For players who are quite possibly not going to be D1 prospects, would the Stanford camp be a waste of time/money, or are smaller schools (DII and DIII) also well-represented?
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Krakatoa,
There are plenty of DIII, Ivy, NAIA and other non DI coaches at the camp. From what I could tell last summer, there are more coaches coming from the DIII's in the Northwest than previously. So long as your son has solid academics, it is likely there will be schools to consider.
One item to check. Last July, the camp conflicted with a major travel team tournament. Word at the time was the dates may be moved to increase the quality of the camp to be more reflective of the camps from prior years.
Your son will also receive a camp evaluation that will project his college level. That can be provided to any school and be well received.
There are plenty of DIII, Ivy, NAIA and other non DI coaches at the camp. From what I could tell last summer, there are more coaches coming from the DIII's in the Northwest than previously. So long as your son has solid academics, it is likely there will be schools to consider.
One item to check. Last July, the camp conflicted with a major travel team tournament. Word at the time was the dates may be moved to increase the quality of the camp to be more reflective of the camps from prior years.
Your son will also receive a camp evaluation that will project his college level. That can be provided to any school and be well received.
Krak,
Yes, other levels (such as DII powers Loyola and Chico State) are well represented. Also some lower level DI schools like Georgetown, and up and comers like UC Davis. Stanford turned out to be a great camp for my son, even if he didn't get an immediate reward for attending. It is definitely a great measuring stick, and a great campus to experience.
Yes, other levels (such as DII powers Loyola and Chico State) are well represented. Also some lower level DI schools like Georgetown, and up and comers like UC Davis. Stanford turned out to be a great camp for my son, even if he didn't get an immediate reward for attending. It is definitely a great measuring stick, and a great campus to experience.
.
Krak...
Smaller high academic schools are not fools. They know that Stanford camp often draws a very high academic kind of player in. They know that at best Stanford only takes a handful of the Hundred(s)that attend the camp.
This leaves a high academic bonanza for the other high academic schools both small and large that attend from across the country. In addition to those high academic 2's, and 3's. The year that we attended we also saw many college recruiters in the stands who were not officially on the program but understood the opportunity.
The funny thing is that there are not as many DI's as one might expect. Stanford is not foolish, while the DI contingent is generally well represented...they only invite a few of their real competition. If you want to get a feel for who attends I would check the website or call them I think you'll be surprised at which schools attend.
The competition is tough however in both academic and athletic respects. IFD is right, you will get a pretty clear picture of where your son stands and a player eval which is well respected.
If you have the invite/option take it quick it fills up quickly. The general concensus is that it is one of the can't miss "gems" of the camp/showcase curcuit. Worth it for the experience, and the eval alone.
44
.
Krak...
Smaller high academic schools are not fools. They know that Stanford camp often draws a very high academic kind of player in. They know that at best Stanford only takes a handful of the Hundred(s)that attend the camp.
This leaves a high academic bonanza for the other high academic schools both small and large that attend from across the country. In addition to those high academic 2's, and 3's. The year that we attended we also saw many college recruiters in the stands who were not officially on the program but understood the opportunity.
The funny thing is that there are not as many DI's as one might expect. Stanford is not foolish, while the DI contingent is generally well represented...they only invite a few of their real competition. If you want to get a feel for who attends I would check the website or call them I think you'll be surprised at which schools attend.
The competition is tough however in both academic and athletic respects. IFD is right, you will get a pretty clear picture of where your son stands and a player eval which is well respected.
If you have the invite/option take it quick it fills up quickly. The general concensus is that it is one of the can't miss "gems" of the camp/showcase curcuit. Worth it for the experience, and the eval alone.
44.
Krak,
I would echo the comments from other posters. There is a wide cross-section of both Division and geographical representation of schools. Additionally, the baseball instruction is absolutely first rate. If you have the opportunity to go, take it.
Having said that, I will share a bit of our personal experience. My son attended Stanford's camp this past summer. Our expectations and hopes were quite high. Unfortunately, due to a nagging injury and some other circumstances beyond my son's control, his performance was not as strong as we had hoped. (Just to clarify, he did okay, he played well, but he did not "shine". I think that in order to be noticed at Stanford or another high level showcase, one really has to "shine" in some area of their game.) My son was understandably disappointed with the results. That is not the end of the story, however.
In August he participated in the NW Championship tournament (which I know you are familiar with). Still bothered by the nagging injury, he again felt that he did okay but didn't "shine". He was very surprised a few weeks later to hear from a coach that saw him and was impressed not so much with his performance, but with his mental toughness. He recently visited that school and the baseball program and may very well end up there.
The moral to the story: do your best to "shine", but even if you don't shine understand that somebody is always watching, and you never know what it will be that catches a coach's eye and interest.
