Unofficial Visits Help

First of all, I applaud you for taking the time and making the financial commitment to a trip back east to look at schools.  Sounds like your son had done a good bit of legwork to already narrow down what type of school he wants to attend and what his baseball options are.   Also impressed you guys have already figured out the merit scholarship potentials out there.

Now, about the connecting with the coaches at these schools:

First of all remember this is a very busy time of year for them.  Even for the RC who is an acquaintance of your son's freshman coach, don't take it personally, but just know these coaches right now are doing 12-14 hour days with fall ball.  Doesn't mean one of them won't reply tomorrow, but "cold emails" need to have something "hot" about them to draw attention of these coaches.  Especially since you are reaching out to them.

Did your son attach a spectacular highlight video link to the emails he sent?  Did he put an attention getting phrase in the "email topic" box?  Was there something in the email worthy of them clicking?

During my son's recruitment, there were plenty of schools where we "stormed the gates."  Basically did what you're doing,  had sent emails and received no replies but we did the campus tour and then ambled on our own over to the ballpark.  Sometimes you can meet a groundskeeper, sometimes an AC, and sometimes you catch the HC leaving his office going to a funeral (as son and I did once, and this Legend of a HC gave son a good 15-mins of his time, I'll never forget it).  

So keep emailing these coaches, up to the point where you're on the campus for the admissions tour.  Be sure to add a quality video or a great topic heading to catch their eye.  Has the freshman coach who knows one of these guys made a phone call for your son?  That should not be difficult for him.  Regarding email topic heading, I'd throw in his GPA and hopefully one other strong stat, like his 60-time, or velo, or ACT score, or whatever.  He has to have something to make them "answer the door."  If he can introduce himself via email and make a good enough impression it is a no brainer for any coach to find 30-mins of his day to meet with you.  It's no sweat off their brow, as long as it's worth their time and could save them a night in a hotel room.  Obviously they need to see him play, but by a quality introduction on one of these campus visits it could certainly make them curious to make sure to see him play next summer.

One last thought, you still have time to expand your trip itinerary and widen your search and continue to send emails WITH VIDEO to coaches at other schools.  You never know who will reply to you?  Someone will.  Widen your search and when you get some replies, then consider dropping the non-reply schools from your itinerary.  I'd also hit up 2-3 D3s while you're here if you can.  

Good luck and keep us posted as to how the trip goes. 

#1 Assistant Coach posted:

First of all, I applaud you for taking the time and making the financial commitment to a trip back east to look at schools.  Sounds like your son had done a good bit of legwork to already narrow down what type of school he wants to attend and what his baseball options are.   Also impressed you guys have already figured out the merit scholarship potentials out there.

Now, about the connecting with the coaches at these schools:

First of all remember this is a very busy time of year for them.  Even for the RC who is an acquaintance of your son's freshman coach, don't take it personally, but just know these coaches right now are doing 12-14 hour days with fall ball.  Doesn't mean one of them won't reply tomorrow, but "cold emails" need to have something "hot" about them to draw attention of these coaches.  Especially since you are reaching out to them.

Did your son attach a spectacular highlight video link to the emails he sent?  Did he put an attention getting phrase in the "email topic" box?  Was there something in the email worthy of them clicking?

During my son's recruitment, there were plenty of schools where we "stormed the gates."  Basically did what you're doing,  had sent emails and received no replies but we did the campus tour and then ambled on our own over to the ballpark.  Sometimes you can meet a groundskeeper, sometimes an AC, and sometimes you catch the HC leaving his office going to a funeral (as son and I did once, and this Legend of a HC gave son a good 15-mins of his time, I'll never forget it).  

So keep emailing these coaches, up to the point where you're on the campus for the admissions tour.  Be sure to add a quality video or a great topic heading to catch their eye.  Has the freshman coach who knows one of these guys made a phone call for your son?  That should not be difficult for him.  Regarding email topic heading, I'd throw in his GPA and hopefully one other strong stat, like his 60-time, or velo, or ACT score, or whatever.  He has to have something to make them "answer the door."  If he can introduce himself via email and make a good enough impression it is a no brainer for any coach to find 30-mins of his day to meet with you.  It's no sweat off their brow, as long as it's worth their time and could save them a night in a hotel room.  Obviously they need to see him play, but by a quality introduction on one of these campus visits it could certainly make them curious to make sure to see him play next summer.

