Tips to close the deal

What level? D1, D2, D3, NAI?

Others with more experience will surely weigh in here, SoCal ... on what I think is an excellent question. 

 

Because it seems like there SHOULD be something you can do to close the deal: Something you can say ... some gap you can close. 

 

But from what I've seen, the thing to understand is ... they hold the cards. 

 

At this point, they're interested, but not ready to seal the deal. So, all you can do is give them a reason to. And the only way you can do that is to excel as a student, a ballplayer and a young man. 

 

Or as a TRHit, a legend on this site who passed away last year might say:

 

GET AFTER IT!!

 

(And while you're getting after it, find a couple well-respected baseball men to do your talking for you. Like travel ball coaches, HS coaches, local MLB scouts).

Your profile says you have 35 years of baseball experience.  You are just now looking to get recruited? 

 

What age and give more specifics about the dialog from the schools that say they are interested.

Sorry this is my Dads account. I am a 2016 Shortstop. Very good interactions with several schools. Hitting   Very good bat speed and bat path ball comes off the barrel well pulls the ball with authority. Fielding   Great rhythm needs to field the ball out front a little more strong arm good carry.    60 time   6.95    They have told me to stay in contact send my schedules and send tape of live ABs

Still early for most 2016 schools recruiting to "seal the deal", except for the MAJOR schools who also have some 2017, 2018 commits already. In the job market it is always said that it is easier to get a job, when you have one already. We noticed this in recruitment of my 2015 as well. Once he got interest (and offers) of some schools, he received others and sped up the timetable on where he finally committed, which was his first or second choice! You don't mention what level (I,II, III) you are looking at..but work on lowering your 60 time (6.95 is on the slower end for a recruited SS).  Good luck!

"If you want to get more, you have to become more" -Jim Rohn

 

If you become more, the deal will close itself.

 

Good Luck!

My experience as the parent of a 2016 is that the first offer is the hardest to get. And with that you can sort of weed out where you are at with the other schools you've been in contact with. But you gotta get an offer. Basically, RC's don't do sh**t until another RC does it first. Then its on. At least that's how it's been with my son. Once he got the initial offer ( D-1) he sent out a email to 10-12 schools he'd been in contact with to notify them of the 'change in his recruiting status'. The response was almost instant. Most responded within 24 hours ( one school responded in less than 30 min ) That being said, He has not committed yet.

One of the things about an offer is not only does it get things moving for other schools it gets things moving with the player. My son was so caught up in getting an offer that it sort of overshadows some of the more important questions like: Do I really want to go there? Is that the best school I can get into? Now he is trying to wait as long as possible before committing... A complete 180 degree turnaround from the " I gotta get an offer" thing. Yes, the offer is good but stuff gets real. And it happens fast.

Also, I might mention that my kid was all caught up in the 'D-1 thing' and sure he want's to play at the highest level he can and has a D-1 offer. But next week he is taking a tour and meeting with administrators and the team at a D-3! That makes no sense right? Wrong. It makes a whole lot of sense to him because once he got the initial offer he asked himself some hard questions about the School, location, Costs, etc.  Quality of life stuff becomes more of an issue when the player REALLY has to commit . The D-3 is a High Academic school with a terrific Baseball program that generally ranks as one of the top NCAA D-3 programs in the Country with several players drafted over the last few years. Great campus, warm weather but most importantly on the baseball side he likes the HC. The HC at this school has been following him since he was a freshman and that means a lot to my son. And in the final analysis, this whole thing is my son's decision.It's HIS life. He needs to go to College where he feels challenged in the classroom and on the field and comfortable on campus and in the community. And what he is learning about making that choice is that most of those things have very little to do with whether the school has a D-1, 2 or 3 attached to it.

But yes ultimately the first offer sort of herds the other schools into decision mode but actually it helps herd the PLAYER into decision mode

StrainedOblique just hit it out of the park.  It's a grand slam.

 

He is exactly correct in my experience.  Get that first offer (it doesn't have to be an ACC or SEC school) and build a market for yourself.  You need to learn how to handle offers, understand offers and communicate offers (discretely) once they happen. 

