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RE: first college visit (in Recruiting Questions)

Hey Hardgame. Search the link above, it will give you some insight.Also,3fineredglove has some of the best knowledge NCAA rules as well as great posts.
Academic money can be combined but my effect team 11.7 scholarship if student doesn't meet NCAA requirements.
Remember that any offer Junior receives is a verbal. Early signing for him will be 1 week in Nov of his senior year.
I'm no expert, but there are plenty on this site.

who said they intend to make the boy an offer on this unofficial visit?

quote:

who said they intend to make the boy an offer on this unofficial visit?

I guess the coaches...see below from original post.

quote:

Originally posted by hardgame:
Son has been invited to a D1 school for unofficial visit and has been asked to come early that day to meet with the HC as they intend to make him an offer. What all should I make sure we ask/cover?

Except for the last one, your questions are fine. For the last one about negotiating...I doubt I would do this at this time (if ever). If its your son's first offer, what do you have to negotiate around anyways?

Expect rosy answers to your 2nd question. I think a slightly better question is something like, "Where did you see my son play and what do you think he needs to work on the most?"

In our experience (two D1 sons), this often causes some honest discussion...and gives you pointers at the same time.

You could also ask how many other offers do they have out and if they have any commitments yet. If so, what positions? This could give you a feel of your son in their pecking order.

Congrats and enjoy the ride. Don't forget to stop and smell the roses along the way.

I'm in agreement with justbaseball. Mine was a pitcher, so the question about position was more related to starter or reliever (they will dodge this one also).

The best offer my son received was his first. By the time he accepted it a full year later, it was less than originally offered, but he was much more confident in his answer.

quote:

Originally posted by hardgame:
This seems fairly straight forward and I think I have all my bases covered, but just double-checking since there is so much knowledge on this board.

Son has been invited to a D1 school for unofficial visit and has been asked to come early that day to meet with the HC as they intend to make him an offer. What all should I make sure we ask/cover?

So far I have:

* Can academic money be combined with baseball money
* Intentions for him position wise/where he fits
* Any academic requirements to be accepted
* How long is offer in effect? Son is just a junior
* Do we negotiate the offer?

Thanks in advance for any insight for those that have been through this!

* Can academic money be combined with baseball money: Usually, it's either/or kind of thing. I'd say, look for baseball money to get an idea how serious the HC is about your son.

* Intentions for him position wise/where he fits: Yes. First, you might go onto their baseball web site and see who's been playing at your son's position and how well they're playing at that position. That should give you some idea as to what the HC might be looking for. Then when you're there, get the HC's input as what his thinking is for your son.

* Any academic requirements to be accepted: Yes, ask the coach about this to see how your son stacks up to those requirements. It's early, so your son may not have his SAT or ACT scores yet. If he does . . .good. And if the scores on these are not as high as the HC might like, there's time for your son to study and retake the tests to improve his scores.

* How long is offer in effect? Son is just a junior: Your son and the HC will only be making a verbal until the allowable time that an NLI can be signed. A verbal can last until that time IF the coach is firm and committed to the offer and doesn't feel you're shopping.

* Do we negotiate the offer? : Until you get other offers, there's not much to negotiate with. BUT. . .it never hurts to ask and haggle to get the best deal you feel you can get from the coach. If you don't get what you feel is acceptable, you can simply ask to think about it and not make any commitment with regards to any offer.

The coach will most likely ask about where he and his program fits, like is he in your top 5 schools of interest or top 3. If this school is really the number 1 pick of your son, then let the coach know. If not, but the school is in your son's top 5, then let the coach know that, but don't be any more specific than that. Try to be diplomatic and don't burn any bridges at this stage.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

To elaborate just a bit, in case it changes any answers or information. Son was seen by this school at a camp for a big time D1 school in elite conference. They liked him a lot and moved quickly, as they are in lesser conference. Quick invite to campus along with "10 other juniors that are our top prospects for your class"....dialogue continued and he was told they needed a position player at his spot for his graduating year and he could likely start as freshman, as senior graduates at this spot ahead of him.