One last thought, you still have time to expand your trip itinerary and widen your search and continue to send emails WITH VIDEO to coaches at other schools.  You never know who will reply to you?  Someone will.  Widen your search and when you get some replies, then consider dropping the non-reply schools from your itinerary.  I'd also hit up 2-3 D3s while you're here if you can.  

Good luck and keep us posted as to how the trip goes. 

Thank you so much! I fully intend to show up at the ball fields even if we don't hear back, but your "legend HC" story definitely validates my eagerness to do so. My son noted his GPA in his email, but will try to catch their eye a bit more on the follow up email. My husband loved your idea of casting a wider net, so we'll research other schools in the area to see if we get a better reception elsewhere. 

Everything you are doing is great, but the one thing that caught my eye was "He is thinking if he can get a great merit scholarship and then woo them on the baseball side." 

That's somewhat backwards, as you typically get the OK to be on a team, then apply, then receive the merit award information.  I'm not sure you can get the merit information, then woo the coach, unless you're expecting your son to try to be a walk-on.

#1 Assistant Coach posted:

 

During my son's recruitment, there were plenty of schools where we "stormed the gates."  Basically did what you're doing,  had sent emails and received no replies but we did the campus tour and then ambled on our own over to the ballpark.  Sometimes you can meet a groundskeeper, sometimes an AC, and sometimes you catch the HC leaving his office going to a funeral (as son and I did once, and this Legend of a HC gave son a good 15-mins of his time, I'll never forget it).  

 

I 2nd this.  A few years back we headed down to Dallas for The Cotton bowl as my oldest sons school was playing there and it was easy to get tickets (he did not play college sports).  While we were down there we stopped by TCU to look around.  My youngest son (who had not yet made the decision to not play college ball) was with us.  By no means was he a TCU caliber player, but was being recruited mid sized Midwest D1 programs.  

We stopped by the football stadium at TCU.  The gates were open and we walked in to take a look at the field.  Ran into a nice gentleman who was walking out of the stadium.  I figured we were going to get kicked out at this point.  Instead the gentleman introduced himself to us and escorted us into the stadium.  He pointed out a few things to us.  Told us to feel free to walk to the upper decks as the view of Fort Worth from up there was awesome and told us to feel free to head down on the field but please avoid the painted areas as they were still fresh.  Really nice guy.

During the course of the conversation I asked how to get to the baseball stadium.  That lead to a conversation with this gentleman about my son and where he was in the recruiting process. Turns out the gentleman was TCUs AD.  I let him know that my son was not being recruited by them and that he was not at their level.  He offered to take us over to the baseball field and unlock it for us in case the gates were locked.  I tried to refuse the offer, but he insisted.  We headed over to the baseball field.  It was unlocked.  We thanked him and walked in.  About 2 minutes later the AD shows up with another gentleman.  It was the head baseball coach.  He introduced us to each other and then we proceeded to have a really good conversation about the recruiting process and the commitment to play college ball.  Both of them took the time to talk to us even though we were not being recruited by them and would never be on their radar.  They both just happened to be around on that day and had little to do, so this was a nice distraction to their normal day.

I second the recommendation to send a brief video along with a follow-up email. Maybe put in the subject of the e-mail the date that you are planning to be on campus? I'm sure coaches get large volumes of e-mails right now and they are in the midst of fall ball. Another option is for your son to reach out to the RCs with a phone call, in case his initial e-mail was overlooked. Good luck! 

CTbballDad posted:

Everything you are doing is great, but the one thing that caught my eye was "He is thinking if he can get a great merit scholarship and then woo them on the baseball side." 

That's somewhat backwards, as you typically get the OK to be on a team, then apply, then receive the merit award information.  I'm not sure you can get the merit information, then woo the coach, unless you're expecting your son to try to be a walk-on.

Concur:  Regardless of division level baseball coaches are looking for the best players they can get.  If the coaches like your baseball skill set, they then hope you have the academic chops to get through admissions.  And, coaches like strong students, it equates to a strong work ethic.

Gov posted:

CTbballDad posted:

Everything you are doing is great, but the one thing that caught my eye was "He is thinking if he can get a great merit scholarship and then woo them on the baseball side." 

That's somewhat backwards, as you typically get the OK to be on a team, then apply, then receive the merit award information.  I'm not sure you can get the merit information, then woo the coach, unless you're expecting your son to try to be a walk-on.

Concur:  Regardless of division level baseball coaches are looking for the best players they can get.  If the coaches like your baseball skill set, they then hope you have the academic chops to get through admissions.  And, coaches like strong students, it equates to a strong work ethic.

