I am a D3 parent, so take that with a grain of salt in terms of the bigger schools.
However, from talking with lots of parents over the years whose kids that I coached and/or who my son played with or trained with, and have gone on to all different levels, there does seem to be a common theme that academic scholarship money is more solid (If the kid keeps up his grades obviously) than athletic scholarship money which can be way more of a crapshoot, And seems to be taken away, or less frequently added to, at seemingly random reasons.
…there is a trickle down effect when it comes to the money side of college baseball that parents and kids are just not privy to. That can range from which of the top players come back unexpectedly for an extra year instead of going into MLB, Which of the former top prospects are ready to transfer in, and which of the Top JUCO Kids land in what seems to be some kind of Merry go round in terms of where they end up at, or if they get drafted.
The even bigger and more complicated trickle down effect, which parents are even more not able to track, is the pressure that comes down from the college presidents in terms of the overall budget, which really ties the coaching staffs hand, and/or conversely allows them to increase their budget and have more academic money available. You’ll see this sometimes year to year when schools have bigger recruiting classes than usual, but again there’s a ton going on behind the scenes that we Never hear about. This budget pressure from higher up the chain at schools can and does vary from year to year for reasons that often have nothing to do with athletics.
The best advice I ever received when it comes to any type of negotiation, and that includes the recruiting game for players, is to take advantage of leverage. We athletes tend to shoot higher than our capabilities, that’s just part of being a competitive athlete. That however, gives you way less leverage in a negotiation.
The legit power five Prospect who decides to go to a mid major has a ton of leverage, and can pick and choose among a lot of schools. The legit D2 Top Prospect that places like Tampa are recruiting can pick and choose among a ton of other D2 or D3 possibilities. The D3 prospect that the D3 national title contenders are going after, as well as a few D2’s are recruiting, can pick and choose among a few dozen slightly lower level D3’s.
Going to a place that is perhaps slightly below your athletic capabilities will get you on the field and Give you way more solid possibilities in terms of financial support. Remember, the dream for most players is to play in the pros, and you simply cannot get scouted from the bench.
Lots of kids think D3’s are “beneath them.” If you think you can compete with D1 players, but the doors aren’t opening for you at D1’s, then ball out at a D3 and get yourself into a good summer league and prove it there.
You want to go somewhere where the coaching staff is literally high fiving each other when you commit. There is a place like that, somewhere in the country, for most players.
