Twin sons and scholarships

Very creative on behalf of the college coach...

The only con I could think of is that the son that doesn't have a scholarship might not get that benefit of the doubt....some coaches favor guys on scholarships, so I'd check to see if there's any reason to believe this coach would do that.

lhprhp,

I know of five sets of twins who attended the same school.

One program gave both twins, lhp's, scholarships equal amounts but also had a large portion as academic. This was just before the 27 scholarship limit came into effect.

A second set of twins, one player was a pitcher and the other was a catcher. One player received a scholarship and the second did not get any scholarship. The one who received the scholarship appeared to be treated much better than the other.

Another set of twins, one pitcher the second a position player, the one (a pitcher) was better in terms of skill sets than the other and also considered very important to the team, it was very touchy in terms of the relationship of the players and the coach, the one position player who was not as good than the other did not play as much. The family did not like the fact that the second did not play as much and it ended up with the player having harsh words with the coach about playing time, being kicked off the team and the parents going to administration to try to get the coach fired.

Another set of twins, both position players, also had one twin considered better than the other, the better one appeared to also get better treatment until the second actually came out with better hitting numbers but was not as good defensively. It was interesting watching from afar as to how the players were being treated.

Bottom line, though it may it can work out well for the family, it sometimes does not end well if one plays more that the other.

The last set of twins, both pitchers, one started out to always be considered better, the second turned out that he adapted better to the coaching and in the end turned out to be better. Both were on scholarships.

Homerun04 - Thanks for posting your experience with this. When you say one player was treated differently than the other, was it just about playing time or were there other ways in which they were treated differently? I don't expect them to automatically get equal playing time, they have to earn their playing time just like any other player on the team.

Those are some interesting scenarios Homerun04. Do I know any of those twins (i.e. from this area)?

Anyways, lhprhp...I will say that this is one of the most unique questions I've ever seen asked here on the hsbaseballweb.

From my point of view, the scenario the coach is suggesting seems reasonable to me given the 27 limit. I guess I would just ask the coach all of the serious questions you probably wanna ask. Is the son without the scholarship guaranteed a roster spot? Will they get an equal shot at playing time? Etc...

And how about your sons? Would the one without the scholarship feel envy towards the other? What if one of them does play a lot and the other not...have they thought about that? (This can be handled more easily -mentally- if they're in different college programs).

Justbaseball, you most likely know at least one set of the twins as a couple of the sets played for the NC, though they had not played with one of your kids.

lhprhp, coaches will do what is needed to win, everyone likes a winner, people naturally gravitate to the player who is perceived to be more of a contributor to the team, the twins playing on the same team have a unique situation, some of the twins will be able to manage their competitive nature better than others.

I always say to the guys that who or how much each receives in scholarships is not relevant but the coaches do seem to give players who have big scholarships more chances to prove him right. Now if they truly have exactly the same skill set, that could be a great benefit to the coach.

Personally, I'd want my twins to be treated as individuals like every other scholarship player being recruited. No matter how you cut it, the letter of intent, the NCAA and documents from the school will reflect scholarship money for one and nothing for the other and no matter how mature you are, it makes a difference. It's a tight spot you are in for sure.

Since today was a pretty good day, I thought I would share what ultimately happened. Head coach ended up offering them individual scholarships in the same amount during a September official visit. They verbally committed two days later. Today, we signed the NLI at their high school.

As far as being in the "tight spot" that PA Dino alluded to, we were never in that position. They are competitive with each other, but in a good way where they help each other out. I'm proud to say they are great boys who are good students, hard working athletes, and best friends who want the best for each other.

And thank you hsbaseballweb and it's members for sharing your knowledge and experiences. This site has all the information and resources any parent needs to get through recruiting process. Who knows, maybe I'll be spending more time in the "About the Draft" forum in the near future!

Very Nice! It can't get much better than that!

Congratulations! And thanks for the update. Great ending/new beginning!

Congrats to your family! I take it from your handle they are both pitchers throwing from opposite sides. So are they identical or fraternal?

LHPMom2012 - You are correct, and they are fraternal.

Great Ending or should I saw beginning! Congratulations to both boys! Good Luck to them both in the future!

Sounds to me like their college coach just got a whole bullpen or... a set of weekend starters

Congrats