Waiting for a call that never comes...

What is his graduation year?

2020

Yes, this is normal at least in my son's experience, and many others I know.   The college coaching professional is not known for its ability to deliver on timely promises.   This drove my 17 yer old son absolutely bat shit crazy that adults couldn't remember to do what they said they were going to do.

So, your son has to help them remember.   Tell your son to pick up the phone call them, text them or email them.   Don't wait for them.   It is an opportunity for your son to take the initiative.

What level are these schools? It's very late in the game for 2020s. They are probably thinking if your son is still going to camps he doesn't have any interest and can take their time.

Low, Mid level and high D1.    Let's just say he popped a 91 at one of these camps and sits high 80s.  He has had a huge velo bump in the last 6 months after taking some time off and training his butt off.  

I will tell him to reach out.  I just keep hearing the saying "you know when you are loved."  Not getting a call seems to be the contrary to that.

Most likely they were stringing you along awaiting answers from other recruits. When those answers came back yes that was that. This isn't like a job interview and don't expect them to be professional. There won't be a call back like "I'm sorry we decided to go a different direction".

Typical College Recruiting Coach.

Good feedback, thank you.  I guess I feel better in knowing it is just how it is during this journey.  I am just the type of person that if I look someone in the eye, shake their hand, and tell them I'm going to do something;  I do it.  

Just human courtesy I figure.  It is just frustrating to see him come home pumped, wide eyed and bushy tailed.  Then when the day they said they were going to call comes and goes, to see him frustrated.

Sharpshooter1 posted:

Low, Mid level and high D1.    Let's just say he popped a 91 at one of these camps and sits high 80s.  He has had a huge velo bump in the last 6 months after taking some time off and training his butt off.  

I will tell him to reach out.  I just keep hearing the saying "you know when you are loved."  Not getting a call seems to be the contrary to that.

As someone who has been there done that, look JUCO. Don't let pride get in the way. Give your player a chance to mature.

Yep, he already met the coaches with and selected the Juco he will go to if nothing pans out.  It’s a top competitive JC.

My daughter attended an "invite only camp" and did really well.  The coaching staff wanted to talk to her/us about an offer.  They had to "talk to admin" about a few things so wanted my daughter to call at a specific time the following Tuesday to hear the exact amount of the offer.   My daughter bought the camp sweat pants, shorts and T-shirt.  Daughter called at specific time and the coach said she was on the golf course and that she would call my daughter the next evening.  That call never came.  Daughter called on Friday and coach did not answer and did not return text message.  The meaning was clear.  My daughter hit her 49th and 50th collegiate home runs against that team and afterwards took her playing pants off and wore those shorts around the field before getting on the bus.  

It probably means that your son is not the on the top of the board, and they are waiting to see if those sought more highly commit or not.  There are definitely peaks and valleys on the recruiting journey--timing is key.

On one instance, however, son's Legion coach told him that he would be hearing from a school on the first day contact was allowed. He never got the call that day or next. It turns out, the coach had two digits in son's cell number reversed. They finally called, saw him a few more times and offered. Best of luck--hope good news is forthcoming. Good that your son has a fall back plan.

All it takes is one offer. Find another D1 school that will offer and after send a short text to coaches of camps saying - Hey coach, I haven't heard from you in a while, have had a hard time getting in touch. I was up to 92 last weekend and received another offer which I am very close to accepting. I want to thank you for your considerations.

Watch how fast they scramble. Then enjoy the opportunity to tell them no or maybe don't pick up the phone. Not all bridges need to be burned, but maybe you don't get back to them right away either. Keep all options open and have son make a decision that suits his needs best. 

Ha Pa!  Although that option seems the most gratifying, that is not a character trait I want to instill in him by not calling back or communicating.    

Now what I will enjoy is if he ends up eventually playing for one of their competitors, is watching him shove against them!

This weekend is in fact a visit to one of the competitors.  It’s going to be indoors so I’m hoping he velo is up even higher after popping a couple 90s in cold weather.  

There is absolutely nothing sweeter than beating the team that 'recruited' your son but never offered.  

Don't burn bridges, do your followups, but also move on.

Sharpshooter1 posted:

Good feedback, thank you.  I guess I feel better in knowing it is just how it is during this journey.  I am just the type of person that if I look someone in the eye, shake their hand, and tell them I'm going to do something;  I do it.  

Just human courtesy I figure.  It is just frustrating to see him come home pumped, wide eyed and bushy tailed.  Then when the day they said they were going to call comes and goes, to see him frustrated.

