Walk on vs. Preferred Walk on

chances are practically nil at the DI level.

You would have to walk on water since none of the coaching staff would know you over someone they have probably seen play and asked they walk on.

with the mandated roster size limit it will be very hard to make the team. But, you have nothing to lose!

A preferred or recruited walk-on indicates as you stated that the team believes that they could use your talent but have no cash to support a scholarship. This is significantly different than a regular walk-on. Mine was offered a Recruited Walk-on spot at a large D-1. They stated that he would live with the team and get all the perks associated with the team (sunglasses, bats, glove etc.). It was probably a pretty good offer, but we turned it down because he wanted playing time, and with no monetary commitment we were not sure where that would leave him.

Best of luck to your Son!

Our son also was offerred and had originally accepted a preferred walkon invitation from a local up and coming D1 program but after much research found out that they had extended 12-16 offers to preferred walkons and had signed 8 players to scholorship with 7 seniors graduating and one junior expected to leave for draft, the #'s and lack of money or guaranteed roster spot left us uncomfortable with the situation and our son decide to attend another school with a much better opportunity to play and a much better university academically. We looked at fit both athletically and academically and our son decided that if he didn't make the D1 roster he wouldn't wish to attend that school so in the long run he chose academics first and athletics second wish we were very happy with but it had to be his decision. Good luck with your decision.

I know every once in a blue moon a walk-on makes it, so it is not impossible, but RYNO nailed it from a baseball Dad's POV. I can't think of a tougher situation for a player than walk-on at at D1. Even a recruited walk-on is one of many competing with scholarship players, redshirts, and JC transfers to make the squad. All are bigger and stronger. Scholarship money = staying power. Go where you are wanted and to further your education.

Isn't a Recruited (Preferred) walk-on a guaranteed roster spot but no money. A pure walk-on is a walk-on that just comes out to the walk-on try-outs and trys to make it. The problem is that most schools don't have any roster spots available for the walk-on. So you can be a heck of a player but if the roster is full there is no spot to even get unless a player quits or the coach decides to cut a scholarship player. And many schools don't cut scholarship players. So if you try out as a pure walk-on they might keep 2 and let you practice through the fall (for 2-3 months) and then cut you at the end of fall ball. But since you played more than 14 days with the team you need released to even talk to another school. So basically you might get to practice 4-5 hours a day for for 5-6 days a week for a few months with the team (all for no money) then get told we don't have any roster spots. A preferred walk-on is no money but has that guaranteed roster spot.

Baller not sure where you get your info but it is wrong. Walk ons have littel or no chance of making a roster spot. Scholarship player will not get cut because they get the scholarship for 1year and the roster spot is used up out of the max 35 spots.
I am not sure who conjured up the preferred or recruited name tag but it only means the coach likes you enoungh to take a good look at you in the fall. Very few make roster and now you have to sit for 1 year. The release is given with the cut. A very few recruited walk ons might have been told they have a good shot but even the scholarship guys all hqave to make the regular and thje travel roster which is only 25 guys.
If anything the walk on player has a worse situation than ever. Remember a walk on gets no scholly money even if he was able to make the team and the coach could sign him without scholarship money. There will be half a dozen guys atleast who get no money depending on the schools support of the BB program. So in reality the coach is not willing to sign you even with no money. I would go where I was wanted and pursued by the coach.

whats the old saying money talks B--- walks. thats what I think.To me no money just would scare me as a parent.It means to me that your just being looked at, they are taking no interest in you.too scary with roster size cuts and etc.

The Friday night guy for Hawaii this year walked on. My son is also a walk on. There are such deals made to guarantee roster spots, but you need to do your homework. Find out who all's coming. Remember the PT is earned by everyone, whether they have baseball money or not. It's not that I wasn't leery of letting him go without money, I was, but there really wasn't any reason to doubt the man's word and nothing looked better. The school was a good fit.
With such little money to go around in college baseball, and with the added complication of APR penalties, I'm sure there are many more stories of similar nature. All depends on your abilities, your work ethic, and ultimately your relationship with the coaching staff.

