe that the time went by so fast.  Now that he is a sophomore in college, it still seems like yesterday that I was SO excited about him playing for his high school and worrying about how he would fit in and how he would do.  It seems to me like you are skipping that and are already on to worrying about college. 

 

Slow down CatsPop.  Take one milestone at a time.  Enjoy the ride while you can.  Like I said, it goes by very quickly.  Maybe I'm over reacting, but that's how I feel about it.

I thought he was a 2014.  2018's are still trying to find the batters box keys, or running to the coaches office to get his box of curve balls.  Dad he will not look or act the same when he is a Sr.  Wait a while before stressing out.

When my son was fourteen he was only going to play for Louisville. The two pitchers charting and gunning that day's game let him sit with them for half the game. Plus he loved watching Chris Cates play since he was the smallest player on his team at that time.

Thanks one and all for your questions, comments and concerns over the last several hours.  I had no idea the thought of CatJr focusing on just one school would generate this amount of responses, many posts with wonderful ideas and suggestions, most of which I had not even begun to consider.  My son is a catcher who stopped pitching once he determined what position he really wanted to pursue with all the vim and vigor possible.  He has played every position on the field except for CF since 8U.  I am going to slow down a little bit, keep reading and wondering (not worrying) what his path will be.  I will continue to seek the counsel of those that might have been down a similar path so I do not have to re-invent the wheel. Again, my most sincere thanks.  Time to head to the basement with my boy for some catching drills and hitting!

CatsPop,

 

Welcome aboard !

 

My son became a USC fan when he was about 9 years old.He's still a fan.We have a closet full of Trojan gear from Matt Leinart to Matt Barkley,OJ Mayo basketball jersey and lots of Trojan baseball apparel.I took him up to games at the Coliseum and at Dedeaux Field.We watched his football team beat my alma mater Arizona State a couple of times,and my team roll his team on the baseball diamond.Lots of great memories !

 

Early on during my son's recruiting journey he did everything he could to get on the USC coaches' radar.Sent them updates and video links.Played in tournaments and showcases in front of their coaches.Worked real hard both on and off the field.He did everything he could to make himself the best player he could be.

 

It wasn't enough.While my son "loved" USC, they did not "love" him in return.Ultimately, he was not what they were looking for and they moved on.That's the way it goes in the recruiting business.My son was disappointed but like most kids he got over it quickly and moved on as well.

 

That's why it's important to have other options available.Your son is still very young.Lots of things can and will happen over the next few years.Heck, when my son was in 8th grade he was still watching Sponge Bob and Drake & Josh. Haha

 

 

Oh to be on Sugar Mountain ......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yikes!!!!

 

I also thought he was older. Do people nowadays really worry about this stuff so soon?

 

When mine was that age he was going to play for Miami, not even a discussion about other programs, that was it.

 

It never happened.

 

I am with bballman, slow down. I can guarantee everything is going to change.

Bobbya, funny you mention USC. My son was born a Trojan according to his Trojan mom. He was at SC games before he could walk. Fast forward 15 years, USC is juniors only choice, but we convinced him to have a plan b. turns out, come signing day SC didn't love Jr as much as Jr loved SC. Glad he had a plan b, now he's at place that loved him. Makes a big difference!

I say write down everything he is saying on a piece of paper, put it in an envelope, and open it in 2 years. It might be good for a laugh.

He isn't missing anything right now by having this idea. Enjoy the moment, the month, the year.

 

I am with bballman. Great advice. Way too early. Too much will change to be concerned right now with where he may end up. No problem with setting goals and being driven, but doing so at such an early age with such a limited view can really set one up for disappointment later. His physical and mental maturity will allow him to see the bigger picture down the road. Good luck and enjoy watching him play and have fun.