I imagine most kids have this happen one or more times.  In my son's case, the coaches that ended up offering were always true to their word, very good men.  The other guys didn't matter in the end.  It's probably for the best that your son doesn't need to consider committing to a school coached by guys like you describe.

My son will be playing against 3 teams in the conference that heavily recruited him and couldn't pull the trigger. The school he chose never played games, never strung him along and never contacted him until they saw him at least 6 times. The last time they saw him at Showball, RC said we will be in touch soon, and true to their word they were. They offered him on that first phone call. It was so strange because the journey had been so different. His travel coach (who is young) had always said: "don't be surprised if a school comes in out of nowhere and sweeps you off your feet". And he was so right.  There is no right way for it to go. Be patient but I agree with your son calling the schools. Nothing better than the call he will make telling these laggards he's going elsewhere! Godspeed!

I'm very confused by this thread, since your son is a 2020.  Haven't all application deadlines passed and did he apply to these schools?  I don't think you can go a normal route (go to camps, hope for a call, etc) due to timing and most schools already have completed their 2020 recruiting classes.

I think your son needs to get on the phone, call these coaches, see if they have openings and get some 1 x 1 time.  Otherwise, they've probably moved on to 2021 and getting ready for the 2020 season that starts in less than a month.  I'm not sure how the application process works, if you haven't applied to these schools.

CTbballDad posted:

I don't think you can go a normal route (go to camps, hope for a call, etc) due to timing and most schools already have completed their 2020 recruiting classes.

 I'm not sure how the application process works, if you haven't applied to these schools.

He is being contacted directly on the phone by these specific coaches to come out.  They know his class.  My sons first question has been how many spots left and are they still looking for his position.  They are responding that they are.  A few schools have responded with a no.  

We are not blindly going to random camps.  These are schools that asked him specifically to come out so they can see him.

If they have a spot, they can get him in.  He has a good GPA and test score.  Chucking 90 also helps...

keewart posted:

There is absolutely nothing sweeter than beating the team that 'recruited' your son but never offered.  

Don't burn bridges, do your followups, but also move on.

I can tell you with 100% certainty that was the case with my son.   He was a thorn in their side for 4 years.

Sharpshooter1 posted:

I will tell him to reach out.  I just keep hearing the saying "you know when you are loved."  Not getting a call seems to be the contrary to that.

This experience isn't really contrary to the "loved" doctrine. It's late for 2020s. Love would have been an offer at the camp. That doesn't mean these guys won't offer later, but they aren't treating him like a priority. Maybe the someone else will do that this weekend.

If it makes you feel any better about the profession, I can tell you that my son had pretty clear communication with 5 different coaches. All 5 of those guys told him where he stood during the process. Two of them contacted him when they had made a decision to move on. (Never been so relieved to get bad news.) One was basically telling him they were waiting on another kid's decision who was ahead of my son on their board, and they understood when my son couldn't wait any longer. There was zero ambiguity with the coach he played for, and he would tell you he made the right decision choosing that school.

Sharpshooter1 welcome to the board.

Something that you posted confuses me. You said that the camps that your son has been going to fall into the category of  low, mid and hi D1. Where does your sons abilities fall within those 3 programs? And has your son  every been identified as to his skills levels. What is a good GPA and test score?  

Forget the chucking, you need to know how to pitch to get hitters out before anyone will offer anything.

As far as it only takes one offer, it HAS to be the right offer. But for your son realistically that time may have passed. Now is not the time to take anything, just for the sake of taking something. 

IMO I agree it's late, most players have either signed their NLI for 2020 and coaches are still recruiting walk on players. 

Coaches call players to fill their camps. Were these just regular camps or prospect camps?  

You will never know why they said they would call and never did so don't beat your head against the wall trying to figure it out.

Suggest to your son that signing at the JUCO will be a good move at this time. It will take pressure off  of him and yourself.  And if something comes up, he can decommit to them.  Let him concentrate on his spring and make sure he is signed onto a program that travels for exposure because you will never know what might happen. Join a gym and work on getting better and stronger, take some pitching lessons from someone that is qualified.

In other words, spend your money in better ways than running to camps that give you no return on your investment.

JMO

Edit FYI, D1 baseball begins in 3 weeks, practice begins this week. Camps should be over at this point. 

