Tell your recruiting story

Masterofnone, I love your story. I pretty much like any underdog story and my son was one of them. An undersized LHP, he played on many teams up until his h.s years when he began to take off skill-wise. He did two PG showcases, camps, trained year-round. He was on J.V. as a sophomore in h.s. but went 7-0. First game of his junior year for the varsity squad he threw a no-hitter and made second-team all-league. He started getting recruited by the local D1 and signed an NLI.

His senior year he had become a monster, setting a state record for strikeouts in a h.s. game (21) and winning the Gatorade state player of the year award. He was hitting 88-89 and was drafted. He had dozens of schools come knocking but he already signed.

And then nothing happened. He went to his chosen school and rarely pitched. He had great summers though, eventually transfered to another D1, was drafted again and is now in pro ball.

The moral of the story is this: Be careful what you wish for. The recruiting process is all sweetness and is analagous to dating a girl who is always fooling around on you. You gotta know when to stop.

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:

The moral of the story is this: Be careful what you wish for. The recruiting process is all sweetness and is analagous to dating a girl who is always fooling around on you. You gotta know when to stop.

Hey Bum, thanks for your story. Can you explain in a little more detail what you mean by the above quote? What occurred during the recruiting process that would have helped your son choose the right school from the beginning, if anything? What would you do differently?

quote:

Originally posted by Aleebaba:

Hey Bum, thanks for your story. Can you explain in a little more detail what you mean by the above quote? What occurred during the recruiting process that would have helped your son choose the right school from the beginning, if anything? What would you do differently?

Without knowing details of Bum Jr.'s experience, I'll point out that a transfer does not necessarily mean the player made a bad decision. When you commit, you make the best decision you can with the information you have. When you go to school, circumstances change (injuries, coaching change, competition on the team), you acquire information you could not have obtained earlier, and you refine your understanding of what is best for you.

Transferring isn't necessarily a sign of a past mistake (though it certainly can be); often it just reflects initiative to improve your circumstances.

Swampboy summed it up well.

Ok, here goes my 2013 son's story....RHP, 88-90, slider, hook, and a change up...Lucky for us it went right by the book...He and I followed the recruiting timeline *maybe done things a bit early*. Played varsity as a freshman, elite showcase team *fres. / soph year*...Sept. 1 several emails..a few visits, a few offers...weighed it all out..Choose a mid-major D1 school over ACC schools. Early verbal Dec. of Jr. year...Signed last month.

Three points to make to younger players..
1* Grades count ! son has a 4.86 gpa...coaches loved that..less baseball money that has to be spent.
2*Pitchers...no matter how hard you throw, your second, third and fourth pitch is what college coaches like..Thats what separates pitchers.
3* Dont get caught up in the "big" D1 schools because it is "cool"...Think about what you want and which school can give it to you.

Tigers13,
Welcome and congratulations! Curious about a few things... You say "no matter how hard you throw, your second, third and fourth pitch is what college coaches like.." 89-90 is plenty hard for a HS jr (hasn't played sr year yet). Why do you say that and do you think jr would have the same opportunities if he threw 85?
You say slider and hook. Can you expand on how he ended up with both? What types of challenges did he have developing both as a young HS pitcher? In hindsight, was that a good decision?
Thanks, just looking for expanded insight from a recent success story.

Cab-head..I suppose I should have said...no matter how hard you throw, college hitters can hit fastballs..college coaches know that and they really look for guys with second and third pitch..And pitchers that pitch, not just throw. Not sure about the chances if he threw 85..One D1 college coach told me..87 mph was the magic # for him..No feather in anyones cap but he learned to pitch at a young age and was blessed with velocity, 84 fresh, 87 soph, 90 jr. year.

As for learning several pitches, it took practice and practice..he learned the CB early, worked on the slider over the past couple of years..The change up was by far the hardest pitch to learn. As for a good decision,I'm not sure what you mean but He was "watched out" for very well. Went by the book on off season training, time off, # of pitches, # of innings, arm care after he threw and worked with a trainer during the season, etc.

Thanks Tiger, I think the additional info can be helpful to readers here.
The only thing I was talking about with the pitch combination was having CB and slider both, regardless of other pitches. Many coaches feel that's a tough combination - difficult to master either when working on both at the HS level. Sounds like he was in great hands.
Again, congrats and thanks for sharing.

You are 100% correct, Cabbagedad. Bum, Jr's first D1 pitching coach took away his curve in favor of a slider which never worked. In the summer collegiate league after his soph year, knowing he was going to transfer anyway, he said "screw it" and went back to his curve. He threw a no-hitter the next start and has been just fine ever since.

