Below is an article I wrote after going through the recruiting process with my son the last two years. I hope it answers many of your questions.
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I’ll admit my first reaction was, “Oh boy! Another new poster who thinks he’s going to educate us morons here” while rolling my eyes. But I started reading with an open mind.
There’s a lot of very general information. There’s also a significant amount of incorrect information. When I saw the recommendation of a recruiting service I stopped reading.
By the way club baseball at a large university is not unofficial D1 baseball.
It may not have helped you, or you may not like recruiting services, but I found this particular one to be very helpful. I spend very little of the article talking about the service and I say in the article that if you don't do the heavy lifting, the recruiting service will not get your son to play baseball, but it does have value. I would have never found the schools I did with the service's suggestions of what schools my son was a good fit at. It would have taken me forever to find out information about those schools. Again can you find out school information without it? Yes. Sites like niche.com give you great information about the schools. Can you find coaches contact information without the site? Yes, by going to the schools individual websites. Can you write them an email? Of course, but with the site you hit their name and an email to them pops up ready for you to put in the information you want to send them.
The best feature I found is that it points your son in the right direction of what schools he should be looking at considering his talent level, his test scores, his grades, his proposed major, and some other things. For us, it really helped. I would not have found the school he signed with without the service. I would have never looked at that school, nor would I have known what a great academic school it was.
But again, if your son doesn't craft the emails correctly, if he doesn't follow up to responses in a timely manner, if he doesn't call the coaches, there is little any service can do for him.
Why don't you share what you think was "wrong" in the article so we can discuss?
By the way, I never said Club baseball was "unofficial D1 baseball." It's perfectly clear that I stated club baseball is not sanctioned by the universities. It's put together by the players who want to keep playing baseball with their friends. I even said the teams are funded by the players. Again, tell me all these things that I know for a fact, that my son and I experienced, that are untrue. Stop doing drive bys brother. Bring something to the table of value. If you disagree about anything in my article, let's discuss it. In the process, people could learn something. Let's be adults about it.
...and no one here is "educating" anyone. We are simply sharing information that worked for us. No one is talking down to anyone. I have learned a lot through this site over the years. I just wanted to share.
Also not a fan of recruiting services but if you have the money, spend it. I just feel there are better ways to invest your money. I also believe you send your stats in a small ration because coaches do want to know if you can hit. If you are hitting less than .300 in high school you probably can't hit in college and if you have a 9 era in high school you probably cannot pitch in college. It is not heavily weighed but it is information. I also do not believe club ball is anywhere near the college level. It is just a college men's league with no coaches other than players. They just get together and play games. Not in the conversation with college baseball. Yes, there may be a few players who could play some level of college but not many.
Good little overview, Rocky. Nice of you to take the time to share your thoughts and experiences. Should be very helpful to those just starting their journey and looking for a general overview to get them pointed in the right direction.
Don't get too worked up over rjm's comments and lack of detail when picking your work apart. Drive-by's are just his style. If he can't relate it to his personal or his kids 'all world, championship experiences' he'll just swing and run. Take a look at his history, I think he makes a nickel for every time he post's on a thread....he doesn't miss ANY!
I’ve always been opposed to recruiting services but one of my son’s football teammates used one last year and went from being recruited by D2’s to multiple D1 scholarship offers and preferred walk on offers from numerous top end SEC and Big 12 schools. The kid was 6’4 with the longest arms I’ve ever seen and a huge frame so I’m sure that played a large role. But, nothing started happening until they used the recruiting service very late in the game.
So I do have some criticisms, but I'll try to keep them productive and focused.
1. Is this the only place you posted this? It appears to be a jobs web site and I'm not sure that's the right audience for people seeking baseball scholarships. It suggests to me (and I doubt you intended this) that if you don't have a job, a baseball scholarship might be a way to go to help your kid with college. Otherwise, I'm not sure how this is an appropriate venue for the piece.
2. It's too long. I run an online newspaper and it about kills me to post anything that's 1,000 words and I don't go any longer. People just don't have the attention span. This is more than 3,400 words, which not only is a lot of words, but it also reads like a lot of words. Maybe consider using some bullet points to tighten up your message.
3. It is very general. It's nice to tell people to send video, but what should they include in it? I just have visions of lots of people reading that and starting some of those lovely slo-mo action videos with a cool soundtrack in the background. More specifics on what to include in an email also would be helpful.
4. I thought generally the observations about D1 baseball were correct, although I think there's a more specific message to parents about turning your child over to their coaches.
5. Finally, I guess my most significant criticism, and perhaps the one easiest to fix, is what's your qualification to write this article? You need to tell people what qualifies you to give them advice and more importantly, why should they listen?
JMO.
Ptchingfan: Again, my article was for folks who want their kids to continue playing after high school. My point was not that Club Baseball was on a par with NCAA baseball, but rather for those kids who just love the game and their priority is academics, they can still play baseball after high school, and they don't need to worry about missing practices, schedules, etc. Club ball is simply just for those who love the game and dont want to stop playing. Obviously, if you are not required to attend practices, and the school does not fund the team, it's not at the level of NCAA, NAIA, or JC teams. I simply included Club Ball, because many parents and their kids don't know it's an option. Again, if academics is your priority and you want to pursue a business degree and get accepted to Michigan, most would choose that rather than playing at an JC. For many, baseball is not more important than academics. However, it's nice to know that for those kids, that they can keep playing with their friends on the Michigan Club Ball team.
