THE FOREST AND THE TREES

Not only is Trhit correct about considering other options in addition to the highest profile D-1's, but in many instances these lower rung D-1's or D-2 or other levels are the only realistic option for a player.

It all goes back to fit. Where would your son be happy attending college if he weren't a baseball player? Would he even want to attend that big name D-1, or would a D-2, D-3 or NAIA school be preferable? Why or why not, would he consider a juco?

Another consideration to put into a player's highly individual mix: the baseball schollie offered is the tangible reflection of the program's interest in the player. Whatever the level and whatever was "heard" during the visit, the player receiving 15% and books has a great deal more chance of seeing pine than the player at 40%+.

I agree with all of the above for a position player, as the player needs as many at bats as he can to improve. I do not necesarily agree in this philosopshy for pitchers.

There are many smaller schools (and larger ones as well) that do not have depth in their pitching staff, if you are an ace from the get go, you will be used to the max. Not healthy.

Bottom line, go where you will get the most from the entire college experience.

Tom,

Well said.

Great points, TR. My dad is having that issue with my son comitting to a D-III. Dad is absolutely certain that his grandson should be a D-I "lock", and just doesn't see that a D-III player can have a fine career and a great college experience, even if he never goes to the "next level." Early on, TR gave me advice about "fit" and to gauge the player based on the phone calls and interest received. That was perhaps some of the best advice we got.

Excellent post JT

My son and I went up to New London, NH, Saturday, for a DIII double header between Colby-Sawyer and Endicott. We saw a couple of really good games but he also took in the setting (you can see the mountains beyond the field), the number of folks who turned out to watch a game in the middle of nowhere, the parents firing up grills to feed the team, the feel of the town and the quintissentially New England campus. There's soooo much more to finding the right college fit than just baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by JT:
Great points, TR. My dad is having that issue with my son comitting to a D-III. Dad is absolutely certain that his grandson should be a D-I "lock", and just doesn't see that a D-III player can have a fine career and a great college experience, even if he never goes to the "next level."

JT, Seems that your that son made an excellent choice and your support for that choice, and the excitement you project supporting his choice is great to see. Over the weekend I read an article about 3 local players who followed our son from Northern CA. to TX to play at a DIII. These are very talented kids on the baseball field and in the classroom. Talked about how much they like the school, the coach and how there is such a "family" atmosphere within the program. Even talked about how much fun it is to go fly fishing with the head coach. Two of the three do not see their careers ending with their last college game and with some success in the summer leagues where they are being placed, they could be right. Thought it was so interesting the players could talk about the head coach in terms of him being their friend and fishing buddy. Wonder how often that type of bond happens with a college head coach and his players.

I will vouch for what TR says it is all bout fit.

Last year my son’s best friend went to Florida to play ball. Prior to going it was all about the prestige of playing for a national champion. Low and behold a year later he has asked for his release and is looking a program that is a better fit.

My son is a year younger and during his recruiting process we spent a lot of time learning was important to us. We realized this as we struggled in trying to compare the first two schools. We discovered the power that emotion played in the process and how it would be easy to get caught up in all of it. It was evident that some programs played on that emotion.

For that reason we (son and parents) developed a list items that we needed to consider. We attempted to rank them in order of importance to help prioritize schools. It was not a perfect process but it forced us to talk about what issues were important. We quickly identified a couple of items that were absolute and had to be satisfied. Most of the other items were not deal breakers by themselves. Ultimately the decision was our son's but we learned a lot about his views and thoughts.

No school hit every item. So it forced us to look at what was important to us. It provided us with a scorecard that we could sit and discuss the pro and cons. It also helped weed out unrealistic expectations.

In the end I know this process gave us the best shot at finding that school that was a good fit. It also helped our son articulate what was important to him. He was able to say I want to go to school here and these are the reasons. Time will only tell if we were successful.

Keep in mind--every kid is different

Putting too much emphasis on whether you play your freshman year may prove a sad choice before it's over. Your freshman year is only 25% of the total experience.

Consider this: Will you be happy playing as a freshman if that means:

....you have selected a team that is always on the bottom tier of the conference to get playing time, and for the next four years you lose more games than you win.

... or it means you have selected a team that NEVER moves forward in after season tournament play?

... or it means you have team mates who just can't make those big plays, or make too many errors, or you just don't have the pitching depth.

Often you think you can over look these things, however, they have a way of wearing on you after 4 years.

Every player needs to take time to consider what he really wants to get out of his college experience.

Possible goals:
Playing, as many games as possible
Winning a conference title
Going to the World Series
Being the top player who can turn a program around
To play on the same team as some kid who will someday play in the pros.
To just have fun

None of these are right or wrong reasons, they are honest, to the heart reasons, that each kid has to decide himself.

You can't decide for your kids, but you can point out both sides of each choice, so they have the information needed to make the choice that will best fit their long term goals.

A player can also choose a team at the bottom of their conference and look to be part of a strong recruiting class that perhaps can turn things around

AParent,
Great post!
Regardless of the team circumstances, it's a personal decision. Everyone wants to play for a winning program, but some choose schools for reasons other than the game, close to home, a course of study not given at the other schools, friends are attending, etc.
I know plenty of players who choose the big school and don't mind sitting, I know others in smaller schools who play all the time and wish they could sit out a game.

Been following this topic and it is a good one. It clearly demonstrates that there is no right or wrong answer. In fact, AParent's last post and TRhit's last post could be construed as opposing viewpoints, yet both viewpoints may be entirely correct depending on the circumstances at the time.

Thus, where ever one may wind up, it could be both the absolute best place to be or the worst place to be depending on how the experience is perceived within the mind. It is all a state of mind imho

Anybody hear the new David Gilmore album?

TR

You are right - it can happen. And some kids would have great safisfaction when it's all said and done to have been a part of all that.

TigerPawMom

You're very right. There are so many things other than baseball that can play a major part in what a young man chooses. That's great. Because baseball is not an isolated part of their lives, even though at times it does seem that way.

It never matters what someone else would do in your shoes.

You need to choose your college the same way you choose your pizza. If you love thin crust with canadian bacon and pineapple don't order thick crust with sausage and mushrooms just because that's more popular.