Skip to main content

Maybe the school is the perfect fit for him?

Maybe he loved the size and feel of the campus?

Maybe the school is the perfect match for his major?

Maybe it's an incredible baseball program?

Maybe he loves the head coach?

Maybe he would rather play for a Top 15 D2 than play at a 200th ranked D1?

Maybe they offered him a significant scholarship?

Maybe he would rather play at a school that consistently wins 70% of the time than one that usually only plays .500 ball?

Maybe he would rather play at a school who is in the running for a national championship than one who has no shot?

Maybe he would rather have a chance to play as a freshman than sit the bench for one to two years?

Maybe it's all of these reasons?

Maybe people can stop asking him why he went D2 instead of D1?

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Francis,

The general population doesn't understand this stuff the way you and I do.  They've never experienced it or realize that athletic recruitment decision making is about a year (or more) earlier than regular students.   

Honestly, you have to find a way to deflect the question when it comes up without explaining all the nuances that we understand on this website.   My response was always that "he had several opportunities across NCAA Divisions, and he selected the school that best fit academically, athletically and financially plus his 40+ year career goals".   This is true, and it pretty much cuts off any further questions.  If they have a clue what college recruiting is about they will understand.   If they don't have a clue what college recruiting is about they will still understand.

I had run into a few snarky people at cocktail parties who knew my son was headed to an Ivy to play baseball.  Oh course their first question is athletic scholarship related...."did he get a full-ride".   When I explain the ivys don't provide athletic scholarships I got one of two responses.  Either "oh", or "I know somebody who's brothers son got an athletic scholarship to an Ivy".   My response is "well that is interesting, and they must be very,very  special....then I smile."   

Keep it simple and high level to those people that are genuinely interested.  As for the snarky people, I'll let you come up with your own response. 

Just my two cents....

I find there are two kinds of people who comment on college baseball decisions. 1) Those who know just enough to know what schools are D1 and believe any D1 is a better choice and 2) those who don’t know the difference between Vanderbilt and Wossamotta U. Yes, there’s a difference between playing at Vanderbilt versus Bullwinkle’s alma mater. But “college baseball player” is still a small club.

When mine committed, right away friends started on me "I thought he would be D1?" or with "What if we wants to play D1" And, I told them all the truth: "Actually, he turned down an offer to play D1 to accept the D2 offer."

But, that's other parents who think D1 is the major leagues and everything else is inferior.

Recently, my son played the first scrimmage for his high school team. When he came home, he said "Three different people asked me today why I went D2 and how come I'm not playing D1."

When he shared that, I said "Seriously? Who asked you that?" And, he said: The home plate umpire, the head coach of the opposing team and the media guy who covers local High School sports.

So, I asked him "What did you say?" And, he said "Because the coaches are great where I am going."

I told him that was a good answer and to get used to having to use it a lot. (The actual reasons are all that I listed in the OP.)

A good friend of my son is one of the top '21s in our area.  A local scout tweeted out that he is a potential late round draft candidate and PG has a grade of 9 on him.  He heard from a number of D1 schools but has committed to a local D2 for several of the reasons listed above.  I think its a very mature decision on his part.

Maybe many casual fans don’t understand there’s overlap between divisions. Historically, Tampa would kick the crap out of half the D1’s. I remember looking at their roster one time several years ago. A majority of the roster was SEC and ACC transfers.

Last edited by RJM
@Francis7 posted:

When mine committed, right away friends started on me "I thought he would be D1?" or with "What if we wants to play D1" And, I told them all the truth: "Actually, he turned down an offer to play D1 to accept the D2 offer."

But, that's other parents who think D1 is the major leagues and everything else is inferior.

Recently, my son played the first scrimmage for his high school team. When he came home, he said "Three different people asked me today why I went D2 and how come I'm not playing D1."

When he shared that, I said "Seriously? Who asked you that?" And, he said: The home plate umpire, the head coach of the opposing team and the media guy who covers local High School sports.

So, I asked him "What did you say?" And, he said "Because the coaches are great where I am going."

I told him that was a good answer and to get used to having to use it a lot. (The actual reasons are all that I listed in the OP.)

The comments from your friends to you and from the participants at the game to your son are meant to be complimentary observations, meaning something like "I always thought you were such a good player and the sky is the limit".  You can, perhaps, consider it somewhat unintentionally backhanded but it really depends largely on YOUR sensitivity to it.

The "level of play" topic is an intriguing one for most folks around the game to talk about and ask about but few have reason to know it to any extensive detail level.  No reason to take those questions and comments personally.