 

I'll correct my statement, it's more like get the OK for baseball, then an indication of merit, then you apply and it becomes official.

The stories of successful un-announced visits are great but do realize they are very much the exception.  You didn't offer up much about his overall recruiting plan.  Do you feel like he has a good one in place?  Does he have a travel team that gets him the right exposure?  Good video?  Measurables?  A network of credible and connected coaches that will speak on his behalf?  A plan for best showcases/camps to attend?  

It can be particularly difficult for an OF with D2/D3 skill set to muster a lot of attention, especially when you throw in the difficulty of logistics with looking at schools across the country.  I am curious what the rest of the plan of action is.  Please share more here or feel free to PM is you prefer.

cabbagedad posted:

The stories of successful un-announced visits are great but do realize they are very much the exception.  You didn't offer up much about his overall recruiting plan.  Do you feel like he has a good one in place?  Does he have a travel team that gets him the right exposure?  Good video?  Measurables?  A network of credible and connected coaches that will speak on his behalf?  A plan for best showcases/camps to attend?  

It can be particularly difficult for an OF with D2/D3 skill set to muster a lot of attention, especially when you throw in the difficulty of logistics with looking at schools across the country.  I am curious what the rest of the plan of action is.  Please share more here or feel free to PM is you prefer.

agreed.  I did post the TCU story, but it was an exception.  We did randomly visit 10+ other schools over the years, never once had a chance encounter with a coach.  Most of the times we stopped by the football and baseball fields to take a look, but never had a chance encounter.

We had a coach meet us once.  We were attending a camp in PA, 5 hours from home, so we reached out to another PA school who was in the same conference.  Coach responded, as he had practice that morning.  We met HC and watched a bit of their practice, before heading out to the other camp.

He followed up several times over the year since, but we went a different direction, mostly because of location.

Agreed with many recent posters.  Bottom line is your son has to have the skill set to help them win games, that is priority #1.  "Unofficial visit" invitations are usually extended because a coach has already seen a player demonstrate this. 

To be fair, what you are talking about in OP are not technically UVs, but Unsolicited Visits, or visits where you initiate the contact and hope for an audience, and that's fine.  But at best, all that can come out of it is the coach may think, "Kid looks good on video, his posted metrics on ABC Scouting Service website look good,  seems like a nice kid, respects his parents, dad is huge, mom is a nice lady, I will try to see him play in Atlanta next summer."  And if a cold call email barrage, gets you even one of these audiences, and the coach goes out of his way to see your son play at some point?  Well, then it's worth it.  

But understand, it is highly unconventional and sort of putting carriage before the horse.  During son's process, any time he could walk a campus, speak with a coach, or even a HC, even if the guy was on his way to a funeral, that's worth it.  It will get your son acclimated to those encounters and get him that much more comfortable for when it does count and the more campuses he gets on the more informed a college decision he will make. 

I say good luck, but I also say maximize your strategy and dollars on the trip.  

Good job being proactive.

Your timing is tough because schools are in high gear with fall ball right now.
Be persistent. If cannot contact them, get what you can out of your campus visits and see if you can poke your head in on a fall practice.

Take notes abt the visits so when the time comes you will remember for your Pros and Cons columns.

joes87 posted:

#1 Assistant Coach posted:

 

During my son's recruitment, there were plenty of schools where we "stormed the gates."  Basically did what you're doing,  had sent emails and received no replies but we did the campus tour and then ambled on our own over to the ballpark.  Sometimes you can meet a groundskeeper, sometimes an AC, and sometimes you catch the HC leaving his office going to a funeral (as son and I did once, and this Legend of a HC gave son a good 15-mins of his time, I'll never forget it).  

 

I 2nd this.  A few years back we headed down to Dallas for The Cotton bowl as my oldest sons school was playing there and it was easy to get tickets (he did not play college sports).  While we were down there we stopped by TCU to look around.  My youngest son (who had not yet made the decision to not play college ball) was with us.  By no means was he a TCU caliber player, but was being recruited mid sized Midwest D1 programs.  

We stopped by the football stadium at TCU.  The gates were open and we walked in to take a look at the field.  Ran into a nice gentleman who was walking out of the stadium.  I figured we were going to get kicked out at this point.  Instead the gentleman introduced himself to us and escorted us into the stadium.  He pointed out a few things to us.  Told us to feel free to walk to the upper decks as the view of Fort Worth from up there was awesome and told us to feel free to head down on the field but please avoid the painted areas as they were still fresh.  Really nice guy.