When sending agenda for the trip, sent separate e-mail stating they are going to move quickly and to come in early to meet HC and will make offer. Only reason I mentioned negotiating is because this school is in a conference probably in 10-12 range in "rankings" of college conferences and he has already been on unofficial visits to schools in the Big 12, Big East, ACC so when they ask us who else is talking to him, this will obviously come up. Those schools haven't offered yet, but indicated they will at official visits in coming months.

So anyhow, this school is worth a look, not exciting (yet) to my son and once they see who else he is talking to I just wondered if the offer is the offer....take it or leave it. Also, will they let us sit on it for a year or ask for commitment sooner/or on a timetable?

Thanks again!

quote:

Originally posted by hardgame:
Also, will they let us sit on it for a year or ask for commitment sooner/or on a timetable?

Thanks again!

I'd say it's highly unlikely they'd let you sit for a year. Keep in mind they'll still be talking to other prospects. I think typically they like get get it all taken care of by the time one is ready to sign a NLI. Once an NLI is signed, then of course it's a done deal.

hardgame,

After having been through this a few times, I always wanted my son to leave an un-OV or OV with the knowledge and "feeling" of what he was up against athletically and academically. The baseball questions and the financial questions are important. However, he will be spending the majority of his time in the classroom or studying. I would ask the coach to setup you up with a baseball player that has the same intended major as your son. In addition, would it be possible for him to meet the Dean or a professor in the dept of your son's intended major. Some schools will do this if you ask, and they have enough time to set it up.

Majors (and their time investment) can vary significantly within a school or between schools. I would want to know the success rate, history, and expectations for a baseball player with your son's intended major. Do many of them tranfer to another major becasue of the athletic time commitment? This can be especially important if he recieves academic money.

If you are on campus and have some spare time, you may want to visit the Financial Aid office if they are open. It isn't a bad idea to make friends there, and ask some FA questions.

Good luck and please let us know how it turns out.

Congratulation s to your son hardgame,

I was reading through the thread and wondered how much your son "really" wants to go to the school in question? From the points you make in your posts it appears you are expecting other visits and offers. This will be your son's first offer and you are excited in anticipation as you should be. I advise you to not pick a school and baseball program based on the offer alone. Again I ask “does your son REALLY want to go to this school"? Let that sink in before your son decides. If your son is not sure then I would not try to negotiate anything. Thank them for their offer and see how long they will wait for an answer. Before you have to answer them I suggest that you arrange unofficial visits to the schools that your son “REALLY” wants to go to and talk to the coaches there. They will ask if you have any offers and who else is interested in your son. You should get some indication of how interested they are in your son through this meeting. Don’t wait to go visit these other schools to ask you to come visit, take some initiative on your own.

Good luck and enjoy the attention. It is over way too fast. You will look back on this time and wonder h=what happend to the time.

When my son was in this mode, for the school he went to, he was asked to come see a basketball game and bring the family. While there the HC meet with us and made the verbal offer. This occurred after we had made several unofficial visits to the school and it was not his first offer. We had visited several schools before this time and he made up his mind after a couple of months.

quote:

Originally posted by AL MA 08:
. . . . Don’t wait to go visit these other schools to ask you to come visit, take some initiative on your own.

Good luck and enjoy the attention. It is over way too fast. You will look back on this time and wonder h=what happend to the time.

When my son was in this mode, for the school he went to, he was asked to come see a basketball game and bring the family. While there the HC meet with us and made the verbal offer. This occurred after we had made several unofficial visits to the school and it was not his first offer. We had visited several schools before this time and he made up his mind after a couple of months.

I feel that's an excellent point about visiting other schools before making any decision.