As you have heard, don't burn bridges.  Not all coaches are like this.  My son dealt with multiple coaches in three P5 conferences and all followed through just as they said.  As much as we did not like it, they were all either we have an offer or you don't fit into our plans for what you are wanting.  By that, two wanted to redshirt him as a freshman and that was not son's plans.  I respected the conversation though.  But you must understand that we had the upper hand.  Right now, they have the upper hand on you and your son.  They hold the cards.  I would think you are not going to get a scholarship at this point but a preferred walk-on and some academic money which is why they need to check on some things.  It is probably best for your son to do as you have said and have conversations with juco coaches.  If the perfect offer comes from a D1 then you can back out if you decide to.  90 is good for rightie but not great for top level D1/P5.  Understand some of their question may be if his top is 90 now and has made big strides as you say where will he ride this spring 85/86.  If you son is bound on one of those schools, then have him call them.  If not, take the juco route.  Best of luck.

All great feedback, thank you all.  We have a better understanding of the road to travel.  

CTbballDad posted:

I'm very confused by this thread, since your son is a 2020.  Haven't all application deadlines passed and did he apply to these schools?  I don't think you can go a normal route (go to camps, hope for a call, etc) due to timing and most schools already have completed their 2020 recruiting classes.

I think your son needs to get on the phone, call these coaches, see if they have openings and get some 1 x 1 time.  Otherwise, they've probably moved on to 2021 and getting ready for the 2020 season that starts in less than a month.  I'm not sure how the application process works, if you haven't applied to these schools.

For the non high academic schools, most have a July/August deadline if they have a deadline at all.  I know around here Arkansas is August1st and OK State doesn't have a deadline.   

Sharp, my kid is a 2020 and has been recruited for football and baseball.  We have dealt with exactly what you described with coaches from both sports.  I know others who have been through the same thing.   I think it is par for the course unless your kid is a top level recruit.  As much as it infuriated me when it happened, it was probably for the best.  If a coach can't follow through with a simple phone call, imagine what everything else is like.  The school my kid committed to did everything they said they would do.  Phone calls, visit, timeline, signing day.  They never dropped the ball on anything.   

My 2020 was at about your son's velo over the summer. Hit 90 at WWBA, but he wasn't a 90s pitcher and in talks with RCs he or his summer league coach never said he was. The school he ended up committing to saw him a few weeks later sitting 87-88. My point is hitting don't get hung up on touch 90 if he can't hold his velo.

Slightly related, my 2022 was at a camp recently (low P5) and they were still looking for 2020 pitchers. I realize that's the exception and I think there extenuating circumstances.

nycdad posted:

My 2020 was at about your son's velo over the summer. Hit 90 at WWBA, but he wasn't a 90s pitcher and in talks with RCs he or his summer league coach never said he was. The school he ended up committing to saw him a few weeks later sitting 87-88. My point is hitting don't get hung up on touch 90 if he can't hold his velo.

Slightly related, my 2022 was at a camp recently (low P5) and they were still looking for 2020 pitchers. I realize that's the exception and I think there extenuating circumstances.

Thank you.  To clarify, this thread was asking about coaches not doing what they say they are going to do; making a simple phone call when they said they were going to.  

Not about his talents and expectations of offers based on velo this late in the game.  

Based on the responses it occurs in other examples and it basically shows disinterest for the time being.   We are 100% OK with that.  Just wish they would have to courtesy to state that after making the impression that they liked what they saw.  

I agree with D-Mac.  If a coach can't do the courteous things that normally tells you about them as a person and coach.  Like it or not that is lying.  Don't tell me nothing and I'm okay but if you tell me you will call tomorrow, you are lying if you don't call tomorrow.  I do believe that some have the gift of recruiting and some don't.  The ones who do are great at it and understand the small dynamics of it and know how to treat people, especially athletes and build relationships.  Those that don't struggle with it and everything involved in it.  Just understand the threads on here chase rabbits and some times it seems it is pointed at you and we don't mean to but we get caught up on the small tangents and chase them rabbits through three counties to never bring it home to eat.  Sorry my southern metaphors may ramble on too.

Sharpshooter1 posted:

nycdad posted:

My 2020 was at about your son's velo over the summer. Hit 90 at WWBA, but he wasn't a 90s pitcher and in talks with RCs he or his summer league coach never said he was. The school he ended up committing to saw him a few weeks later sitting 87-88. My point is hitting don't get hung up on touch 90 if he can't hold his velo.

Slightly related, my 2022 was at a camp recently (low P5) and they were still looking for 2020 pitchers. I realize that's the exception and I think there extenuating circumstances.