And yes, the recruiting service worked for us. It 100% worked for my son. He would have never been matched with the school he is going to, would have never opened up a dialogue with the coaches, would have never been invited on a visit, without the service. Again, we did the heavy lifting. If you join a service and expect magic to happen without hard work on your part, it wont.
ADesertDuck posted:Good little overview, Rocky. Nice of you to take the time to share your thoughts and experiences. Should be very helpful to those just starting their journey and looking for a general overview to get them pointed in the right direction.
Don't get too worked up over rjm's comments and lack of detail when picking your work apart. Drive-by's are just his style. If he can't relate it to his personal or his kids 'all world, championship experiences' he'll just swing and run. Take a look at his history, I think he makes a nickel for every time he post's on a thread....he doesn't miss ANY!
And everyone here knows you have an attitude. I wasn’t going to bother since the errors should be obvious to anyone but a rookie. But I guess I’m being challenged to slice and dice the article.
The first section is about kiddie ball. No one becomes a college prospect in kiddie ball on a small field. Most college players were preteen stars. But many preteen stars don’t even make their high school team. Many parents can’t recognize the difference between the physical early bloomer of a 5”8” father and genuine potential. I wouldn’t given any credence to compliments from parents unless they played to a high level of ball. Any bit of connecting kiddie ball to college ball is delusional.
The next part gets into high schools. Don’t pick your kid’s high school based on athletics. Pick it based on its academics. Even if you’re selecting a high school heading into high school there’s a very slim chance the high school will impact a kid playing college ball, being drafted and/or becoming a MLBer. There are plenty of college baseball players who attended high schools with mediocre baseball programs. Or the team was only successful because a kid was a dominating pitcher. The exposure comes their travel team. High school has a much better chance of affecting college academics and career start.
What are unofficial levels of D1 baseball? There’s no such thing. D3’s are not for the most part high academics. There are far more D3’s that are part of a state university system than high academics. There are plenty of “write the check and you’re accepted” private D3’s. Not a lot of D3 players can play D1. Some mid major D1 prospects play D3. Typically they’ve selected a high academic D3 over an academic middle of the road mid major. They know they’re not pro prospects. They’re thinking grad school. Why are the handful of D3 draftees typically pitchers? Because 90+ is 90+ no matter where you throw it. Hitting success against the wide range of D3 pitchers is very subjective to judge.
A scholarship is a scholarship. Not true. At the D1 level with some exceptions, if the baseball coach doesn’t have any skin in the game with his scholarship count chances are the player is a low priority recruit.
D3 schools require less practice. Ask some of the posters here if D3’s practice and train a lot less than D1 players. During the regular season there may be a time when when a player misses a game due to a non athletic friendly professor unwilling to provide an alternate test date. There may be a can’t miss lab. But I know D1 players who missed practice for labs. A player may be more likely to ask for a day off from practice to study. But to state D3’s practice less is very misleading.
Most elite D3’s aren’t in the northeast. There are more in the northeast. There are plenty of elite D3’s all over the county. By the way Ohio and Illinois are not the east. West of Pennsyltucky (Central PA) is the Midwest.
I’ll pass on JuCo’s and NAIA’s for lack of knowledge and experience.
6.8 is good speed. It’s not top prospect elite speed. 6.8 foot speed is not in the same park as a 94 mph fastball.
Almost no baseball players are on the college radar at age twelve. 12yos are typically playing on a small field. Even Jerry Ford once said he only saw two 12yos with big time potential.
Most players on D1 teams don’t have scholarships. Not true. Up to 27 of 35 may be on scholarship. Yes, there are underfunded D1 programs. But still a majority of the players are getting at least 25%.
Don’t expect to have time for anything but baseball and school. While the two are very time consuming most baseball players have some semblance of a social life and girlfriends.
Did any poster’s kid choose his school based on how many fans would be at the games and games are on tv? Crowds/environment are a plus. But not a reason to choose a program. Games on tv are a plus for parents. But once again, not a reason to choose a program. There are more D1 programs playing in front of 500 fans than playing before 3,000+.
Choose a recruiting service. 75-90% of this board would disagree. Most coaches don’t read recruiting service spam. There’s nothing a recruiting service can do that can’t be learned on this board. Besides, what a player really needs is his travel coaching selling him to his college contacts.
Recruiting services provide honest evaluations of player’s talent. How. I’ll take the honest evaluation of up close and personal baseball people. If a kid has talent and lives in a metropolitan area in high school a travel team relevant to his abilities (D1 to D3) is pursuing him.
Tell the coach about yourself as a person (in email). They’re not looking for Dr Schweitzer. They’re looking for baseball players. Provide metrics, possibly a two minute fundamentals video, why you want to play there and why you want to attend the college.
Provide your grades and test scores. Coaches aren’t looking at grades and test scores until they know you can play the game. It’s not the reverse.
If you throw 77 focus on D2 and D3. If you throw 77 you’re not playing D2. You’re marginal for D3. Unless you have great command you might want to focus on intramural softball.
