Transfer Students

Why would a D1 transfer to a D3? Playing time. Half of D1 players transfer anyway. Maybe being at a D1 opens a kid's eyes he's not really a pro prospect. Now it's about playing time and education. In some cases the step down from a mid major D1 to a top ranked D3 isn't a big step. The big difference is pitching staff depth.

A few years ago I got in a discussion about comparing top D3s to mid majors. I was at a BC- Harvard baseball game. Trinity (CT) won the D3 national championship the year before. I asked if anyone thought that Trinity team could beat Harvard. A BC dad had played ball with the Trinity coach. They were still friends. He had asked him the question. The Trinity coach felt that team could compete with Harvard with his top two starters (both drafted). Ironically the Trinity coach is now the coach at Harvard.

There was a kid that I knew of a few years ago who went to a D1 and was projected to be a top player. He did not enjoy the demands of playing college baseball at the D1 level. From what I heard, baseball was no longer fun for him. He transferred to a D3 closer to home after his freshman year. And he raked for 3 years at the D3.

My son's D3 -- which is a highly competitive D3 -- had 8 transfers out of 32 guys on the varsity roster.     2 of them were D1 drop downs (Indiana, UC Irvine),  4 were JC transfers,   2 were D2 drop downs.   Of the 8,  all but one was a significant contributor.   On the other hand, they lost a player from the previous year who transferred to UC Berkeley.  So it goes both ways.  

 I gather this school is a little unusual in the number of transfers on its rosters.   I don't think in general most D3 rely so heavily on transfers.  But it's clear that this school  works really hard to bring in transfers.  They seem to have a pipeline from certain local JC's.  Don't have any idea how they go about getting D1 and D2 transfers.  But looking back over the roster from past years, there's  steady stream of them, so it cannot be entirely accidental.

Makes it even harder for incoming frosh to gain a foothold. 

2NDMARDIV, NCAA coaches at any level aren't supposed to be "recruiting" athletes from other four-year colleges.  They're required to receive an e-mail from the athlete's current college granting them permission to discuss a possible transfer with the athlete before such discussions can begin.  In most cases, the athletes contact the D3 coach inquiring about a transfer opportunity.

I always learn something here. Wondering what my son a rising senior in hs with hopes of playing college ball is up against.

Thanks all.

Rick at Informed Athlete posted:

2NDMARDIV, NCAA coaches at any level aren't supposed to be "recruiting" athletes from other four-year colleges.  They're required to receive an e-mail from the athlete's current college granting them permission to discuss a possible transfer with the athlete before such discussions can begin.  In most cases, the athletes contact the D3 coach inquiring about a transfer opportunity.

So those drop down players have to basically fall in the Coach's lap?  How does it work with JC transfers?  Can they be recruited?

SluggerDad, coaches at NCAA programs (any division) can't pursue a player from another four-year college, and if contacted directly by an athlete at another program, are supposed to reply along the lines of "I'd be happy to talk with you about a transfer, but I need to first receive formal permission from your current athletic department."

Such permission isn't required to discuss transfers with JUCO players.

Baseball is a small society, so word tends to get out in both directions about impending transfers.

Sometimes a player's former travel coach will serve as an intermediary, either when the player wants to see if a potential school is interested enough to warrant obtaining permission to contact or when an interested college coach hears through the grapevine of a potential transfer and discreetly inquires into the player's intentions.

Sometimes the D1 coach of the school the player is leaving will initiate calls to lower division coaches, particularly if the player was a solid citizen and a good student but out of his depth baseball-wise at the D1. The coach is interested in having departing players land at other 4-year institutions because that way the transfers won't hurt the program's APR.

Often permission to contact requests prompt conversations between the old coach and potential new coaches, so expect the new coach to have heard the old coach's side of the story. Just another reason it's a good idea not to burn bridges.

SluggerDad posted:

How does it work with JC transfers?  Can they be recruited?

Yes.  While at JC, JuCo players are governed under the NJCAA and not under the NCAA.

Son was approached by several D3 and a few D2 coaches during his sophomore year at JuCo.  Ultimately received an offer from a D2. 

Swampboy posted:

SluggerDad posted:

 

 

So those drop down players have to basically fall in the Coach's lap?  How does it work with JC transfers?  Can they be recruited?

 

Baseball is a small society, so word tends to get out in both directions about impending transfers.

Sometimes a player's former travel coach will serve as an intermediary, either when the player wants to see if a potential school is interested enough to warrant obtaining permission to contact or when an interested college coach hears through the grapevine of a potential transfer and discreetly inquires into the player's intentions.

Sometimes the D1 coach of the school the player is leaving will initiate calls to lower division coaches, particularly if the player was a solid citizen and a good student but out of his depth baseball-wise at the D1. The coach is interested in having departing players land at other 4-year institutions because that way the transfers won't hurt the program's APR.

Often permission to contact requests prompt conversations between the old coach and potential new coaches, so expect the new coach to have heard the old coach's side of the story. Just another reason it's a good idea not to burn bridges.

This is a good reminder.  Always be careful to do the right thing.  You never know who knows whom.   And you should always do the right thing anyway.

One other point I'd like to know something about. There is one specific d3 I know of located in the north east. This school just recruited one kid from Florida and another from Washington state. So my question is this. Is this recruitment done primarily by the coach's contacts. Again these are transfers.   I probably answered my own question but feel free and comment.