College slider = Really dumb pitch, IMHO. It's hard on the arm and rarely translates to a true, pro slider.

Confucious say: When slider goes bad, it goes long.

My son is a 2013 LHP/OF. Instead of pursuing an athletic scholarship in Texas, he wanted to see if baseball might help ease his application along at a good school back East. He has strong SAT/ACT scores and is ranked in the top 10% of his class, but it appears to take more than that to get into an Ivy-caliber school.

Most of the schools he was interested in don't seem to scout much in Texas (at least not where he had been playing). With this in mind, I took him to Headfirst on Long Island in August. My son is 6'1" and did well in the showcase: he played his positions the right way, ran hard on every play, etc. I was proud of him.

We went to New York not knowing if anything would come of our visit. My son understood that if it did not work out--if no one was interested--at least he would be able to say he tried to make it happen and it just wasn't in the cards. Once we returned to Houston, however, he started to hear from several schools.

The interest from the Ivies was lukewarm ("come to our $500 prospect camp next month"; "we would love to have you as a walk-on"; "you're #3 on our depth chart and we are only taking two"; etc.), but the smaller, Division III schools showed greater interest. Some of these "Little Ivies" (or “Hidden Ivies”) told him that they liked him as a player, but that his test scores were not high enough to get in. Others were more positive. They invited him to come visit, see the campus, meet the players, etc. As his father, I preferred that--if he were to play baseball in college--he do so at a D3 due to the shorter seasons and reduced off-season practice obligations (compared to the more rigorous D1).

In late September, we went back East again to visit one of these schools. He got to stay overnight with the players, eat in the dining halls, and go to a football game. He had a great time overall and really liked the school and coach. He decided to apply "binding early decision" (with the coach’s support) to this school, and would know in mid-December if he were accepted. If accepted, we would know where he would go. If not, we would be back to square one.

And so, we waited; that was the hardest part...until yesterday.

My son has been accepted to Tufts University. He is now a Jumbo.

His mother and I are thrilled for him.

I wish to thank the members of this board. I have been lurking and occasionally posting here for the past year. The collected wisdom here is a resource incomparable to any book, blog, or website in existence. Just searching the past posts yielded a treasure trove of valuable info for rookie parents like myself.

You folks were my guide, as I tried to guide him. And I thank you.

Hero,

Congrats to son. Great story. My son had a summer ball team member that had Tufts as one of his top options. I will have him check in and see where he landed. Have fun wearing your "Jumbos" gear. That is a great nickname.

quote:

My son has been accepted to Tufts University. He is now a Jumbo.

Congrats, and best of luck in the NESCAC. Recently, Tufts has had a lot of success in the confrerence and in the post season.

Herodotus:

Congratulations to you and your son. Great school!

Congratulations to your son! Great school.

We know a number of students at Tufts. They love it!

Herodotus ---- Great decision! Go Jumbos. Coach Casey is a great 'old school' coach. My son did an overnight with the team also (I wonder if it was the same weekend?) and had a great experience, said the team was awesome. It was a tough decision but he opted to not do the ED.



Tell your son to get ready for REAL baseball, in the sleet and the snow and sub-40 degree weather. It will make a man out of him

Herodotus -

Congrats! Tufts is a great school - close enough to Boston to enjoy the big city, but far enough away to be a peaceful campus. The baseball team has done well in recent years, too - unlike the football team :-(. I have a son graduating in few short months (it went by VERY quickly) - he came in as a football player, but got injured. He has thoroughly enjoyed his 4 years and while it's "sad" to think about him graduating, it does mean "one less" tuition bill (whoohooo). I'm also guessing at some point he/you will get to know a bit more about "DU" (Delta Upsilon) - it's the fraternity a number of the baseball/football players belong to.

I am amazed at the number of parents and players at our high school that have waited until Winter of their senior year (Iowa plays baseball in the Summer) to start looking at programs. Iowa kids do not have spring baseball to showcase their skills, so if they have waited this long, they have limited their opportunities...IMO. But those with good talent can still get looks at this stage through camps, but most coaches still want to see you in games.

Those that have spring ball best not assume that "if I play they will come". Be proactive with emails, targeted camps, phone calls, Youtube video, etc. Make it easy for coaches to see you. We started when our son was a Soph by attending a few camps just to get his feet wet. Then, when he was a Junior, he would attend camps and follow-up with email updates of his schedule and season along with some video.

Even now, though he has "verballed" to a JUCO, he responds to 4-yr college coaches camp invites by saying he has committed to a particular school but that he will be looking for a 4-yr in a couple of years and to please keep him on their follow list. Their responses has been extremely positive and it keeps some very important doors open for down the road.