1. Is this the only place you posted this? It appears to be a jobs web site and I'm not sure that's the right audience for people seeking baseball scholarships. It suggests to me (and I doubt you intended this) that if you don't have a job, a baseball scholarship might be a way to go to help your kid with college. Otherwise, I'm not sure how this is an appropriate venue for the piece.
It doesn't appear to be a jobs site, it is a jobs site. Who cares where I posted it. That's irrelevant. I have a blog where I help people find jobs. It's the only place I knew to put it so I can link it so others can read it. But what was untrue about the article??? You said most if it was untrue?
2. It's too long. I run an online newspaper and it about kills me to post anything that's 1,000 words and I don't go any longer. People just don't have the attention span. This is more than 3,400 words, which not only is a lot of words, but it also reads like a lot of words. Maybe consider using some bullet points to tighten up your message.
I agree. It's very long. I just started writing and when I was finished, I said crap, this is a long article. I really got in to it and didn't want to forget anything. I wrote it during a long flight. Maybe I'll add some more subtitles. Again, you said there were many thing that were untrue with my article, once again, what was untrue???
3. It is very general. It's nice to tell people to send video, but what should they include in it? I just have visions of lots of people reading that and starting some of those lovely slo-mo action videos with a cool soundtrack in the background. More specifics on what to include in an email also would be helpful.
lol. I thought you said my article was too long? Now you want me to write the bible on college recruiting? Parents need to do some research on their own. A simple search will reveal this tutorial that I now included in my article. https://www.ncsasports.org/baseball/recruiting-video
Truth is coaches could care less about cool music and graphics. I wrote about things that should be included in the emails. Read it again. Again, you said there were many thing that were untrue with my article, once again, what was untrue???
4. I thought generally the observations about D1 baseball were correct, although I think there's a more specific message to parents about turning your child over to their coaches.
Why don't you tell us what you mean about "turning your child over to their coaches?" Coaches are a resource, not the end all be all. If you put all your eggs in the coaches basket, believing he will get your kid a scholarship, you are very mistaken. Very few care that much. Coaches don't know what schools will be the best fit for your son; you and your son do. Some, because of their years in coaching do have connections that can help, but I would take charge of the process, not put your son's college future entirely in their hands.
Again, you said there were many thing that were untrue with my article, once again, what was untrue???
5. Finally, I guess my most significant criticism, and perhaps the one easiest to fix, is what's your qualification to write this article? You need to tell people what qualifies you to give them advice and more importantly, why should they listen?
I started the recruiting process with my son two years ago when it was clear his coach wasn't the kind of coach who gave a crap about helping kids get scholarships, unless they were to big name D1 colleges. I realized the onus was on us if he wanted to have a chance to play in college. I started researching, reading, talking to coaches at prospect camps, speaking to my sons coaches who had played college baseball, speaking to the coaches on NCSA, etc.
I am a dad who helped his son get a scholarship to play college baseball. My son recruited the schools, because we know it was very unlikely all the schools he was interested in were going to recruit him. Everything I put in the article is what I know to be true. Again, you said there were many thing that were untrue with my article, once again, what was untrue???
Pitchingfan: Again, coaches are not interested in your son's stats. They need to see him with their own eyes. What does hitting .300 mean? Was it against quality pitching? Does he play in a mecca of great baseball with amazing competition? Does he pitch against the great teams or is he the kid they put in against not so good teams? They do care about metrics. 60 time, exit velo, pitching velocity, different types of pitches, height and weight, grades, test scores, etc. They don't care that he went 3 for 4 against Sunny Delight Prep.
Thanks for the heads up Desertduck!
Rocky Alvarez posted:1. Is this the only place you posted this? It appears to be a jobs web site and I'm not sure that's the right audience for people seeking baseball scholarships. It suggests to me (and I doubt you intended this) that if you don't have a job, a baseball scholarship might be a way to go to help your kid with college. Otherwise, I'm not sure how this is an appropriate venue for the piece.
It doesn't appear to be a jobs site, it is a jobs site. Who cares where I posted it. That's irrelevant. I have a blog where I help people find jobs. It's the only place I knew to put it so I can link it so others can read it. But what was untrue about the article??? You said most if it was untrue?
2. It's too long. I run an online newspaper and it about kills me to post anything that's 1,000 words and I don't go any longer. People just don't have the attention span. This is more than 3,400 words, which not only is a lot of words, but it also reads like a lot of words. Maybe consider using some bullet points to tighten up your message.
I agree. It's very long. I just started writing and when I was finished, I said crap, this is a long article. I really got in to it and didn't want to forget anything. I wrote it during a long flight. Maybe I'll add some more subtitles. Again, you said there were many thing that were untrue with my article, once again, what was untrue???
3. It is very general. It's nice to tell people to send video, but what should they include in it? I just have visions of lots of people reading that and starting some of those lovely slo-mo action videos with a cool soundtrack in the background. More specifics on what to include in an email also would be helpful.
lol. I thought you said my article was too long? Now you want me to write the bible on college recruiting? Parents need to do some research on their own. A simple search will reveal this tutorial that I now included in my article. https://www.ncsasports.org/baseball/recruiting-video
Truth is coaches could care less about cool music and graphics. I wrote about things that should be included in the emails. Read it again. Again, you said there were many thing that were untrue with my article, once again, what was untrue???