Your OP title sort of implies this to be an unusual scenario.  Of course, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of players who are capable of some D1 level but go another direction.

Last edited by cabbagedad
@Francis7 posted:

When mine committed, right away friends started on me "I thought he would be D1?" or with "What if we wants to play D1" And, I told them all the truth: "Actually, he turned down an offer to play D1 to accept the D2 offer."

But, that's other parents who think D1 is the major leagues and everything else is inferior.

Recently, my son played the first scrimmage for his high school team. When he came home, he said "Three different people asked me today why I went D2 and how come I'm not playing D1."

When he shared that, I said "Seriously? Who asked you that?" And, he said: The home plate umpire, the head coach of the opposing team and the media guy who covers local High School sports.

So, I asked him "What did you say?" And, he said "Because the coaches are great where I am going."

I told him that was a good answer and to get used to having to use it a lot. (The actual reasons are all that I listed in the OP.)

Of all the reasons listed "Because the coaches are great where I am going." would not seem to be THE priority reason. Coaching changes happen all the time. Also, it could be interpreted by the other coaches that he feels they are not up to speed....I would assume that word will get around.

Fly996 - I'm not really worried about it.  The coach has deep roots in the community and has been so successful that, if he was going to leave, he would have left a while ago.  He's really a very good man of exceptional character. (Not implying that others aren't!) And, this isn't just my opinion. People in the industry hold him in the highest regard because of how he's run his program and conducted himself. We feel blessed that my son has an opportunity to play for him.

@Dominik85 posted:

D1 talent is a wide range, not just strong and weak divisions but also starters vs bench.

I doubt many guys with talent to start in a strong division pay d2 but plenty of D2 guys are better than some middle of the road D1 bench warmers.

Would you want to start for a habitual 18-36 D1 or a habitual 36-18 D2? A D1 bottom feeder or a ranked D2?

One of the regular pieces of advice on the board is find the best balance of academics and baseball regardless of level. Some programs lose and lose and lose. Even if it’s D1, losing all the time doesn’t fit “best possible scenario” unless it’s where the kid wants to be academically and baseball helped get him there.

Last edited by RJM
@Francis7 posted:

Fly996 - I'm not really worried about it.  The coach has deep roots in the community and has been so successful that, if he was going to leave, he would have left a while ago.  He's really a very good man of exceptional character. (Not implying that others aren't!) And, this isn't just my opinion. People in the industry hold him in the highest regard because of how he's run his program and conducted himself. We feel blessed that my son has an opportunity to play for him.

That all sounds great but I'd be more interested in the capability and stability of his position and hitting coaches who he will work with day-to-day.

But it's your family's decision....I can respect that you see it as you like...

Last edited by fly996
@Francis7 posted:

In my case, he had one very generous D1 offer and had 3 more D1s who were very interested. He had options. But, none could equal everything that the D2 situation provided.

Be careful how you explain the situation if you should even bother at all. A lot of people don’t understand “interested” is not an offer. They don’t understand half the players entering D1 transfer due to failing or lack of opportunity. It’s not uncommon for a D1 roster to be 14 freshman and 21 soph to seniors. Only 18-20 of 35 contribute each season.

@RJM posted:

Be careful how you explain the situation if you should even bother at all. A lot of people don’t understand “interested” is not an offer. They don’t understand half the players entering D1 transfer due to failing or lack of opportunity. It’s not uncommon for a D1 roster to be 14 freshman and 21 soph to seniors. Only 18-20 of 35 contribute each season.

I'd go so far as to say that unless your kid has gotten an offer, you likely don't know the difference between interested and an offer.  I was just talking to a dad last week who said his son was offered by an Ivy - the coach told him all he had to do was get in and try out for the team.

@Smitty28 posted:

I'd go so far as to say that unless your kid has gotten an offer, you likely don't know the difference between interested and an offer.  I was just talking to a dad last week who said his son was offered by an Ivy - the coach told him all he had to do was get in and try out for the team.

Isn’t that the truth?!? I don’t know why people tend to exaggerate the truth. All it does is make them look foolish. Fairly often guys tell me they played college baseball at one place or another. I usually fact check and over 50% of the time it doesn’t check out.

There’s lots of ways to go about College.  Hundreds and hundreds of college possibilities.  I know D1 talents who played D3 as they were never that serious about Baseball, were talented athletes but wanted to stay close to home and mostly wanted to focus on academics.

Its not as if kids are turning down full rides at D1’s.  If you are skilled enough in the classroom, many D3’s will cost less, via academic scholarships,  than the D1 experience anyways.