My son's greatest results with video came from a D1 pitching coach who would not only review his video but then email him and tell him some things he would like to see him work on. That impressed all of us.

The best of luck with the process!

Herodotus,

Great story and thanks for sharing it. Best of luck to your son at Tufts! I hope you will be able to make it to some games.

You have a PM.

Herodotus - Congratulations to your son and your family! It sounds as though he found a great home!

Enjoy every minute, the years fly by!

Herodotus,

Congrats! Great school in a great college town.

My son moved to Connecticut from Houston a few years ago. He will tell anyone that he will take playing in the Northeast over playing in the heat and humidity of Houston every time! Just buy stock in UnderArmour.

Great story, thanks for sharing.

Congrats Herodotus,

With a screen name like that Tufts seems like a good fit. I tell everyone who listens (there aren't many left of those) that Headfirst is the best place to be seen for high academic kids looking for a good match.

My nephew visited Tufts for baseball and spent the night there. Loved everything about the place (except the gum that got stuck in his hair after a long night).

My sons recruiting story highlights the serendipity nature of baseball too. Recruited as a ss, fast forward and he's been a weekend starting pitcher for his school and pitcher of the year in the Northwoods summer league.

Go figure. Anybody want some old batting tees and nets?

quote:

Originally posted by Tigers13:
Cab-head..I suppose I should have said.. .no matter how hard you throw, college hitters can hit fastballs..college coaches know that and they really look for guys with second and third pitch..And pitchers that pitch, not just throw. Not sure about the chances if he threw 85..One D1 college coach told me..87 mph was the magic # for him..No feather in anyones cap but he learned to pitch at a young age and was blessed with velocity, 84 fresh, 87 soph, 90 jr. year.

As for learning several pitches, it took practice and practice..he learned the CB early, worked on the slider over the past couple of years..The change up was by far the hardest pitch to learn. As for a good decision,I'm not sure what you mean but He was "watched out" for very well. Went by the book on off season training, time off, # of pitches, # of innings, arm care after he threw and worked with a trainer during the season, etc.

Tiger113...Excellent grasp of the college game. The guys who can adjust by "pitching" are successful. The secondary pitches and command are the difference. You can't live on just fastballs after high school.

The one piece of advice (of many) I found here that was valuable is "Go where you are wanted."

Herodotus,
Great story. Congratulations.

Cabbagedad,
I am with you on the use of a curveball and slider a pitcher doesn't need both.

All I can say is ouch.

Herodotus- Congratulations on the commitment. My high school catcher is now at Tufts, absolutely wonderful kid who is a great teammate. He speaks very highly about the entire experience.

2013(position player)received the official acceptance word this weekend!! As far as the recruiting story here goes.

I was never certain that he would be able to play baseball at the college level. Up until 8th grade most sports came easy to him show up each season and play the sport. His work ethic was ok not great. One of the best things that happened was he was cut from his Middle school basketball team. He was blown away the night when he learned he was cut from his school team. After that he really got after it conditioning wise etc and hasnt stopped since. The sting of being cut has not been forgotten and truely got him to understand that at a minimum it takes hard work and dedication.

After HS Freshman year he attended an over night baseball camp with several college coaches. On the last day(pick up day) I saw one of his coaches and introduced myself. The coach stopped and told me he has a great future and could see him playing at the next level. He also told son that and a greater spark was lit. It was from that coaches words that he started to believe that he could possibly be a college baseball player.

Soph year in HS he played on a very strong HS team with two stud twin pitchers(both now playing D1 and doing great). Their father told me about HS Baseball web. I checked out the site and began to learn about the entire process.

He played for a new under the radar travel ball team and I learned from the site that playing at East Cobb was a very good idea so after Soph HS season he did a PG showcase and the interest started. The travel team went down to 17u PG wood bat in Georgia and he had a real nice tourney. Nobody was their to watch his team but about 20 coaches were there one day to see a pitcher from an opposing team that throws in the low 90s. Son hit two HRs in that game. After East Cobb things really started happening. Coaches talking to travel ball coach coach asking him to call etc. He received his 1st offer late fall(after a fall PG event in FL) of his Jr year in HS. It was a great financial offer.

He was becoming more and more of a student each year in HS(not anything like his dad) really enjoying the studies. He took his 1st SAT and did pretty well and folks from this site after doing some PMs said he has a good shot possibly playing at an Ivy if that is what he wants. We looked into that possibility as that is what he wanted. While pressure was starting to build on the offers on the table he had to say "NO" as he started to get serious interest from some incredible academic type schools. His new goal was to play college baseball at one of the best academic schools in the world . Junior year he took the SATs two more times and on the 3rd try he nailed it well enough that if an Ivy wanted him he probably had that part covered.

