I am seeing rosters for next spring with well over 34.
I actually kind of understand why coaches bring in a lot of players in the fall.
I have asked for clarification.
@TPM posted:I am seeing rosters for next spring with well over 34.
I actually kind of understand why coaches bring in a lot of players in the fall.
I have asked for clarification.
My understanding is nothing changes for spring 2025.
@TPM posted:I thought that this falls roster max was 40. I think there was a lot of confusion due to NCAA with legal issues.
One of the main reasons my son committed to this school was how they talked about how they never over recruit, they do things the "right way", family and culture, blah blah blah.
This fall they had 52 kids on the roster. They kept bringing in more and more Juco kids over the summer. This is a P4 school. I'll be happy to share more over PM.
Bringing in all those juco kids is not a surprise in this era. But saying they don't over-recruit and then doing it is disgusting. If they had been honest, would he have gone there?
I'm sorry it happened to your son.
@CollegebaseballInsights posted:Based on timing of off season events, 34 man roster for the fall is not feasible.
The impact of Head Coaching changes is the simplest example of why 34 man roster is not going to fly, or if they pass this half measure, there will be a loophole
The truth is, a new coach doesn't NEED to replace his roster. If a coach leaves, it is conceivable that the new coach could simply expect that he has to work with the existing players for a year or two. Maybe try to make them better?
Whatever the rules are, coaches will work with them. That's their job.
Another Parent;
Maybe it is the time for the "Freshman" baseball programs to be "re-examed".
$$$$ from Corporate Sponsors.
Bob
@TPM posted:I thought that this falls roster max was 40. I think there was a lot of confusion due to NCAA with legal issues.
I have talked to many D1 coaches this fall during the course of them recruiting our sophomore players. None of them have heard anything about 40 being allowed next fall. All that’s known fairly certainly is that it will be a hard 34 count spring of ‘26.
@adbono posted:I have talked to many D1 coaches this fall during the course of them recruiting our sophomore players. None of them have heard anything about 40 being allowed next fall. All that’s known fairly certainly is that it will be a hard 34 count spring of ‘26.
Div 1 BB roster size for this spring is 40.
The 34 man limit is not finalized as of yet for the following season.
There is no limit on D1 fall rosters.
Let the buyer beware!
So sorry to hear this @Master P. I wish you and your son the best. Please keep us posted on what happens next.
@TPM posted:I thought that this falls roster max was 40. I think there was a lot of confusion due to NCAA with legal issues.
@TPM No.
You can use the free version of CBI Turnover Dashboard to review roster sizes, we've posted 2024 Fall as 2025
@anotherparent posted:The truth is, a new coach doesn't NEED to replace his roster. If a coach leaves, it is conceivable that the new coach could simply expect that he has to work with the existing players for a year or two. Maybe try to make them better?
Whatever the rules are, coaches will work with them. That's their job.
Actually no.
New Coach (especially if it is an external hire) should be able to bring in X number of players that meet his playing style.
In the words of Bill Parcells ""If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries"
@Master P posted:One of the main reasons my son committed to this school was how they talked about how they never over recruit, they do things the "right way", family and culture, blah blah blah.
This fall they had 52 kids on the roster. They kept bringing in more and more Juco kids over the summer. This is a P4 school. I'll be happy to share more over PM.
When my son committed to his D2, that was the sales pitch: He only carries 35. He is loyal to his guys, etc. Son got there the fall of 2022 and left on his own after one semester for his own reasons. But, I keep tabs out of curiosity. Last season and the roster now is full of Juco transfers, grad transfers and D1 transfers coming down to D2. The transfer portal changes everything and this coach quickly changed his philosophy.
It's unfortunate that many coaches out there can be as bad as used car salesman. Seriously.
Many programs leave a trail back a year or two for the prospective recruit to do their homework well in advance. Do your research, decide what's important. Be realistic in the process.
There are red flags to watch for in recruiting. #1 for sure, no athletic money offered. Also, the recruit and his family need to know the rules put forth by the ncaa. Right now there is no cap on the fall roster, the Coach can bring in as many as he wants, which in this case he did. This is the time of year when teams play intersquad games. Go watch.
What bothers me is that there are programs out there that do it the right way. No one talks about that.
So what happened really makes be angry. This site was created to help parents to navigate the system, not beat down D1 coaches.
Just remember your player DOES NOT have to attend any D1program to get a great education and play the game they love. Where you start is not always where you will end up. And yes, not all programs are created equal.
Do your homework folks!
@Master P posted:The boy and 75% of the Freshman were cut today. Needless to say, what he experienced this fall was not what he expected when he committed.
Sorry to read that, and for your son and family to go through it. I'm sure his head is spinning in terms of what to do next. Best of luck moving forward. Please feel free to reach out if you want to bounce some ideas around.
I don't think anyone anticipated the rate of change in college baseball recruiting (over the last few years) including "people in the know". Obviously this is not your son's fault as he was following his dream and trusted what he was being sold as an opportunity. "Trust but verify" has always a recruiting mantra on this website when dealing with D1 coaches. I'm not sure what the new mantra should be, but I'm going to give it some thought. This is happening far too often.