During the course of the conversation I asked how to get to the baseball stadium.  That lead to a conversation with this gentleman about my son and where he was in the recruiting process. Turns out the gentleman was TCUs AD.  I let him know that my son was not being recruited by them and that he was not at their level.  He offered to take us over to the baseball field and unlock it for us in case the gates were locked.  I tried to refuse the offer, but he insisted.  We headed over to the baseball field.  It was unlocked.  We thanked him and walked in.  About 2 minutes later the AD shows up with another gentleman.  It was the head baseball coach.  He introduced us to each other and then we proceeded to have a really good conversation about the recruiting process and the commitment to play college ball.  Both of them took the time to talk to us even though we were not being recruited by them and would never be on their radar.  They both just happened to be around on that day and had little to do, so this was a nice distraction to their normal day.

The above is a great example of being in the right place at the right time.  Everyday life (and baseball) is taking advantages of opportunities which happen out of the blue.  That is the reason why for every workout, practice, event, and game give it 100% effort, you never know who is watching.  Unfortunately injuries and slumps are inevitable in baseball.  Though you don't wish this to happen to anyone, if your number is called that is due to your prior effort and work habits.

We did similar things as Mom2acendeuce expressed above during son's Fresh/Soph HS breaks.  Also received no emails/calls back for a quick hello/meet.  We saw all the locked fields for a visual, weren't able to talk to anyone besides a few students hanging around.  Since academics (at that time) was top priority we viewed the schools from that standpoint.  Baseball info would have been helpful, probably would have clouded the decision making process though.  When top 5 list from son was created, none of those colleges appeared on it.  End of day it all worked out for the best, no regrets, you make the best out of the opportunity with what you have to work with.

cabbagedad posted:

The stories of successful un-announced visits are great but do realize they are very much the exception.  You didn't offer up much about his overall recruiting plan.  Do you feel like he has a good one in place?  Does he have a travel team that gets him the right exposure?  Good video?  Measurables?  A network of credible and connected coaches that will speak on his behalf?  A plan for best showcases/camps to attend?  

It can be particularly difficult for an OF with D2/D3 skill set to muster a lot of attention, especially when you throw in the difficulty of logistics with looking at schools across the country.  I am curious what the rest of the plan of action is.  Please share more here or feel free to PM is you prefer.

OK, I know, weird replying to myself...

Mom2, I just read another thread where you expanded on info on your son.  Sounds like there is a good chance that he will grow and improve quickly over this coming junior season (baseball and physically).  If so, this would change the landscape for him.  Also, it seems that $ is a concern as it is with most of us.  Don't rule out NAIA.  There are some good programs and they tend to have more flexibility with coming up with $$.  Also, there are many back in the Plains, Midwest, East, Mid-Atlantic and South.  It is not unusual at all for a player to come into his own as a junior or senior.  Sounds like he is working hard.  Sometimes the physical growth is largely on its own schedule.  "Late bloomer" doesn't usually equate to attention from D1 but it is not a problem for smaller/lesser D1's and other levels.  Don't panic.  

The planned school visits will likely help as far as figuring out what type of school settings he likes.  It might not be time yet for there to be much progression with the baseball side.  That's OK.

I am quite familiar with players from the West going NAIA back that direction so feel free to PM me with any specific questions, etc.  I know you said he doesn't have any interest in JC but many of those NAIA's recruit heavily from Western JC's.

Since you're visiting next week, I would put the focus on vetting these four schools. Try to answer the question... would he want to attend if there was a baseball opportunity? Most HBCU baseball programs are competing with D2 and better D3 programs for players, so don't be afraid of the D1 label.

If you haven't already, tell the tour coordinator that you'd like to meet a baseball coach if possible. You're probably going to relatively small schools, and that person might just make a phone call to the coach.

Lastly, I think his biggest challenge will be getting any of these schools to see him play. If you do meet with a coach, be sure to ask him how that might happen. Through a camp? At a WWBA tournament? At a more local tournament site? I think that will be important for you to figure out.

I live within a couple of hours from one D2 and three D1 HBCUs. Though some of them end up with kids from all over the country, I don't think any of them travel very far to recruit. And most of their commitments happen during senior year of HS.

Hope you have a great trip.

If the e-mail is not getting responses, try to make a phone call to someone on the coaching staff. Have your son identify himself and let them know he will be on campus and advise them that you sent an e-mail. Even if you have to leave a voice mail, it's an extra way of reaching out. If your son is a California kid, cast the net wide - is there a D2/D3 school in the area you are visiting? It doesn't hurt to reach out to them - many times, they may be more eager to at least meet a kid from another part of the country.