Spizzlepop and Ryno both gave two different stories regarding the baseball player's dilemma being a recruited walk on or just a walk on. A player and his family , when faced with the option need to do their homework, ask questions and find out as much as they can about the coach and the way he runs his fall program and determines his spring roster. The spring roster limit is 35. I am pretty sure that the coach can have more in the fall.
The coach makes these invitations for various reasons, one of them being he needs insurance players (as many as he can to show up in case some don't show up or can't show up), etc. If a program has 27 on scholarship (30 in 2010), and has invited 10-15 as preferred walk on, some are going home end the fall. Most coaches are honest and practice integrity and normally never carried more than 30-35 max on a roster and never signed more than they needed to begin with.
JMO.

You also must consider that some rosters are capped by their own athletic dept. budget. That limits many schools from stockpiling players in the fall. Programs invest more than scholly money into players. It also costs real money just to add a player to the roster (travel, equipment, insurance, etc). I'm pretty sure son's coach had to get the AD's permission to add another number to the roster before our deal was finalized.
Here's a link that allows you to search for program budgets and costs per SA.
Equity in Athletics

A walk on costs nothing . He pays for tuition etc up front so the school would want every player to walk on. No scholarship money for the year and if the WO made the team he would be a cheap addition. Take what we give you or go sit for a year some where else.
The walk on scenario makes very little sense. I know some states have good aide for instate guys like in FLA and Texas but how much oportunity does a walk on get on average. Yes a very small % do make it but unless you have no options it doesn't make sense.

With the new rules every team can only have 27 scholly players (after next year). So, now from what I've been reading those walk-ons become more valuable b/c you need 8 quality players that get no baseball money. Doesn't that change the whole landscape for walk-ons?? Opinions on that??

Hitahomer,

I would agree with you, however, if a program that you like and is competitive is offering you a "preferred or recruited" walk-on, the odds are that there is another program that is able to offer money. If you are have graduated already, it is getting late and your options may be drying up.

The program that offered that situation to my son indicated that he would receive all the perks that every other player on the team received and he would live off campus with the team in dorms apparently paid for by the booster club so technically, no scholarship. Each program is different. I may be naive, but still believe that certain people and programs have integrity. If you are comfortable with the offer then work your butt off and prove that they made a great decision offering you the spot.

I think that Floridafan kind of summed it all up with the above post.
Recruited walk ons do get all of the perks, the only thing missing is scholarship money. Most likely they now replace what would have been the 5%,10% or a book $$ player. My strong suggestion has always been that a player go where coaches are willing to treat that player like everyone else, but give nice scholarship dollars as well. I would discuss the possibility of walking on with a scholarship commitment after the first year or finding academic money.

Spizzlepop,
Not 100% sure but that info you provided might be the coaches entire budget which includes scholarship money as well. No way did Clemson spend an extra 11,000 on my player in extras. I do beleive it represents an average per player if all players were equal. But the info is good to give one an idea what coaches have to spend, how many players they rostered that year, and the schools commitment to athletics in general, etc.

BTW, for many programs, coaches don't pay a dime for equipment, uniforms, hats, gloves, etc. In fact, they get $$ in their pocket for using certain companies. So don't let them think that they are "spending" money for these things when some aren't. At larger programs, housing, facility improvements, in season meals, books is often picked up by athletic booster clubs as well as other things. That's why some universities employ fund raisers, to raise money privately needed to support their athletic programs. State money is an added perk for coaches. But think about it, that means he may be willing to pay an out of state player, or one that didn't make the requirements while your player uses his money he is entitled to academically regardless of sports. That does make you attractive, but in reality the coach is really not giving you much in the way of his budget. JMO.