The next step was showing his schools of top interest that he could play and that he had something they could use. As Junior year HS season was winding down a few schools came to watch some of his games. He handled that pretty well. Before traveling to East Cobb he did a major showcase on the East Coast( at Rutgers).It was blistering hot that weekend. His top choices all came to watch and on the 1st day of games he had one of his worst showings ever.He could hardly hold himself together the first hour of the drive home as it was probably the biggest showcase day of his life up to that point. I felt so bad for him. Driving home he asked who was there watching and I told him. After all the preparation he/we could not believe he could have such a bad day.He was mentally way down. I could see after about halfway home he began proceesing things in his mind. After a 2 1/2 hr drive he was ok and we were home. An hour later he asked to go hit at the field. He took about 250 swings that night mentally erasing everything bad that happened earlier that day from his mind. He went back the next day for his last showcase game. 1st AB he tripled off the CF fence the next two he doubled to rf and singled to LF. It was July 1 and his phone started ringing!

In the end he was fortunate to receive offers from schools that most likely he would not gain admission as a student only. He made visits to the schools of high interest and committed late July.The process came full circle this past weekend as he was officially admitted to the school that truely seems like the absolute best fit for him.

Being guided to this site was so incredibly fortunate. I initially was a lurker on the site reading much of the wisdom from all of the fantastic posters. I am not an internet message board type person. Yet when I sent some PMs to HSBB members that I thought could help I was rewarded with so much outstanding information.

I/We especially want to thank veteran poster Fenway South. Fenways knowledge specific to Ivy recruiting was "dead on" every step of the way. THANK YOU FENWAY!! So looking forward to watching our sons compete against each other in 2014!! Some truely great advice from people I have never met.

GO DAWGS

Bboy400--congratulations to you and your son and thank you for sharing your story. What an amazing future he has ahead of him!

p.s. I am another member of the Fenway fan club

quote:

Originally posted by BaseballmomandCEP:
Tell your son to get ready for REAL baseball, in the sleet and the snow and sub-40 degree weather. It will make a man out of him

A snowman. He'll love Waterville ME in April. The following year it's up to (upta in Maine-ese) Brunswick and Lewiston ME in April. To quote my daughter when she visited Tufts and BC during the softball recruiting process, "Dad, what were you thinking when you moved us from Southern California?" She played in Florida.

Congratulations. Tufts is an excellent school.

quote:

Originally posted by Swampboy:

quote:

Originally posted by Aleebaba:

Hey Bum, thanks for your story. Can you explain in a little more detail what you mean by the above quote? What occurred during the recruiting process that would have helped your son choose the right school from the beginning, if anything? What would you do differently?

Without knowing details of Bum Jr.'s experience, I'll point out that a transfer does not necessarily mean the player made a bad decision. When you commit, you make the best decision you can with the information you have. When you go to school, circumstances change (injuries, coaching change, competition on the team), you acquire information you could not have obtained earlier, and you refine your understanding of what is best for you.

Transferring isn't necessarily a sign of a past mistake (though it certainly can be); often it just reflects initiative to improve your circumstances.

I read 50% of D1 baseball players transfer to play someplace else. The initial choice is made by both the player and the coach on limited information. There's no right and wrong. There's only finding the right landing spot to have a quality college baseball experience.

While watching an ACC game I asked a dad how his son chose the school he selected. I also asked if there was interest in the bigger program in the same state. The dad said the bigger program showed interest. The school the kid chose showed love. The kid started as a freshman.

Bboy400, great story...congrats!

Congratulations Bboy400! Awesome story! Two Hr's in one game?! I would pay dearly to see that! Best mine has done is Hr's in multiple games at Jupiter. Never 2 in one game!

I wish you and your boy tremendous success. Enjoy every minute you can, it will fly by and you can never get it back.

Enjoy the ride!

Congrats BB400! That is such a great story! I would also like to thank all of the regular posters on this site for all of the incredibly helpful advice!

2014prospect

quote:

Originally posted by floridafan:
Congratulations Bboy400! Awesome story! Two Hr's in one game?! I would pay dearly to see that! Best mine has done is Hr's in multiple games at Jupiter. Never 2 in one game!

I wish you and your boy tremendous success. Enjoy every minute you can, it will fly by and you can never get it back.

Enjoy the ride!

Thanks for notes all...Only time he has hit 2 in one game. It figured that was one of two tourneys I missed that summer.