 

Once you have one, two , three offers, you'll get a sense of where these coaches see your talent translating at the college level.  Always keep your end goals (what do I after college) in mind, because if these offers aren't meeting those end goals then you need to keep looking or modify your strategy slightly.   Offers are priceless information because that is the marketplace talking back to you.  Listen, and good luck!

fenwaysouth concurs!! Let's just say I've learned from the best.Thanks my friend. I'd be terribly lost with some of this if it wasn't for all your help!

FYI: Just picked up "Don't tell me what to do, just send money"

Not meaning to hijack the thread here...but in the same topic vein, I know of a 2016 that has 10+ offers from multiple D1's...so my question is once you get the offers what are the reasons NOT to accept (aside from the obvious, i.e. player doesn't like coach or school)....I mean what is "the game" in receiving multiple offers, and NOT accepting any?

 

CaCO3Girl,

 

From my viewpoint it is desirability, leverage and fit.  In your 2016 example, why hasn't the young man (you know) accepted any of these D1 offers?  Have you asked?  Possibly he is being very selective or hasn't found exactly what he wants just yet.  It could be related to academic major, money, location, girlfriend, bad advice, travel coach, projected playing time, etc...take your pick of reason.  Actually, you'd be surprised how many people (on this website) feel more comfortable waiting for the right situation.  They've learned from the collective wisdom offered here..  My oldest son practically drove me crazy he waited so long.   He "timed out" on a couple D1 offers of which one was his dream school since he was 5 or 6 years old.  The longer he waited the more offers came in.  He was waiting for the right academic opportunity.  In the end he knew exactly what made him feel the most comfortable.  As time went by, he accumulated more and more leverage and desirability with more and more programs.  Again, this was my experience and yes, my son is very picky.  Your mileage may vary.

 

Please let me know if that doesn't your question.

CaCo, maybe you should ask what game they are playing!  

There is no game. If a coach likes your son and he likes the program, then you accept unless these offers are so minimal that they find it insulting, which many players do because they think they are worth so much more than they are offered (this happens in the draft too). So many players knock themselves out of the box because they want more bonus money than anyone is willing to pay (I am not talking about the top prospects).

FWIW, whose business is it anyway if someone has 10 offers, we never told people how many offers son had because the only offer that mattered was the one he accepted.  

During recruiting dont believe everything that you hear.

 

JMO

 

SoCal, what responses like this mean, to me at least, is the coaches who have seen you like some things but you are not at the top of their recruit list and/or they still are uncertain of their position needs for a 2016.

This is especially true if the communications are with CA colleges at the D1 level.

More than just about any State, CA has far more D1 players than D1 slots open each Fall. I would venture to say there may be 10 D1 players for each D1 opening in our State each year.  When you figure each D1 will need 8-10 players each year( and not all of those are position players) and largely remove Stanford which has a more National type approach, it is truly a coaches market. Unless the programs involved have a need at your position and you are a top level talent, or you are very versatile AND a very top level talent, the college coaches can be highly selective from an extremely large pool where the  skills and talent are terrific, but gradations of skills and talent are minimal in difference.

In essence, my view is you cannot close the deal because your talent level is probably very, very good, but it is not at that level, compared to the elite talent in our State,  which forces a college coach to put a deal on the table to close. From your brief description, you don't sound very different than our son coming out of HS.  He had D1 interest but  didn't get D1 offers until after graduation.

The best way to close the deal is to continue to work hard to improve your skills, lower your 60 time, become more explosive, be more versatile and be a better player. As those occur, you need more and broader exposure, probably outside of CA. and probably outside of D1. All of this assumes your grades will provide an avenue to most any program where an offer might be possible. If grades are an impediment, the ability to get an offer to close can that much more challenging.

Good Luck. Have a great HS season and keep posting as you progress toward that goal of the best HS season along the pathway toward a  college opening. Remember, though, in our State, there are so many wonderfully talented players who never close a deal at the D1 level and have terrific  college careers and even beyond that in baseball.