4. I thought generally the observations about D1 baseball were correct, although I think there's a more specific message to parents about turning your child over to their coaches.
Why don't you tell us what you mean about "turning your child over to their coaches?" Coaches are a resource, not the end all be all. If you put all your eggs in the coaches basket, believing he will get your kid a scholarship, you are very mistaken. Very few care that much. Coaches don't know what schools will be the best fit for your son; you and your son do. Some, because of their years in coaching do have connections that can help, but I would take charge of the process, not put your son's college future entirely in their hands.
Again, you said there were many thing that were untrue with my article, once again, what was untrue???
5. Finally, I guess my most significant criticism, and perhaps the one easiest to fix, is what's your qualification to write this article? You need to tell people what qualifies you to give them advice and more importantly, why should they listen?
I started the recruiting process with my son two years ago when it was clear his coach wasn't the kind of coach who gave a crap about helping kids get scholarships, unless they were to big name D1 colleges. I realized the onus was on us if he wanted to have a chance to play in college. I started researching, reading, talking to coaches at prospect camps, speaking to my sons coaches who had played college baseball, speaking to the coaches on NCSA, etc.
I am a dad who helped his son get a scholarship to play college baseball. My son recruited the schools, because we know it was very unlikely all the schools he was interested in were going to recruit him. Everything I put in the article is what I know to be true. Again, you said there were many thing that were untrue with my article, once again, what was untrue???
Who cares where I posted it. That's irrelevant. — iIt's only relevant if you care who reads the article.
But what was untrue about the article??? You said most if it was untrue? — Never used the word untrue. Never said most of it or even any of it was untrue.
Seems like you are seeking an argument rather than feedback, so I'm done.
RJM: This is for you bucko!
And everyone here knows you have an attitude. I wasn’t going to bother since the errors should be obvious to anyone but a rookie. But I guess I’m being challenged to slice and dice the article.
The first section is about kiddie ball. No one becomes a college prospect in kiddie ball on a small field. Most college players were preteen stars. But many preteen stars don’t even make their high school team. Many parents can’t recognize the difference between the physical early bloomer of a 5”8” father and genuine potential. I wouldn’t given any credence to compliments from parents unless they played to a high level of ball. Any bit of connecting kiddie ball to college ball is delusional.
I never said that if your son was a good "kiddie ball" player, that he was destined for great things. I started the article by saying everyone dreams about their kids being a great ball player, but many are not built for the sport. But some kids will stand out. They will have success on the field, more so than the other kids. Parents will notice. Some part of their game will stand out when they are 10, 11, or 12. Parents, who are not experts (never said they were) will want to tap in to what your son has. Dont put words in my mouth. I never said little Jimmy who hit a homerun in Tball will be a first round pick.
The next part gets into high schools. Don’t pick your kid’s high school based on athletics. Pick it based on its academics. Even if you’re selecting a high school heading into high school there’s a very slim chance the high school will impact a kid playing college ball, being drafted and/or becoming a MLBer. There are plenty of college baseball players who attended high schools with mediocre baseball programs. Or the team was only successful because a kid was a dominating pitcher. The exposure comes their travel team. High school has a much better chance of affecting college academics and career start.
Obviously you didn't read my article, much of it is dedicated to the importance of academics. However things being equal, I would choose the school with great facilities, a coach that will help your son reach the next level, good coaching, etc. It's in my article. I never said put the program over the school. Again, read my article.
What are unofficial levels of D1 baseball? There’s no such thing. D3’s are not for the most part high academics. There are far more D3’s that are part of a state university system than high academics. There are plenty of “write the check and you’re accepted” private D3’s. Not a lot of D3 players can play D1. Some mid major D1 prospects play D3. Typically they’ve selected a high academic D3 over an academic middle of the road mid major. They know they’re not pro prospects. They’re thinking grad school. Why are the handful of D3 draftees typically pitchers? Because 90+ is 90+ no matter where you throw it. Hitting success against the wide range of D3 pitchers is very subjective to judge.
Dude, you have never heard of midmajor D1s? Elite D1s? What planet are you living in? Vanderbilt is not considered on par with Sacred Heart. Everyone knows that. Most D3s are private institutions brother. Do your research. Yes, many D3 players can play D1. Ask the coaches at D1 schools. many choose academics over baseball as a priority. What are you telling me that I don't know. Yes, 90+ is 90+, but hitting 400 against D3 talent is not the same as hitting 400 against D1 talent. What did I say that was wrong?
A scholarship is a scholarship. Not true. At the D1 level with some exceptions, if the baseball coach doesn’t have any skin in the game with his scholarship count chances are the player is a low priority recruit.
Again, a scholarship is a scholarship. I stand by that. A scholarship means they are paying for you to go to school. Whether is an athletic or academic scholarship, money is money. Who cares what level its given at?
D3 schools require less practice. Ask some of the posters here if D3’s practice and train a lot less than D1 players. During the regular season there may be a time when when a player misses a game due to a non athletic friendly professor unwilling to provide an alternate test date. There may be a can’t miss lab. But I know D1 players who missed practice for labs. A player may be more likely to ask for a day off from practice to study. But to state D3’s practice less is very misleading.