Again, my condolences.
Sorry to hear about the difficulties. I've been peeking in at our local D1 to try figure out how they do things. So far it doesn't seem like they are into large numbers transfers or huge fall rosters. But I guess things could change at any time.
@Richpra posted:Sorry to hear about the difficulties. I've been peeking in at our local D1 to try figure out how they do things. So far it doesn't seem like they are into large numbers transfers or huge fall rosters. But I guess things could change at any time.
Here is a quick way to look at any baseball programs turnover rate since 2017
https://collegebaseballinsight...nover-insights-free/
We've published and reconciled those fall rosters that are available for d1, d2.
d3 and NAIA are currently being reconciled.
@fenwaysouth posted:Sorry to read that, and for your son and family to go through it. I'm sure his head is spinning in terms of what to do next. Best of luck moving forward. Please feel free to reach out if you want to bounce some ideas around.
I don't think anyone anticipated the rate of change in college baseball recruiting (over the last few years) including "people in the know". Obviously this is not your son's fault as he was following his dream and trusted what he was being sold as an opportunity. "Trust but verify" has always a recruiting mantra on this website when dealing with D1 coaches. I'm not sure what the new mantra should be, but I'm going to give it some thought. This is happening far too often.
Again, my condolences.
@fenwaysouth unfortunately,
If you scroll through this dashboard post covid, you will see some patterns that provide some of the trends.
@TPM posted:It's unfortunate that many coaches out there can be as bad as used car salesman. Seriously.
Many programs leave a trail back a year or two for the prospective recruit to do their homework well in advance. Do your research, decide what's important. Be realistic in the process.
There are red flags to watch for in recruiting. #1 for sure, no athletic money offered. Also, the recruit and his family need to know the rules put forth by the ncaa. Right now there is no cap on the fall roster, the Coach can bring in as many as he wants, which in this case he did. This is the time of year when teams play intersquad games. Go watch.
What bothers me is that there are programs out there that do it the right way. No one talks about that.
So what happened really makes be angry. This site was created to help parents to navigate the system, not beat down D1 coaches.
Just remember your player DOES NOT have to attend any D1program to get a great education and play the game they love. Where you start is not always where you will end up. And yes, not all programs are created equal.
Do your homework folks!
@tpm Totally agree. IMHO, the challenge student-athletes and families face is Learning, planning and executing the college recruiting process.
There are various services that can be used, free and/or paid.
It simply comes down to what information does a person need in order to make more informed decisions. With the understanding that those decisions might need to be adjusted based on the timing of getting new information.
e.g. by us publishing 2024 fall rosters as 2025 projection, interested parties can quickly review the recruiting patterns of a particular baseball program, thus you can see if there is really an opportunity.
@TPM posted:Do your homework folks!
Just remember your player DOES NOT have to attend any D1program to get a great education and play the game they love. Where you start is not always where you will end up. And yes, not all programs are created equal.
Golden rules!
There is so much information available to recruits and their families, but it takes an amazing amount of time and energy to do the proper research. Players and their families get enamored that the coach from the University of Amazing Baseball is talking to your son that you believe, or more likely don't "hear" what the coach is really saying. People think they know what college baseball is like based on their "golden boy" experience in HS....Frankly most of our kids getting recruited were/are one of the top three players from their HS/area and since we did not have experience in the process make assumptions, or hear what they want to hear from the coach discussions.
@TPM posted:Just remember your player DOES NOT have to attend any D1program to get a great education and play the game they love. Where you start is not always where you will end up. And yes, not all programs are created equal.
Do your homework folks!
I just want to add that you CAN do all your homework and it can STILL backfire on you.
We talked to the coach. We talked to travel ball coaches and administrators familiar with the program and the coach. He talked to players currently in the program at the time of the offer. I talked to parents of players currently in the program.
The reality is that people are very careful about what they say and often FOS because they don't want something said to come back and jeopardize their standing with the program and relationship with the coach. It's no different than a job interview/offer. People who do business with that company or who currently work there or have family members working there are not going to say something bad, even if it's true.
The best thing you can do is find someone who had a bad experience there and hear their story. But, even then, it's hard because few are willing to say something while they are still in it somewhere else because of how they might be perceived...and how that might hurt them in the future.
The thing I am trying to say here is that there's only so much homework that you can do and a good portion of it can be misleading. Therefore, when you find yourself in the bad situation, don't beat yourself up and second guess yourself. Instead, focus on your next step and try and learn from the experience.
If you land in that bad situation, sometimes there's just things at work against you that were too well hidden and you just don't know until you know.
@BOF posted:Golden rules!
There is so much information available to recruits and their families, but it takes an amazing amount of time and energy to do the proper research. Players and their families get enamored that the coach from the University of Amazing Baseball is talking to your son that you believe, or more likely don't "hear" what the coach is really saying. People think they know what college baseball is like based on their "golden boy" experience in HS....Frankly most of our kids getting recruited were/are one of the top three players from their HS/area and since we did not have experience in the process make assumptions, or hear what they want to hear from the coach discussions.