I would echo the comments from other posters. There is a wide cross-section of both Division and geographical representation of schools. Additionally, the baseball instruction is absolutely first rate. If you have the opportunity to go, take it.
Having said that, I will share a bit of our personal experience. My son attended Stanford's camp this past summer. Our expectations and hopes were quite high. Unfortunately, due to a nagging injury and some other circumstances beyond my son's control, his performance was not as strong as we had hoped. (Just to clarify, he did okay, he played well, but he did not "shine". I think that in order to be noticed at Stanford or another high level showcase, one really has to "shine" in some area of their game.) My son was understandably disappointed with the results. That is not the end of the story, however.
In August he participated in the NW Championship tournament (which I know you are familiar with). Still bothered by the nagging injury, he again felt that he did okay but didn't "shine". He was very surprised a few weeks later to hear from a coach that saw him and was impressed not so much with his performance, but with his mental toughness. He recently visited that school and the baseball program and may very well end up there.
The moral to the story: do your best to "shine", but even if you don't shine understand that somebody is always watching, and you never know what it will be that catches a coach's eye and interest.
Your question:
For players who are quite possibly not going to be D1 prospects, would the Stanford camp be a waste of time/money, or are smaller schools (DII and DIII) also well-represented?
We found the Stanford Camp to be the best program for academically qualified players that wanted to play baseball in college. If you are not academically qualified, don't expect much and if your son is really not ready to play baseball in college, again it may not be for him.
I kept the roster from the 2005 camp. There were 317 kids, one day I was boored and Googled all the kids that played on my son's team at the camp. About half of them were "big time" high school players that had either moved on or were likely to move on to college baseball.
What you don't see on the surface is the depth of colleges that scout the camp. Beyond the 25-30 college coaches that run the teams, there were many schools that sent coaches to sit in the stands and take notes.
The schools that attend from what I observed were all interested in players that were academically qualified. Also, the camp produces a book of "evaluations" for all the coaches that attend. I suspect that this book is also shared beyond the coaches that attend. My son was contacted by one school that I am doubtful was there and if so it only shows that there are many schools beyond the ones they list that look at the camp.
From my prospective out of the 317 kids on the list there were about 10% that were not at the level of most of the kids. Also, there are approximately 15% of the kids that won't be seniors the next year, I don't know how they are viewed relative to the incoming seniors.
The evaluation that they give you is "right on." In marketing my son to several schools that he wanted to attend we used the evaluation which I know was looked at in a few instances.
This is not the camp to go to if your son has their heart set on only a few schools. If you are open to exploring what may come out of the camp, you may be surprised with what doors may open. For example, my son from northern California ended up in Texas and loves the school and the baseball program.
For players who are quite possibly not going to be D1 prospects, would the Stanford camp be a waste of time/money, or are smaller schools (DII and DIII) also well-represented?
We found the Stanford Camp to be the best program for academically qualified players that wanted to play baseball in college. If you are not academically qualified, don't expect much and if your son is really not ready to play baseball in college, again it may not be for him.
I kept the roster from the 2005 camp. There were 317 kids, one day I was boored and Googled all the kids that played on my son's team at the camp. About half of them were "big time" high school players that had either moved on or were likely to move on to college baseball.
What you don't see on the surface is the depth of colleges that scout the camp. Beyond the 25-30 college coaches that run the teams, there were many schools that sent coaches to sit in the stands and take notes.
The schools that attend from what I observed were all interested in players that were academically qualified. Also, the camp produces a book of "evaluations" for all the coaches that attend. I suspect that this book is also shared beyond the coaches that attend. My son was contacted by one school that I am doubtful was there and if so it only shows that there are many schools beyond the ones they list that look at the camp.
From my prospective out of the 317 kids on the list there were about 10% that were not at the level of most of the kids. Also, there are approximately 15% of the kids that won't be seniors the next year, I don't know how they are viewed relative to the incoming seniors.
The evaluation that they give you is "right on." In marketing my son to several schools that he wanted to attend we used the evaluation which I know was looked at in a few instances.
This is not the camp to go to if your son has their heart set on only a few schools. If you are open to exploring what may come out of the camp, you may be surprised with what doors may open. For example, my son from northern California ended up in Texas and loves the school and the baseball program.
Just to chime in with the posts above there are all types of schools at the camp. My son recieved several offers from D-3 schools that were in attendance and accepted one of those.
There are dozens and dozens of schools at the Stanford camp, the Ivies, service academies, JuCos, big State schools, small liberal arts colleges. It runs the gamut.
There are dozens and dozens of schools at the Stanford camp, the Ivies, service academies, JuCos, big State schools, small liberal arts colleges. It runs the gamut.