Het expert, per NCAA rules, D1, D2, and D3 have restrictions on the number of games they can play. Also the amount of hours they can practice. Do your research, and get back to me. You have a lot to learn. You have been on here since 2007? Geez.
Most elite D3’s aren’t in the northeast. There are more in the northeast. There are plenty of elite D3’s all over the county. By the way Ohio and Illinois are not the east. West of Pennsyltucky (Central PA) is the Midwest.
Hey expert, look at this map of D3 baseball schools. Where are most schools located? https://www.google.com/maps/d/...881849999998&z=4
I’ll pass on JuCo’s and NAIA’s for lack of knowledge and experience.
So you are an expert at everything else, except two major areas of college baseball?
6.8 is good speed. It’s not top prospect elite speed. 6.8 foot speed is not in the same park as a 94 mph fastball.
Dude, what are you talking about? Ok, 6.7...what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?
Almost no baseball players are on the college radar at age twelve. 12yos are typically playing on a small field. Even Jerry Ford once said he only saw two 12yos with big time potential.
You don't live in Miami, Florida obviously.
Most players on D1 teams don’t have scholarships. Not true. Up to 27 of 35 may be on scholarship. Yes, there are underfunded D1 programs. But still a majority of the players are getting at least 25%.
Only 11.7 scholarships per team, do the math.
Don’t expect to have time for anything but baseball and school. While the two are very time consuming most baseball players have some semblance of a social life and girlfriends.
Academics, Baseball, Social life. Each player gets to choose two of the three. If baseball isnt one of them, they wont be playing for long. If Academics is not one of them, they wont be students for long.
Did any poster’s kid choose his school based on how many fans would be at the games and games are on tv? Crowds/environment are a plus. But not a reason to choose a program. Games on tv are a plus for parents. But once again, not a reason to choose a program. There are more D1 programs playing in front of 500 fans than playing before 3,000+.
Yes brother, kids care about playing D!, against the known schools, on TV.
Choose a recruiting service. 75-90% of this board would disagree. Most coaches don’t read recruiting service spam. There’s nothing a recruiting service can do that can’t be learned on this board. Besides, what a player really needs is his travel coaching selling him to his college contacts.
Read my article. Obviously you haven't.
Recruiting services provide honest evaluations of player’s talent. How. I’ll take the honest evaluation of up close and personal baseball people. If a kid has talent and lives in a metropolitan area in high school a travel team relevant to his abilities (D1 to D3) is pursuing him.
Your "friends" dont want to be mean; rude. The coaches at NCSA dont really care. They dont know you. They want to give you info that will point you in the right direction.
Tell the coach about yourself as a person (in email). They’re not looking for Dr Schweitzer. They’re looking for baseball players. Provide metrics, possibly a two minute fundamentals video, why you want to play there and why you want to attend the college.
Not true at all. They want to know about the person. What they want to study, what they are interested in outside of baseball, why they want to go to school there. Dude, obviously you have never had a son go through the process.
Provide your grades and test scores. Coaches aren’t looking at grades and test scores until they know you can play the game. It’s not the reverse.
They ask all the time. What are you talking about? Its not the 1950s bro. Coaches DO CARE about grades and test scores. You have no clue.
If you throw 77 focus on D2 and D3. If you throw 77 you’re not playing D2. You’re marginal for D3. Unless you have great command you might want to focus on intramural softball.
If you are throwing 77 as a junior and have good stuff, you can reasonably expect to throw 83 as a senior with some work. Coaches recruit what a player is capable of, not what they are doing right now.
Its clearly obvious you know very little about the recruiting process. And you are giving people advice? Scary!
Rocky ... There’s so much incorrect in your response you’re not worth the time. However, it did pick up two “likes” quickly on a slow morning.
If I want to nitpick the picture in your article is of a D3 signing. D3’s don’t have NLI’s. It’s a staged faux signing to advertise the commitment. I don’t have a problem with high schools and high school athletes doing this. But for an intended informative article it should be a legit NLI signing.
Have a nice day. Don’t forget to take your meds.
Bucko .... LOL!
"D3: For the most part, these are the most highly academic liberal arts schools. They are often highly selective, and the student population is usually less than 2000. NYU, MIT, and Emory are D3 schools."
Interesting that of the three examples you use, none are LAC's and all have enrollment much higher than 2K.
Rocky Alvarez posted:Pitchingfan: Again, coaches are not interested in your son's stats. They need to see him with their own eyes. What does hitting .300 mean? Was it against quality pitching? Does he play in a mecca of great baseball with amazing competition? Does he pitch against the great teams or is he the kid they put in against not so good teams? They do care about metrics. 60 time, exit velo, pitching velocity, different types of pitches, height and weight, grades, test scores, etc. They don't care that he went 3 for 4 against Sunny Delight Prep.
I'm not trying to argue with you. You asked what people thought? Our experience was with my son and others in my program that coaches wanted to know stats, especially his summer stats against good teams. I think it also depends on what level of recruiting you are talking about. My son was recruited D1 and many of the coaches in SEC, ACC, and Big 10 commented in our personal conversations on his stats against the Big Programs in his summer ball and his high school stats.. It also helped he threw .000 era for all of high school year so it stood out. I know every college coach I have talked to about players, they want to know their stats, grades, and attitudes so it does count. No matter what teams you are playing you should at least hit .300 in high school and have low era if you are a high level college player.