Will be interesting to see where coaches will go with all of this. With dwindling school budgets, 25% minimum scholarship, there is nothing written in stone that one must have 35 players on roster so I strongly suggest that everyone not assume 5-8 extra players will be needed at every program. I don't know if it makes the walk on more valuable to their program or not, most likely depends on budgets. The school that normally didn't fund all 11.7 now has to spend every penny to give scholarships they normally wouldn't give, doesn't leave much room for more, unless there is a strong booster program to help support the program.

TPM is correct don't assume that there will be a 35 player roster


Fresno State had a 27 man roster


No. Name Position Height/Weight Year Birthdate Bats/Throws Hometown (Last School)
9 Alan Ahmady Infield 5-11/195 SO 12/14/1987 Right/Right Fresno, Calif. (Clovis West)
40 Clayton Allison Pitcher 6-5/230 SR 10/10/1985 Right/Right Visalia, Calif. (College of Sequoias CC)
30 Blake Amador Outfield 6-0/190 SR 02/26/1986 Left/Left Turlock, Calif. (Modesto Junior College/UNLV)
37 Sean Bonesteele Pitcher 6-5/210 SO 08/08/1987 Right/Right Santa Ana, Calif. (Foothill)
10 Jason Breckley Pitcher 6-1/220 SR 10/10/1986 Right/Right Moorpark, Calif. (Moorpark)
25 Brandon Burke Pitcher 6-3/200 SR 09/15/1985 Right/Right San Diego, Calif. (Rancho Bernardo)
15 Steve Detwiler Outfield 6-1/220 SO 12/31/1987 Right/Right Forest Knolls, Calif. (San Rafael)
42 Gene Escat Pitcher 6-5/190 FR 09/03/1989 Right/Right Hanford, Calif. (Hanford)
38 Jake Floethe Pitcher 6-3/195 FR 05/29/1989 Right/Right Lafayette, Calif. (Acalanes)
4 Danny Grubb Catcher 5-11/185 JR 04/19/1987 Right/Right Orange, Calif. (Orange Lutheran)
29 Gavin Hedstrom Infield 6-1/190 JR 06/03/1987 Right/Right Irvine, Calif. (Woodbridge)
7 Nick Hom Infield 6-0/180 FR 01/31/1989 Right/Right Benicia, Calif. (De La Salle)
50 Jacob Hower Pitcher 6-4/190 SR 05/29/1985 Right/Right Roseville, Calif. (American River CC)
34 Jake Johnson Catcher 6-2/205 FR 01/25/1989 Right/Right La Mirada, Calif. (La Mirada)
32 Tommy Mendonca Infield 6-1/200 SO 04/12/1988 Left/Right Turlock, Calif. (Turlock)
33 Justin Miller Pitcher 6-5/195 JR 06/13/1987 Right/Right Bakersfield, Calif. (Bakersfield College)
16 Danny Muno Infield 5-11/170 FR 02/09/1989 Switch/Right Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Loyola)
24 Ryan Overland Catcher 6-2/200 SR 10/25/1985 Left/Right Atascadero, Calif. (Atascadero)
19 Jordan Ribera Infield 6-0/220 FR 12/22/1988 Left/Right Fresno, Calif. (Clovis West)
11 Todd Sandell Infield 6-2/190 SR 09/17/1985 Right/Right Somis, Calif. (Camarillo)
14 Tanner Scheppers Pitcher 6-4/200 JR 01/17/1987 Right/Right Laguna Niguel, Calif. (Dana Hills)
5 Trent Soares Outfield 6-0/185 FR 08/11/1988 Left/Right Fresno, Calif. (San Joaquin Memorial)
47 Holden Sprague Pitcher 6-2/210 JR 07/24/1987 Right/Right Fresno, Calif. (Bullard)
27 Steve Susdorf Outfield 6-1/195 SR 03/28/1986 Left/Left Newhall, Calif. (Hart)
43 Kris Tomlinson Pitcher 6-0/180 JR 11/25/1985 Left/Left Visalia, Calif. (Golden West)
3 Erik Wetzel Infield 6-1/180 JR 12/25/1986 Right/Right Chino, Calif. (Don Lugo)
21 Justin Wilson Pitcher 6-3/210 JR 08/18/1987 Left/Left Clovis, Calif. (Buchanan)