This is a big thing. When you are in that spot, you see and hear what you want to see and hear, and, you're often ignoring the other stuff that you see and hear because you're so locked in on what you want to see and hear. The warning bells and spider-sense get shut down by the things that you want to see and hear.
It's no different than the job interview/offer. You hear better title and more money. But, when you hear about the commute and the working conditions, your brain says more money and better title and you push that other bad stuff into a folder called "I can live with that" ...until you have to live with it and find out it's intolerable and ruining your life.
Don't ignore anything that you see and hear and really focus on things that seem small at the time that are actually huge, red, warning flags.
Successfully navigating the recruiting process has as much to do with knowing how to read the room as much as anything else. That is a learned skill that many people don’t have the first time around. And most people only go thru the process one time - while coaches recruit for a living. The process has always heavily favored the schools over the student/athletes.
@adbono posted:Successfully navigating the recruiting process has as much to do with knowing how to read the room as much as anything else. That is a learned skill that many people don’t have the first time around. And most people only go thru the process one time - while coaches recruit for a living. The process has always heavily favored the schools over the student/athletes.
IMO players being recruited at D1 high profile or popular programs such as D2, Juco, should have an advocate. This might include an advisor, scout, travel coach, HS coach. I know parents want to figure it out themselves, and save $$, but you will never know as much as the guy sitting across from you who does this for a living.
You have to be careful about people who talk negatively about a program. Some people are professional complainers. If you hear complaints you want to hear it repeatedly or hard proof not involving the complainer’s son. Often the complainer’s kid wasn’t screwed. He just didn’t win a position.
Once my son expressed an interest in college baseball I started attending more local D1 games. The Big East (then relevant) and A10 had stadiums nearby. When I was in Boston I did the same thing at BC games. My son wasn’t interested in the home teams. I sat on the visitors side and chatted up anyone willing to talk.
A West Virginia dad was bitching about how the coaching staff handled pitchers. He handed me a stat sheet and asked if I could see the problem. The issue was obvious. Starters had more innings than the typical college pitchers. Relievers had far fewer innings than typical college pitchers. Then the problem occurred right in front of me. The starting pitcher was left in until he was absolutely toast.
A friend from Texas once pointed out every one of a certain college program’s MLB top round pick pitchers had TJ surgery within two years of going pro due to excessive use in college. The head coach rode his stud pitchers like rented mules to twenty consecutive post season appearances and seven CWS appearances.
@Richpra posted:Sorry to hear about the difficulties. I've been peeking in at our local D1 to try figure out how they do things. So far it doesn't seem like they are into large numbers transfers or huge fall rosters. But I guess things could change at any time.
As soon as a coach gets on the warm/hot seat, everything changes.
@Francis7 posted:New baseball house this year. Last year, it was 8 guys in a 6 bedroom room that was really a 4 bedroom with two rooms framed out in the basement. But, it was really the team house where everyone hung out. Son said there was probably 50 to 60 in the house for the party after they won their World Series bid.
This year, it's a bigger house with just 6 guys in 6 true bedrooms. Last year, they were the only real baseball house. This year, they are one of a few. It will be interesting to see which one becomes the hangout house. My guess is it's his.
Last year's experience was extremely positive and beyond expectations. Hopefully this year matches it.
These are the memories that will last a lifetime, I'm sure. You're only in your 20's once.
Three months into the new house for this season, and the new roster (as it's a Juco with only about 10 returners from last year) and I see the bonding and brotherhood already taking place. Just like last year's crew came together. The 2024 team was a family and it's happening this year too. As an outsider watching from a distance, it's quite remarkable how this happens. And, I'm very grateful for my kid to have these opportunities. Not everyone gets to experience something like this in their lifetime.
@Francis7 posted:Three months into the new house for this season, and the new roster (as it's a Juco with only about 10 returners from last year) and I see the bonding and brotherhood already taking place. Just like last year's crew came together. The 2024 team was a family and it's happening this year too. As an outsider watching from a distance, it's quite remarkable how this happens. And, I'm very grateful for my kid to have these opportunities. Not everyone gets to experience something like this in their lifetime.
The JuCo bond is one of the strongest of all team sport experiences. It begins at a critical age in life and has to do with growing up as much as anything else. For a lot of players it’s the first time that they will experience adversity, and then learn how to overcome it. Going thru that, away from home with teammates by your side propping you up, creates a connection that can last a lifetime. I am still in touch with some of my JuCo teammates from 50 years ago - and I only played one year of JuCo ball. And when I transferred to Texas A&M my closest friends on the team were (and still are) guys that transferred in from other JuCos.
@adbono - I can add that, my son started at a 4-year and while he was only there for one semester, the freshman guys were tight (because they were all in the same boat) but it's just different at the Juco. It's the whole team that's tight, very close knit. It wasn't like this at the 4-year. I think the ages has something to do with it? I know, when I was a senior in college, the freshman seemed so young to me. Maybe that's part of it?