On recruiting services telling you what level ball you should be doing, that is also what a summer coach should be doing. Our coaches always told our players what level they should be reaching out to whether good or bad in the players eyes.
NCSA is not too well thought of around here...Just do a search on topics...
It's been many years, but one of their "recruiters" posted a few times...Didn't get much of a welcome mat!
Understand Mr Rocky, that this site was created about 20 years ago to do for FREE what you claim a "$$$ervice" did for you...
We have an incredibly strong network of posters, who are very willing to help new parents navigate the recruiting process. We have lots of experts!!! Some have had 4 sons, twins, etc. We all started with reading, then conversing, pm'ing, phoning, meeting up... Some of our kids have gone to the Military Academies (Air Force & Westpoint), some to Vandy, some to Stanford, some to U of Texas, some to Arizona St & U of,...some to U of Fla, Auburn, Clemson...And every other level (JUCO World Series)l...Some have made it to MLB, some are currently College Coaches, Pro Coaches, some front office, some backoffice...computer gurus, accountants, engineers...& on & on!
ALL WITHOUT a Recruiting service!
What we have in common here at hsbbweb is camaraderie...we support, encourage, advise & give of ourselves to anyone...We help to lead others thru the maize because we love the game!
We DON'T try to fit a square peg into a round hole! We DON'T sell anything!
RJM: Again, about 7% of high school players go on to play college baseball at any level. You probably didn't know that expert. By the way, D3 players (dont know why you are slighting them) do sign commitment letters. see: https://www.nsr-inc.com/scouti...ment-letter-to-sign/
Players that sign D3 commitment letters get full rides to their schools. Unlike D2, D3, NAIA, and JCs, if they decide to stop playing ball, they keep their scholarships. You learn something everyday huh expert? And by the way, Ivy League schools also don't provide athletic scholarships. Are those "faux" ceremonies as well expert?
You said most D3s were not in the northeast. I sent you a pic of all D3 baseball schools showing otherwise. You change the subject. You should not be on these boards brother. You got no clue. You bring nothing to the table. This is too easy.
Baseballmom: NCSA worked for us. Worked for many others. I don't make a dime from them and very little of my article speaks about NCSA. You are the one keying on it. It's just another resource. One of many. I have also been on this site plenty of times over the last couple of years. Some real good information, some well intended, but wrong, and some just disturbingly wrong.
By the way, I simply posted an article of what worked for me. Didn't find too much camaraderie, I'm sorry. Just a lot of childish attacks. I love the game as much as you do. We used NCSA and WE were rewarded. I don't care if people use it or not. If you don't believe it's a good resource, then don't use it. It worked for me. Maybe it wont for others. I have nothing bad to say about it. It helped us get through the maize. I wont be afraid to mention it here. Be glad it worked for me. Show some camaraderie. Show some support no?
By the way, most players dont play D1. Many who do will end up transfering to a D2 or D3. Playing D2 or D3 is like a scarlet letter around these boards. Understand, most of the players will never go pro. The majority of those who do, will fizzle out in Rookie ball. Just the facts. What maters is not that you went to the SEC or ACC. What matters is that the boys go to a quality school, get their degree, get to play competitively, make long lasting friends, and come out more well rounded than when they came in. Not impressed by all the SEC, ACC, Big 10 players talk. Many of the best coaches did not play D1. The current Vandy pitching coach played D3.
Rocky Alvarez posted:By the way, D3 players (dont know why you are slighting them) do sign commitment letters. see: https://www.nsr-inc.com/scouti...ment-letter-to-sign/
Players that sign D3 commitment letters get full rides to their schools. Unlike D2, D3, NAIA, and JCs, if they decide to stop playing ball, they keep their scholarships.
Rocky, I honestly don't care that you will say nasty things about me for posting this, but this is simply too egregious and if someone new read your post they could seriously be led astray. Division 3 schools are not allowed to give athletic scholarships — "Division III schools do not offer athletics scholarships."— NCAA web site, link shown below.
http://www.ncaa.org/student-at.../future/scholarships
People can sign whatever they want to and have whatever ceremony they want to, and they often do. That's okay and fun for them and for their families. But it doesn't mean anything.
Folks, ...his only posts are this thread...his profile bio: "recruiting junkie"...HMMM, so take it for what it's worth... his opinion...under the guise of selling a recruiting service...
Too bad he didn't ask for help a few years ago...those $$'s could have been better spent on skills training, or lessons...
Rocky Alvarez posted:RJM: Again, about 7% of high school players go on to play college baseball at any level. You probably didn't know that expert. By the way, D3 players (dont know why you are slighting them) do sign commitment letters. see: https://www.nsr-inc.com/scouti...ment-letter-to-sign/
Players that sign D3 commitment letters get full rides to their schools. Unlike D2, D3, NAIA, and JCs, if they decide to stop playing ball, they keep their scholarships. You learn something everyday huh expert? And by the way, Ivy League schools also don't provide athletic scholarships. Are those "faux" ceremonies as well expert?