As has been stated above....the e-mail has to have something eye-catching: Good video. a strong 6 time, GPA, etc. to try to get their attention. And don't hesitate to e-mail all of the coaches that have e-mail addresses listed. Usually one, even a lower level assistant, is all you need to set up a quick meet up while you are visiting. Good Luck!

Truly humbled and grateful for all of you that take time out of your busy day to offer advice and "coach up" us parents who are trying to figure out this whole process. We have read every comment and are using all of the great information you have shared. 

Ultimately, this will be a trip to check out these schools that he THINKS might be a good fit academically and socially, but are in very different settings than he is used to.

We were hoping the baseball meet ups would be another layer of determining fit, so we'll try our darndest to see and get seen, but if not, then we'll hopefully walk away with a better understanding of the types of schools he should target for baseball when the time is right.

We will post an update when we return. Thanks again!!!

UPDATE: We are back from our visits, and I wanted to provide a recap to all of the kind people who offered advice.

We sent follow up emails before we left and received one response from the coach that was a colleague of our son's frosh coach. He said to come speak with him before our tour. We did and he ended up spending about 40 minutes with us discussing the program, the challenges, what he looks for on recruiting videos(he said lead off with hitting for an OF), etc. He was super gracious and our son left there completely stoked to have gotten to speak with a head coach directly.

The second school, we stopped by in the afternoon and they were practicing. Our son felt encouraged that the level of play was his caliber. We weren't sure of the protocol for interrupting them during practice, so we didn't approach the coaches. The next morning we intended to just walk the campus because admissions had told us there were no tours that day. We went to the office to get a map and when they heard how far we'd come, one of the counselors offered to take us on a driving tour. While driving, we mentioned baseball and she called the coach. They were getting ready to go to an event being held on campus, but agreed to step out for a minute just to meet us! The assistant coach came out and said he'd seen our email but thought we'd be there all day. He then invited us to step inside to meet the head coach! We spoke to them for about five minutes. They said to lead off with running on his video. They are looking for speed in an OF.

The third school tour was led by a student but he seemed to know everyone on campus. He introduced us to one baseball player who happened by as we were touring. At the end, we asked if we could meet the coach. He took us to the coach's office but he wasn't there. 

The final school also had said no tours were available, but when we showed up, one of the advisors agreed to take us on a full tour. We mentioned baseball and she picked up the phone and called the HC. He said he had a meeting with the AD, but to stay on campus until he was done. After our tour, she called him and he sent us to the field to meet the RC and he'd be there shortly. The RC was super nice and showed us around and then the HC had us meet him in the press box. We sat down and he asked about grades etc(with our son's grade he could get full tuition, room and board, books and a stipend paid for by the school). HC then became very interested and basically started to recruit him sight unseen. They said it is just the two of them and they have very limited budget for recruiting. They maintain the fields themselves and aren't around in the summer to do camps, so they have a limited scope to find kids (BTW the RC my son had emailed is no longer there so that is why we hadn't received a response).

All of them said it was early for 2020 recruits, but they loved that he was being proactive. It was a GREAT trip for him to see what that part of the country looks like and to get some practice speaking to coaches. He said it also motivated him to work hard in class and keep grinding on baseball because he never knew what he was working toward, but now he feels playing college ball is achievable. So definitely a successful trip on many levels. Thanks again for all of the help!

Thanks for the update Mom2.  Sounds like "crashing the gates" paid off.  This confirms to me another adage I tried to hammer into son when communicating with all coaches via email and phone, "early and often."  

I'm convinced these guys live by their cell phones, they often are checking emails during showcase games or practice with the glare of sun on their screens, and they skim the emails that catch their eye at best. And they then have a hard time keeping track of each kid, and who is who.  Unless of course you are a stud and they already are following you.  No time for them to really do more.  So, don't feel as though you're you doing too much.  

In the end, as you found they wholeheartedly welcomed you and gave you some quality time.  Most coaches, I think, will do this if you can catch them while you're on campus and they have some time, in that moment.  

Thanks for the update. 

Congrats Mom2 on what sounds to be a rewarding trip.  One of the things I pay attention to in life is the "little things" people do when there is no set obligation to do so.  Not that one or two acts will influence my decision but it deserves a check mark in my book for consideration when the time comes.  Hopefully that is the philosophy of the institution and athletic dept as a whole.  Sounds like you may have found a good candidate when the time comes.