It was actually my son that asked the 2016 the question "Do you have any college offers", the kid replied "Yes", my son asked "Anywhere good?", the 2016 smiled and said "Yes" and named them, so it wasn't my conversation, I just overheard it.  The 2016 looked overwhelmed when ticking them off for my son, and I do know that one of the local D1's has their recruiting wall right on their website and his name is on there.  I just didn't feel comfortable asking a 2016 questions so I thought I would come on here and see if anyone had any ideas why his family has chosen to approach it this way.  From what I gather from the posts received based on my question I am assuming he is waiting for them to sweeten the pot and as a 2016 I guess he has time for that

I concur here.  I have seen parents and kids embellish what is going on.  They may SAY they have offers, but really only have interest.  I'm not saying that is going on in this case, but I have seen it happen many times.  I have also seen kids and parents say they got 75% or a full ride to a school.  When in fact, they got the minimum 25% baseball money and another 50% or 75% academic money.  

 

I know getting good money is getting good money regardless of where it comes from.  But, it has always bothered me that some people try to make things sound better than they really are - athletic wise.  I think that also sets up unrealistic expectations from the people who are coming thru the process after them.  

I have seen this as well.  Many folks I have talked to embellish their offers.

Not only parents but players. Our player never discussed even when asked...until he accepted an offer. Not even with friends. Its very hard to discusss when there are others not receiving info. 
Anyway this is just an example of what goes on. 10 offers and no decision means the offers arent worth much..in my opinion.

FYI... I totally agree that embellished offers are the norm.  But, in this instance, I believe I know who the poster is talking about and it is quite realistic that this player is sitting on multiple offers - very high PG rated player.  Another possible reason he may be waiting could be draft related. 

 

Also, we have a junior in our program who has recently signed his D1 NLI.  He is a great kid who is humble, respectful and courteous.  He would not brag about offers but is the type of kid that feels obliged to honestly answer questions.  Therefore, he would be inclined to share who he was getting interest and offers from when asked.  And he was asked often.  Probably not the advised approach but it's just who he is, in a good way. 

Ok I agree that he may not be overstating the truth. My point is why tell others you have 10 offers, unless you want someone to know that you are in demand. 
Or he is expecting more?  This may be the game being referenced to.  
The draft does play a big part in all of this. The better the program the less chance the player will go pro or it could work, as the better the program the more the player may demand.  This is a win win situation for the player.
Just sayin'......

FYI, I was more responding to CaCO3Girl and a situation like that, than the OP.  Her post is where the 10 offers came from, not the OP.  I don't think the OP even said he had offers, just that he had interest and was asking how to close the deal on some interest that he has had.  I think we got a little off topic from the OP.

 

And I'm not saying that everyone lies.  I'm just saying that some people will tend to exaggerate at times.  Many times, as with anything else, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  Listen with a discerning ear.

bballman,

I was responding to what cabbagedad said.

 

To get back to the OP (sorry that I got off the topic), you cant force an offer to happen. I know situations where players have asked for offers, only to not get what they really felt they deserved, you want someone who really wants you and will show it by helping to get whatever it takes to get you on their campus.

 

What you need to do is to continue on a path to get interest (another topic for discussion), focus on your junior season and get on a good team this summer for exposure. Send that program your schedule. Telling you that they are interested in getting you back on campus doesn't work for me.  And as mentioned is correct, it is not too late for 2016's.

Not sure if I can add anything more to this thread as most of the posters have done terrific job IMO w this question and corresponding items of interest throughout the thread. But a couple of things to keep in mind. JMO

-When a HC or RC want a player they make their intentions CLEAR. There is no ambiguity.

-Prospective HS players are categorized within the Colleges recruiting data base on the following:

          Follow

          High Follow

          Prospect

FOLLOW: will receive regular ' Non personalized' email regarding camps and program updates.

HIGH FOLLOW: Same as above except possibly more personal email with questions from RC about players grades, Playing Schedule.

PROSPECT: Phone calls from RC plus regular personalized email generally asking questions about players schedule , grades, test scores, intended College Major, etc. Lot's of contact with the player. The simple way to differentiate between FOLLOW and PROSPECT is the phone. College RC's call prospects. They do not call follows.