You said most D3s were not in the northeast. I sent you a pic of all D3 baseball schools showing otherwise. You change the subject. You should not be on these boards brother. You got no clue. You bring nothing to the table. This is too easy.
As I posted before you’re inaccuracies are not worth the response. But the one thing that really validates you don’t have a clue is players don’t sign NLI’s unless they are receiving athletic money. Even D1 recruits not receiving money don’t sign them. Keep it coming You’re entertaining. Don’t forget your meds.
Iowamom23 posted:Rocky Alvarez posted:By the way, D3 players (dont know why you are slighting them) do sign commitment letters. see: https://www.nsr-inc.com/scouti...ment-letter-to-sign/
Players that sign D3 commitment letters get full rides to their schools. Unlike D2, D3, NAIA, and JCs, if they decide to stop playing ball, they keep their scholarships.
Rocky, I honestly don't care that you will say nasty things about me for posting this, but this is simply too egregious and if someone new read your post they could seriously be led astray. Division 3 schools are not allowed to give athletic scholarships — "Division III schools do not offer athletics scholarships."— NCAA web site, link shown below.
http://www.ncaa.org/student-at.../future/scholarships
People can sign whatever they want to and have whatever ceremony they want to, and they often do. That's okay and fun for them and for their families. But it doesn't mean anything.
......and you would not sign an nli for the ivies.....no athletic $$, no nli....that said, the ivies will give the most reasonable needs based financial aid.....and cant we all just get along...lol.
I'm all in favor of having as many personal experiences available online as possible. People who google "college baseball recruiting" will find your blog entry, will find this site, and will find many other things. Many people (we were certainly among those) will not know anything about the subject, and won't know what to believe.
I think that the reason you are being criticized here is that your son is going to play at a D3 school, but you aren't transparent about that in your blog entry. In fact, your title says "get a college baseball scholarship," but that doesn't, in fact, seem to be what your son has. When we started, we had no idea what the different NCAA levels meant. Over time we figured it out (with a lot of online reading). Many who find your blog will not know this. When you say "it doesn't matter what kind of money it is, academic or athletic" - that is entirely true from the point of view of a family's finances. But, it is not necessarily true relative to how a player will be viewed by a coach at a D1 or D2 school. That's what people here are trying to say - that your blog entry doesn't make that clear.
The most crucial part of your blog entry is where you say, "A recruiting service will provide an honest evaluation of your son's talent." This is, indeed, extremely important to know. Some posters here have jumped on you for that, and said that is the job of the travel coach. That is also true. Any of them will work fine if you are a D1-type player. However, the fact is that neither a recruiting service nor a travel coach are necessarily going to provide an "honest evaluation," although they might provide a hopeful evaluation. If you are a D3-type player, some travel organizations are not very good (or interested) at helping. A recruiting service obviously worked for you - but, how did they evaluate your son? You don't make that clear. Any other ways of being recruited, of the kind suggested on hsbbw (going to appropriate showcases, sending emails to coaches, going to appropriate camps) would probably also have worked, too. What you need to do is say, more clearly, "Our recruiting service told us that with his size and measurable numbers, our son was most likely a D3 player, and that with his grades and SAT, he could get an academic scholarship at XXX schools." That is a piece of information that many people could use.
When we first started googling about baseball recruiting, we found HSBBW the main site. I read some of the articles, and they were so out of date ("send a videocassette...") that I assumed that all the information was just something old. I only found the forums when I googled something more specific. Many times on this site, people have noted this, but the static pages have never (or rarely) been changed, I think. A ton of links don't work. New items, like this blog entry, seem fresher and more relevant to people who are googling. I think that's why so many posters here are trying to point out some things about it that could be improved.
Iowamom: ahhhh, anyone who has read my article knows I stated D3s don't give "athletic" scholarships. They give academic scholarships. Neither do the Ivy League schools. And I never said "anything nasty" about you. And yes, every signing ceremony is just that...a ceremony.
Baesballmom: LOL. Yes, I get paid. You are funny.
Thanks Anotherparent: Correct, my son will play D3 at a top academic school. Had opportunities to play at other D3, NAIA, JC as well. He has a high SAT/ACT and great grades. Healso was recruited by two D2s, but the school are not as prestigious and the love from the coaches wasn't nearly as much as he got from the school he is going to play for. The money we got was also substantially more than any athletic money we could have gotten elsewhere. We made a decision to focus on D2, D3, and NAIA schools. Thats the best fit for him.
I see what you say about the title. I changed it. I also removed NCSA from the article. Now I don't have to hear that I am working for them and getting paid to mention the company. LOL.
So funny how I write an article that might help people whose kids are starting the process, and I get attacked. Then I am told this is a supportive community. lol. I wrote what worked for me. And by the way, don't think for a minute all these people's kids all played D1 baseball. Some may have, most didn't. Many are very angry at life. Maybe cause things didn't go their way.
"By the way, D3 players (dont know why you are slighting them) do sign commitment letters. see: https://www.nsr-inc.com/scouti...ment-letter-to-sign/"
Those are ceremonial only, and I doubt that many schools use them. My son's does not.
"Players that sign D3 commitment letters get full rides to their schools."
Hahahaha. Do they get a pony too?