@Smitty28 posted:

I'd go so far as to say that unless your kid has gotten an offer, you likely don't know the difference between interested and an offer.  I was just talking to a dad last week who said his son was offered by an Ivy - the coach told him all he had to do was get in and try out for the team.

IF the kid gets accepted and IF the kid makes the team chances are he will never be more than a back of the roster player. The coach didn’t see enough in the kid to get him through admissions. He wasn’t counting on him being on the roster.

There’s lots of ways to go about College.  Hundreds and hundreds of college possibilities.  I know D1 talents who played D3 as they were never that serious about Baseball, were talented athletes but wanted to stay close to home and mostly wanted to focus on academics.

Its not as if kids are turning down full rides at D1’s.  If you are skilled enough in the classroom, many D3’s will cost less, via academic scholarships,  than the D1 experience anyways.

I’ve seen kids chose NESCAC’s (D3) over middle of the road academic D1’s as they understood they weren’t pro prospects. They were better prospects to become HA grad school students after playing NESCAC ball.

@RJM posted:

I’ve seen kids chose NESCAC’s (D3) over middle of the road academic D1’s as they understood they weren’t pro prospects. They were better prospects to become HA grad school students after playing NESCAC ball.

Case in point is Will Karp. He had middle of the road D1 offers out of HS but chose D3 Haverford College - for reasons stated above. Had an outstanding career at Haverford and, because of Covid, was able to be a grad transfer and play another year. Currently having a solid year at Rice University.

@RJM posted:

Would you want to start for a habitual 18-36 D1 or a habitual 36-18 D2? A D1 bottom feeder or a ranked D2?

One of the regular pieces of advice on the board is find the best balance of academics and baseball regardless of level. Some programs lose and lose and lose. Even if it’s D1, losing all the time doesn’t fit “best possible scenario” unless it’s where the kid wants to be academically and baseball helped get him there.

I agree. Losing all the time is a miserable experience that will drag you down and destroys the "clubhouse". There is a lot of talk about team chemistry and it is very important but I feel sometimes Team chemistry also comes from winning.

Sure there are some toxically constructed teams with great talent which still have bad chemistry but it is a whole lot easier if you are a winning team (mistakes drag you down less, bench players accept their role more readily than when they watch the starters mess up all the time...).

@fly996 posted:

The question isn't D1 vs. D3 HA. That decision making process seems pretty straight forward. The question is why would a "D1 Talent" elect to go D2 (non HA)?

My son’s Juco team won the D2 National Championship in 2019. Every kid that got any playing time that year was recruited to a D1 or a D2 program. Three kids opted for 3 different  D1 schools that were out of state and a long way from home. They only stayed one year because they weren’t happy in an environment that was a shock to their system. The next year they were back in Oklahoma playing at D2 schools. All of them had “D1 talent” but all of them also realized it was more important to be happy.

@fly996 posted:

Maybe he didn't have any really good D1 offers?

What constitutes a really good D1 offer? I would submit that most people don’t know the answer to that. It differs for each player to some degree but there are some constants that hold true across the board. It’s a good offer if : the right degree plan is offered, the HC is a good man and has hired like minded assistants, the coaches care about their players and treat them fairly, the coaches teach and develop the talent they recruit, the facilities are good, there is a realistic chance to get playing time, it’s a winning program, the social climate is a fit, there is a fan base that cares about baseball, and you wouldn’t want to leave if baseball didn’t work out. Good luck finding all that at most D1s - especially the P5s. But most people would think any offer from a D1 is a good offer. It isn’t. Most P5 offers are walk on or small money insurance policies. Same is true at most other top 50 D1 programs. The HCs at these schools are making a lot of money and are expected to win. They are running a business and their decisions are cold and hard. Most kids (and parents) aren’t ready for this. They have no idea what they are getting into until they are in it. Then they find out that the coaches at their big name school aren’t really that good. They don’t want to teach and develop players. They want to recruit and manage a roster. As a result many kids leave these programs for a more comfortable existence. They recognize they would rather enjoy their time playing college baseball at a less prestigious school than be miserable sitting on the bench on a team coached by someone that doesn’t care about them. IMO, if a HS kid really does have D1 talent (and most that are told they do actually don’t) the place to look is a good mid-major. There is a much better chance of finding most of the things I listed above that constitute a good offer. This has certainly held true for the kids I know that are still playing.

@Francis7 posted:

Another factor here:  For 99% of the NCAA players, college is the end of their baseball journey. It's the end result of everything they have worked for over the previous 10 to 13 years. Why not go somewhere where you feel it's going to be the best 4 years for you?

That’s true. But it’s amazing how many of the 99% think they are in the 1%.

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×