When my son was in this mode he thought he knew what he wanted. But he really didn't since he really didn't know much, if anything, about colleges. It wasn't until after he had visited several schools was he able to really see and get a good idea of what we wanted out of a school. In some way, that had surprised me and in other ways I wasn't surprised. For example, he initially felt he wanted to go to a school far from home (like on the other side of the U.S. for a different experience). But with his experience in travel ball, he finally figured he really didn't want that much of a culture change after all. We made a couple of trips to distant schools of interest during the summer and a local one before hi Jr. year and had some offers on the table. But it wasn't until the fall we planned a trip to visit a number of schools. And for most of those schools we visited we were able to arrange times to attend games they were playing (some of the schools were close enough where we could attended an early afternoon game at one school and an evening game at another on the same day) and talk with the HC's and a quick tour the campus. And it was during this time that we got a few more offers. But it was this visiting so many schools that really gave my son a pretty clear picture of what he wanted and what he didn't want. So my son then had a very good idea of what his top choices were and why. Fortunately, he got a good offer from his top choice, made the commitment and later signed his NLI for that school. He's a Jr. at his college and he loves the school, is doing well and is very happy with his choice. What more can I ask?

quote:

Originally posted by hardgame:
Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

To elaborate just a bit, in case it changes any answers or information. Son was seen by this school at a camp for a big time D1 school in elite conference. They liked him a lot and moved quickly, as they are in lesser conference. Quick invite to campus along with "10 other juniors that are our top prospects for your class"....dialogue continued and he was told they needed a position player at his spot for his graduating year and he could likely start as freshman, as senior graduates at this spot ahead of him.

When sending agenda for the trip, sent separate e-mail stating they are going to move quickly and to come in early to meet HC and will make offer. Only reason I mentioned negotiating is because this school is in a conference probably in 10-12 range in "rankings" of college conferences and he has already been on unofficial visits to schools in the Big 12, Big East, ACC so when they ask us who else is talking to him, this will obviously come up. Those schools haven't offered yet, but indicated they will at official visits in coming months.

So anyhow, this school is worth a look, not exciting (yet) to my son and once they see who else he is talking to I just wondered if the offer is the offer....take it or leave it. Also, will they let us sit on it for a year or ask for commitment sooner/or on a timetable?

Thanks again!

My son (2014) had a very similar experience, heck it may be the same school. Quick camp invite, also seen him before, told son "don't be suprised if you leave with an offer after camp". Son was invited to come the day before for a tour of campus which we did. During the tour the coach said all the right things, told us they had numerous scholarships (10+) available, he could start as a freshmen.

My son did pretty good at the camp, which the asst. coach who we were dealing with, was not there. The HC at end of camp told everyone that the coaches would meet in the following days do compare notes on the players. So, no offers were made to anyone.

Son e-mailed this asst coach after the camp and did not hear back from him. I think this asst coach was a little over zealous. He was not on the same page as the HC.

I am sure others have gone thru this. I replied because we had a similar experience as hardgame. Even though this is one of the schools my son is very interested in, he has moved on. If they are interested they know where to find him.

quote:

Originally posted by wedge:

During the tour the coach said all the right things, told us they had numerous scholarships (10+) available, he could start as a freshmen.

I don't like to speak badly of college coaches as most of them get it right and recruit with integrity. But if anyone mentions starting as a freshman (even if they use the words could or might), turn around and walk away.

One thing for everyone to keep in mind, you most likely are going through this process for the first time, they have done it most likely hundreds of times. They know all of the right things to say and push the right buttons. You do not have to attend their camp or go on an unofficial visit to gain an offer, if they have seen you play (which they should) and then they can offer over the phone or by email correpondance.

As posted, you can't negotiate if you have nothing to work from and in most cases they know you probably don't.

Son personally would have asked what the offer might be before we considered an expense of an unofficial, or a special camp invite, especially if far away. This gives your son and you something to think about before that early meeting.

The most important question, and you can ask before any visit where $$ may be offered, where have you seen my son play and what is it that you liked about him. If they can't answer that, then it most likely not be the right place to begin with.