It would be nice if that was true, but it's not.
Letsgo: You say, "the ivies will give the most reasonable needs based financial aid." They don't differentiate between students and athletes. Ivys go by a simple formula. If you make good money, even though your boy is a stud, expect to play $80,000. You will pay the same any family will pay with the same financial situation.
Many D3s can work with parents and will offer specific academic scholarships or grants to help families pay the tuition. I have found D3s have much more leeway than the Ivys, truth be told. And call it what you want, but D3 athletes do have signing days. Just look all over twitter. See here: http://www.ncaa.org/division-i...bratory-signing-form
Who cares what you call it. It's an opportunity to celebrate playing college baseball with your family, friends, players and coaches. But it's not a real "NLI". What does that even mean? lol. We are not worthy! We are not worthy! lol
JCJ: Again, 77% of D3 schools have a student body under 2,999. https://www.ncaa.org/sites/def..._edited_20180119.pdf
Oh, and for all you high brows who dispute that D3 athletes have signing ceremonies, here you go: https://www.dpsk12.org/dps-sen...ational-signing-day/
Go ahead, disparage them you supportive community, you!
Ivys go by a simple formula. If you make good money, even though your boy is a stud, expect to play $80,000.
Once again, not true. A family with one kid, a 100K income and 500K in assets pays under 25K per year for Harvard.
125K, under 30K per year.
150K, under 35K per year
Rocky Alvarez posted:Letsgo: You say, "the ivies will give the most reasonable needs based financial aid." They don't differentiate between students and athletes. Ivys go by a simple formula. If you make good money, even though your boy is a stud, expect to play $80,000. You will pay the same any family will pay with the same financial situation.
Many D3s can work with parents and will offer specific academic scholarships or grants to help families pay the tuition. I have found D3s have much more leeway than the Ivys, truth be told. And call it what you want, but D3 athletes do have signing days. Just look all over twitter. See here: http://www.ncaa.org/division-i...bratory-signing-form
Who cares what you call it. It's an opportunity to celebrate playing college baseball with your family, friends, players and coaches. But it's not a real "NLI". What does that even mean? lol. We are not worthy! We are not worthy! lol
I was not insinuating that other schools cannot provide merit based aid..i.e. academic scholarships. I was simply pointing out that as it relates to the "formula" that ivies apply to needs based aid, they are much more generous than most other institutions. At least that was my experience. I think it's important for families to understand if they aren't making six figures the ivies may be more affordable than they could imagine. If you value that type of education/experience it may be worth exploring.
As to why this is a controversial post, I suspect it has mostly to do with the recommendation that a recruiting service is useful. To that I cannot speak. We didn't use one.. ..what my son did do as a HS freshman was create an xls work book of target schools. He started with Forbes top college website to find schools matching his interests/test scores and cross referenced to school and conference sites to round out info. In less than a day he had a list of schools, costs, required scores, coaching contacts, etc. He worked off that list (tracking contacts, etc) for three years until he wound up committing.
I guess we could have paid a service but it seemed funds were better utilized elsewhere (training, travel costs, team fees, camps, etc)
And since I brought up camps I'd simply like to add that while the money spent on that channel yielded no direct results, what I would say (at least for my son) is that the lack of success at these events lit a fire under him....he trained harder/smarter thereafter.
Rocky Alvarez posted:Oh, and for all you high brows who dispute that D3 athletes have signing ceremonies, here you go: https://www.dpsk12.org/dps-sen...ational-signing-day/
Go ahead, disparage them you supportive community, you!
I think everyone is splitting hairs on this......I would encourage everyone to have a signing ceremony....its a great accomplishment/milestone.
Signing an nli, however, comes with quite a few strings...its at that point that the verbal commitment becomes an actual binding agreement.....that can only be undone with actual reprecusions.
True Letsgo!!. I agree. Any player who works hard enough to get to play college ball should be celebrated. But yes, once you sign that NLI for a D1 or D2, you are entering in to an agreement that you play for their pay. You quit, there goes your scholarship (for the most part). But with D3s once you are accepted, you can quit down the road, and you will still keep whatever academic dollars they gave you, because it was not an "athletic" scholarship. Coaches will not be too happy though as you know if you do this.
Letsgo!!, I just read your other post. Yes, if you come from a family that is not well off and you have D1 talent, you have the possibility of going for peanuts. I know many players might want to choose an LSU over a Harvard, but man, that Harvard degree will be worth its weight in gold.
Rocky Alvarez posted:True Letsgo!!. I agree. Any player who works hard enough to get to play college ball should be celebrated. But yes, once you sign that NLI for a D1 or D2, you are entering in to an agreement that you play for their pay. You quit, there goes your scholarship (for the most part). But with D3s once you are accepted, you can quit down the road, and you will still keep whatever academic dollars they gave you, because it was not an "athletic" scholarship. Coaches will not be too happy though as you know if you do this.
To keep your athletic $$ you must be a good citizen, stay eligible and not quit.........academic money can have other requirements - maintain specific GPA (mich higher than eligibility).
At the end of the day you need to ask questions and read the fine print. The academic money they may show you may only be for one year..or four.....the same can be said for athletic money (although I'm pretty certain p5 must give aid for 4 years)