THE RECRUITING TIMELINE

It hasn't been updated in about 5 years so things have changed so I'm not sure if it's accurate.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking...I'd love for some of the posters that have been through it or currently going through it would update the timeline.  Still good stuff to use, but I know there maybe more to it these days.

For examp,e,when do most D1 prospects actualy commit these days?

After thinking about this long and hard--and obsessively--re my 2016, I'm coming to the conclusion that a player commits whenever he gets "the" offer from a coach who has decided that he has to have the player in his program.

That seems to happen much more quickly for pitchers than position players; if you're a position player who isn't regarded as a super-duper star, I think you're waiting until a school/coach/program decides it's time to invite you into the club. It may be after a great spring season, it may be after a school loses a more highly-thought of prospect, but I'm beginning to realize whenever it is, it's going to be on their time frame, not ours... 

I am sure everyone's recruiting story is a little different, but my 2015's recruitment followed the timeline pretty closely. He received his first offer in August '13 (at the beginning of his junior year). He attended a few select college camps during that fall and did a PG national showcase that winter. He attended his first PG showcase in June '13 and another in fall of '13.  He had what I would consider a "fair" amount of interest up until that point. The summer after junior year was when the heat really turned up. He was offered by multiple D1s and chose his school in July. He signed his NLI during the early signing period.

Are we talking, absolute studs, or your average D1 player. I am sure that some big D1's may be accelerating their time line, but I still believe tge timeline is still appropriate for most players at all levels. Their are always exceptions. And even if kids are commiting that early, I would be intrrestedvtovsee how many actually end up at the school they VERBALLY commited to. Their have been plenty of discussion abou verbals on this site, and the consesus is that it is mostly a one way street. It benefits the school more than the STUDENT. 

I think the time line still fits for the majority. As all things one size does not fit all and is a good guideline.

The timeline will vary based on talent. The top shelf, jaw dropping, potential top ten round draft choices will be recruited whenever they show their potential. For some it could be as early as freshman year. For a majority of them it will be post soph year.The rest of the D1 prospects will be post soph or post junior year. 

 

It's a funnel of prospects. As kids realize they aren't D1 prospects or the right D1 isn't interested in them they start looking at the D2s and D3s. For academics D3s the timeline may come down to Early Decision in the fall of senior year or even the following April.

 

A friend of my son wasn't quite the talent for a top academic D3 coach to use one of his recruiting chips with admissions. The kid was wait listed academically. He didn't know where he was playing college ball until May when he was accepted.

I suggest reshaping your view and with it your question: you want a relevant answer vs. your son's situation. In other words, you need to compare apples to apples!

 

Case in point, suppose...

LHP

Sitting 84-86, topping out at 87

Has two off speed pitches

6'2" weighing 165

 

This D(x) candidate is in a pool whose average commit timeline is quite different from a C or MIF or RHP or whatever. The task is to identify candidates with similar attributes and then measure their commit timelines.

 

Point: you need to compare apples to apples. And there is sufficient data out there to accomplish this, most (if not all) of which is available via PerfectGame.

 

So if you're wondering what the projected commitment timeline is for your player, identify his key attributes, and compare it to similar segments in the PG database.

 

It feels like its earlier and earlier for pitchers. Our 2015's 1st offer came summer after Soph year. I wish i would had known about this board then. Lots stress on this roller coaster ride until the final offer he accepted.

I know of a few that did commit early and they were not considered top of the baseball heap talent in their class.  

 

I think that there is a lot that goes into the early decision process, from both sides.  

 

I was told once that a coach does not ask players to commit early because he thinks that they wont show up, but I do believe that early commits of a classes top prospects is good PR for any program.  Keep in mind that programs are rated and ranked by who commits and who shows up and ALWAYS keep in mind that this is a business.

This should be updated. JMO

This is all good information...i knew the pitchers & studs are the first to go.  Position players are last & have a longer road to impress. But what i really wanted to know if any of the more recent players use social media as a recruiting tool or help?  I know that so many programs use it promote these days.  Thanks for all the replies, keep em coming.

I would think that social media is a great way for players to keep track of programs and even to make contact with them. But I would also assume that it only flows one way - IOW, you wouldn't expect coaches to be surfing Facebook and Twitter looking for players.  OTOH, once a player is on the coach's radar he should make sure there is nothing on his social media accounts that he wouldn't want a coach to see.