Unofficial Visits

OHBaseball24,
Very good question. You can “create” an unofficial visit just about anyway you want. An unofficial visit can be similar to an official visit without the college picking up the expenses. We purposely didn’t call ahead. We would drive to the college town, go to campus security and get a campus map, walk around the campus, drive around town, and go to the baseball field and complex. We did run into a few coaches and some showed us around. We were trying to avoid the “dog and pony” show and just observe without being subjected to a sales pitch. The “normal” procedure would be to call the baseball office and ask the coach if you could drop in for an unofficial visit. I personally don’t think it makes much difference if the son or a parent calls the baseball office. If you do call ahead of time, I think most would make arrangements to show your son (and your family) the facilities and possibly discuss their recruiting situation. We "explored" things on our own during the unofficial visit that might not be shown to the player and his family on an official visit. My son “nixed” two colleges simply because of the towns in which they were located. One was too rural and one was too metropolitan.
Hope this helps.
Fungo

Thank you Fungo...it helps a lot. It's good to hear everyone's perspective on these things.

One of the most important lessons my son learned during the recruiting process was based on some advise given by one of the coaches on an un-official visit.

"Never trust a coach who will guarantee you a starting spot at a particular position." He was even gracious enough to explain why. Ironically the coach he met with the very next day atually tried this approach (without the dazzle he expected)

Each coach has their own unique style. My opinion only here, and I'm going out on a limb. If you have to ask whether he is really interested, he's not.

The most important thing you can do is ask lots of questions. And don't be too shy to ask the MOST important ones. Like - Why are you interested in my son? (it helps you if you know what they see as your sons strenths and weaknesses) What role do you see him playing on your team? or Where do you see my son fitting in to your program?

They will usually answer if asked straight out. And listen carefully there is a lot to be learned from their answers. Especially the non-verbal clues.

We never called ahead or talked to a coach if it was an un-official visit. We typically went early on a game day to roam around campus and the surrounding area before watching the game.
Actually watching a game can give you some insight into the program and the coach. You can gauge the level of talent at your son's position and observe the coach's demeanor and game management.

Ohbaseball24 -
We did both, drop by & call ahead. The ones we called or e-mailed were high up on son's list. He just let them know he was interested and was dropping by to walk through the campus. We usually contacted them 1-2 weeks before and kept it casual. We would do our own tour of the campus and neighboring town either before or after meeting up with the coach. We did ask during the visit about their level of interest. The question I liked to ask was "Where have you seen my son play?". I was always curious to see whether they actually "knew" him and had seen him pitch or were recruiting from a "list". Have fun, these unofficial visits are the most stress-free way to go.

As it happened, the way it worked for us last year was that we only did un-official visits. Son had the opportunity to stop by and visit the schools he was interested in, either because we lived reasonably close by or were in the area. In all cases we had all the attention we wanted from the coach, staff and players, and our son was able to make the best decision for him as a result. I like A Parent's comments - we (I) asked direct questions of the coaches and got reasonable answers.

We went on an unofficial today. Things went well, had a nice chat with the coaches. They were honest and upfront which was greatly appreciated. We had the opportunity to ask some of the things that were suggested on this website. Thanks to everyone for their help. Now that we have the first visit jitters out of the way, we can do a few more...LOL...

Ohbaseball24 - Glad all went well on your first 'unofficial visit' and hope that you have a great experience this year. Good luck!

Thanks!

Ohbaseball24 - That's great! The visits will get easier the more you do. Besides, your son has lots of talent, so the schools are the ones who will have to do most of the "selling"!