2013 S received official acceptance letter last week. Here's his story:

My S plays 3 sports (s****r, basketball, and baseball). His favorite sport was always basketball, and once he started high school he was convinced he wanted to play it in college. For his first three years he focused his recruiting efforts on basketball -- this despite the fact that on the field he was having more success in s****r and baseball (he started for varsity s****r and at shortstop as a freshman; while "only" playing JV basketball). He was a conference all star in s****r and baseball soph year. He made varsity basketball soph year but didnt start due to two senior all star guards ahead of him. He did get meaningful PT on a very successful team. Meanwhile he was performing at a very high level academically.

After soph year, with the help of a recruiting service (another story for another day) he began sending out his basketball information. He had positive responses from some schools although in most cases the schools were not academically appealing.

Fast forward to junior year -- he had a tremendous s****r season in the fall and he decided maybe s****r would give him a better shot at a hi-level academic school. He started to send out his s****r info and sure enough he drew interest from some great academic schools. His basketball season was terrific, and more opportunities opened up; but, still not at the schools he was most interested in academically.

Junior baseball season went great and, for the first time he started to think about playing two sports in college. This past June, at the end of junior year he started sending out his baseball info. The coach responses came back quickly and positively -- much more so than when he first sent basketball and s****r feelers.

He had already committed to several s****r recruiting camps but he managed to get a couple of baseball events on the calendar. One of the s****r camps he had scheduled was at Williams. The assistant coach had shown him good interest and, obviously, academically Williams is top-notch. Knowing he was going there for the s****r camp he emailed the baseball coach and introduced himself. He did not hear back.
Not long before I was to take him for the s****r camp I told him to call the baseball coach and ask if we could meet with him the day after the s****r camp. S's reply - no, Dad, he never returned my email so he must not be interested. I made him pick up the phone and place the call. The coach answered and in very short time he set up the meeting.

The s****r camp went well and the meeting with the baseball coach went even better. He took us on a tour and then we sat and talked in his office. He talked about his program, asked S questions, and answered ours in a very straight forward manner. He then said he had spoken extensively with S's high school coach, watched his videos and he felt S is a great fit for his program. He explained how NESCAC recruiting worked and then said S was his top kid. He said he has more kids to evaluate and things could change -- but if they did he promised to be straight forward about were S stands on his list. He also said he is not the kind coach who contacts the kids on his list with great frequency. He said he'd be in touch once a month or so and that if S has questions feel free to call anytime -- and, by the way, he said he's not a big email person and if you send an email there's maybe a 50/50 chance he'll respond. Thinking back to S's nearly giving up after not getting a response to his intro email -- he was sooooooo close to missing out on what has now turned out be a fantastic opportunity at a school many consider to be the best in the country.

Everything between that first meeting and November happened as the coach said it would. His OV went great and S was even more convinced the school was the right place for him. He was still getting a lot of interest from other schools and not knowing for sure he whether his pre-read with Williams admissions would go well, he kept other options open (specifically 2 other NESCACs -- which he really did like and would have been happy to go to, and 1 IVY, which he really liked but was not sure how much coach support he had -- he def had some but probably not a LL). The pre-read came back positive and coach reiterated to S he was his top guy and asked if he would come ED. S committed. After the wait -- stressful as mid December approached -- for the admissions decision (I have some strong opinions on this for another day), we got the thumbs up last week.

S may well play s****r there, too; and is still in contact with the coach. Basketball is an outside shot as the season could get in the way of baseball -- not too mention that it's not clear he's in that coach's wheelhouse.

We are thrilled and S is incredibly excited. He is a talented kid, but he is self-driven and very hard working. If his GPA holds up he will be his class valedictorian. To succeed in 3 sports and at academics at the level he has is a great credit to him.

nescac,

Thanks for sharing your story. That's a great lesson in picking up the phone. I have the feeling I am going to be using that story with my son.

Congratulations to yours for a great outcome from what has undoubtedly been some very busy, hard working high school years. ED should make for a much less stressful senior year; I'm sure he'll enjoy it.

Fantastic! Can't imagine working the r ruining process in more than one sport. Congrats to your son! You will get a thumbs up from at least one Williams alum who hangs around these boards.

Congratulations!!

nescacdad,

Fantastic story, and thanks for sharing! Congrats and best of luck with baseball and whatever other sports your son pursues.

Congratulations! Welcome to the HSBBWeb! That was a very interesting first post. Once again the value of perseverance was shown.

Father of a 2014 RHP\3b...outstanding thread! Keep it up!!!...and Merry Christmas.