 

Also, Prospects generally have a skill set that ALREADY plays at the prospective colleges level. Sure , they project guys , But they need to see a tool or 2 that plays NOW on their team.

 

Being a PROSPECT puts you on the recruiting board for your particular class ( 2016, 2017, etc ) but that board is also prioritized numerically. Example: Maybe 12 RHP's on  a board at a school. All are assigned a numeric value 1, 2, 3 etc. With the #1 being their top choice.

 

-Pitchers are in the front of the line. Much harder for position players to find a roster spot than pitchers. The data is clear. On a given NCAA roster you may find a total of 33 players 16 of which are pitchers ( 2015 Cal Poly Roster )

 

-The talent level in NCAA baseball is regional. Meaning that the best players from across the Country will play west of the rockies or in the south. Most of the big west coast schools and Southern schools incoming recruiting classes are MLB Draftable. Simply put, if you haven't filled out draft paperwork with an MLB team, don't waste your time!

 

-Most HS players and parents are chasing the same 2 dozen schools. Dream schools and famous programs that have the 'pick of the litter'

 

-Competition for NCAA roster spots is fierce....And not just at the D-1 level! There are just 'Too many guys' a recruiting coordinator told me " Try to imagine how many great hitters and pitchers there are in the United States..Now, take that and triple it"

 

-HS players that want to play College Baseball need to cast a 'Wide Net' contacting schools across the US not just locally

 

-The biggest lie that has ever been told is " If you are good they will find you" . You gotta be proactive w/ exposure . College Camps, PG, JO's , etc. The college baseball season runs parallel to the HS season. The RC's are BUSY and do not attend very many HS games.

 

 

Just a few things to consider IMO

 

         

Excellent!
I call it the A or B or C recruit. A is we want you. B is we want you if A doesnt committ and C is the guy for the backup for that position if A or B declines. 
Agree if someone wants you..YOU WILL IT!

Strained:

 

Are you saying all schools use this system, or citing it as an example based on something you know firsthand? 

 

I ask because the way it worked for my son didn't comport with your description. 

He is pretty much on point.

I'm saying most do. But I understand where you are coming from. My son received an offer from a D-1 school back in October. It came about in a very unusual way and didn't follow the exact sketch above. So i too know first hand there there are exceptions.

The point I am trying to get across is that there is generally a process to recruiting and many players and parents don't understand the difference between FOLLOW and PROSPECT . I posted that stuff in an effort to be of some help to those that may not be aware of that.

I remember when my 2016 received several Sept 1 letters and he opened one up and said " Well I guess I'm going to Penn State" and I was like hold on big guy there is a whole lot more that goes into this than an initial letter.

Talking to other parents in my area I realize that if a kid gets emails from a school the kid and the parents think that they are PROSPECTS at that school. That is not the case. As TPM pointed out it's a A, B, C kinda thing.

I don't mean for any of this to be discouraging to folks. I'm not trying to burst anyones bubble. Not at all. I'm one of those guys that believe most HS players who love the game and can play a little can play at College if they find the right fit. What I am saying is that players and parents need to be able to quantify 'interest' and categorize it....because I know for a fact the RC's do!

Unfortunately , Parents and players ( myself included ) tend to see and hear what we want to see and hear. There are a small handful of parents on this site that I correspond with about changes in my sons recruiting status. And one guy in particular that I take all my East Coast high academic stuff to. These guys have been thru the trenches and are invaluable to me because they provide prospective based on real time experience and as a parent i KNOW my perspective and judgement can be impaired because of the love I have for my son. These guys tell me the truth! And I need that. I'm not going to name these guys but they know who they are and they know I highly value their opinions and suggestions.

Anyways, just posted that stuff to try and break down some of the maze that is recruiting in an effort to help anyone who is new to it. It's all just based on personal experience.

D1 programs cannot publish names of those that they are recruiting or those that have committed until they officially sign the NLI.
Do you mind sharing which one has posted this info or is this an unofficial site?
Your son asked and you overheard. Someone else here says he knows who the player is..so is it our business to post publicly someone else's business. Its easy to figure it all out. 
Look if you wanna be a player...you got to know the rules...just sayin....take it for what its worth.