Thank you.  To clarify, this thread was asking about coaches not doing what they say they are going to do; making a simple phone call when they said they were going to.  

Not about his talents and expectations of offers based on velo this late in the game.  

Based on the responses it occurs in other examples and it basically shows disinterest for the time being.   We are 100% OK with that.  Just wish they would have to courtesy to state that after making the impression that they liked what they saw.  

I won't stand up for any coach,  even the ones that I know.  

If they say that they are going to call, they should. That's wrong.  No excuses.

However, I do believe that since no one called your son, perhaps you need to realize, which I think that you do,  that you need to get a better game plan.

Best of luck to your son.

SomeBaseballDad posted:

 This isn't like a job interview and don't expect them to be professional. There won't be a call back like "I'm sorry we decided to go a different direction".

As someone who applied for about 40 jobs last year, it actually is exactly like a job interview. No one calls back anymore.

We had a similar experience with schools saying they would call, and then not calling. They do probably have three or four people on the string for every opening so your son does need to be more aggressive about reminding them he's there. Some schools would disappear for weeks or even months, then reappear out of the blue. You can make yourself crazy trying to second guess it all. Control what you can control--including when you reach out to coaches, which coaches you reach out to and what you tell them when you reach out.

We found that most coaches were very good about keeping their word when they said they were going to call or be in touch. But there were some that would go dark, then reappear after weeks/months. A few just disappeared altogether, presumably because my son was a second-tier prospect and their recruiting needs changed. I think some RCs are stretched thin and not very organized. That is no excuse though and I think it tells you something about the program overall... By far the best communicators were coach Kaz and his staff at Air Force Academy. Very impressive.

I would think this point in the recruiting process brings out the worst in everyone.  Bar’s about to close and almost everyone has already paired off   Cheers to hoping my 2022 finds his match and signs a NLI the first day possible. I don’t do chaos well. 
Sharpshooter, there is nothing wrong with JUCO for a year or two. Especially if he was a late bloomer. Give him some time to get used to his increased velocity. I know it’s hard senior year when it seems everyone around you is talking about their child (athlete or not) heading off to this school or that adventure. It’s not where you start it’s where you finish. 

Pleased to announce that we heard back from all 3.  One of which he had to reach out to.  Good news and one not so great news. 

what this thread has taught me is that don’t take it personally and that common human courtesy is the exception, not the rule.  

it actually motivates me to be a better person and reminded me I have to call my brother back like I said I would!

Sharpshooter1 posted:

Pleased to announce that we heard back from all 3.  One of which he had to reach out to.  Good news and one not so great news. 

what this thread has taught me is that don’t take it personally and that common human courtesy is the exception, not the rule.  

it actually motivates me to be a better person and reminded me I have to call my brother back like I said I would!

That's great news, but don't SETTLE.  A walk on opportunity is not the best option. Make sure some type of commitment is involved.

Keep us posted!

Kimb27 posted:

My son will be playing against 3 teams in the conference that heavily recruited him and couldn't pull the trigger. The school he chose never played games, never strung him along and never contacted him until they saw him at least 6 times. The last time they saw him at Showball, RC said we will be in touch soon, and true to their word they were. They offered him on that first phone call. It was so strange because the journey had been so different. His travel coach (who is young) had always said: "don't be surprised if a school comes in out of nowhere and sweeps you off your feet". And he was so right.  There is no right way for it to go. Be patient but I agree with your son calling the schools. Nothing better than the call he will make telling these laggards he's going elsewhere! Godspeed!

This is exactly what happened with my son....... Coach saw him three times, he was interested in a teammate. We were not aware. First conversation with coach ended with an offer. School was not even on my sons radar. Coach just blew us away with his knowledge of my son. As a family, we couldn't be happier academically and athletically with the end result.

The most important thing to me as a father was the type of person/coach that would be mentoring my son for four years.

Do your due diligence through out this stressful process and it will all workout.

Good luck SS....sounds like your son is a dude. 

Try getting injured. Coaches who were active with contact disappear into thin air as soon as they find out. In the big picture you’re nothing more than a piece of meat. 

Iowamom23 posted:

SomeBaseballDad posted:

 This isn't like a job interview and don't expect them to be professional. There won't be a call back like "I'm sorry we decided to go a different direction".

As someone who applied for about 40 jobs last year, it actually is exactly like a job interview. No one calls back anymore.

Ain't that the truth.  I was job searching about a year ago.   Before giving up I must have submitted my resume about 30 times in 2-3 months.   Out of all those, I got one call back.   One!