Coaches


44 Mike Batesole - Head Coach
12 Matt Curtis - Assistant Coach
36 Mike Mayne - Assistant Coach
6 Pat Waer - Assistant Coach

quote:

What are all the pro's/con's of a plain walk-on kid who may try out and possibly makes it versus a kid who is recruited by a school that may not have any more funds but offers him "preferred" walk-on status on the team?

At a recent baseball banquet I attended, a mid-major D1 head coach commented that in the past 8-9 years, only one pure walk-on has made his roster. I would think the odds of making it as a pure walk-on for a high-level D1 would be even more remote.

A couple of other thoughts....

Some preferred or invited walk-on offers are basically opportunities to try out in the fall in order to make the spring roster. As RYNO mentioned, one school they encountered extended 12-16 offers to preferred walk-ons. Not a good situation. Other schools recruit a limited number of preferred walk-ons and guarantee (sometimes verbally, sometimes in writing) that the player will be with the team all 4 years, apart from behavior or academic issues. If the one making this type of offer is trustworthy, the offer might be worth pursuing.

Preferred and invited walk-ons can get scholarship money, just not athletic money. They can get money for academics, provided they meet a certain GPA/test score minimum, and they also can get money from other types of scholarships (leadership, etc.).

For preferred walk-ons, trust is a big issue for both the recruit and the college. The recruit must trust the college coach's assurances and if he verbally commits, the college must trust that the recruit will follow through on his word since he has not signed a binding document. I know of one case this spring where a player who verbally committed in the fall as a recruited walk-on to a D1 reneged when a D2 offered him athletic money. The trust factor is huge on both ends.

Lastly, for those colleges with roster sizes above 27, jpreferred walk-ons should become increasingly valuable.

My son is going to be a recruited walk on a local D2 college this fall. The school is our preferred program due to it being a good fit for us acedemically, financially and relatively close to home so the family can see lots of games (thats very important to me). Athletically, having watched several games, he should fit right in and contribute to the team quickly. Plus our next door neighbor's son (I coache dLittle League with his dad) will also be a recruited walk on.

The coaches watched him at several games, talked to his HS coach and talked to area scouts about him. Through this process the coaches became aware of my neighbor's son. They gave us a very nice campus tour and explained they really wanted them both, but had very little scholarship money. In the end they didn't offer any scholarship money. But I talked with several former players, who all said they didn't get any scholarship money initially, but after a good season met with the coach and he provided some money in sunsequqent years on a year to year basis, depending on performance. They all said the head coach was very fair about it. All had nothing but good things to say about the school and coaches.

I think its important for those who don't have upper D1 skills to realize many schools are not fully funded for athletic scholarships. In the California D2 conference (CCA), only two are fully funded for athletic scholarships. Other schools have no athletic scholarship money. The ones with only few full athletic scholarships tend to spread it around a bit, usually emphasizing pitching. We decided, it would be better to get little or no scholarship at a nearby inexpensive school than send him off to a distant school, probably more expensive school on a partial athletic scholarship. A net increase in cost.

This site helped me understand the process and ask lots of questions, ultimately making a decision that were very comfortable with. So Thank You, to the many regular contributor to this site for sharing your experiences.

I am not sure there are any set in stone rules.
During 3 years at Clemson the roster included 4 not recruited players (in preference to the word walk on) at various times. No, they did not get much playing time but all happy to be part of the team, one was even the team captain one year.

Recruited or preferred walk on holds a different meaning than one that tries out for the team during required D1 NCAA try outs held in the fall. Many schools in the past had players that have been given no scholarship dollars because there was no money available to fully fund. The reason is more important than the actual word. If a coach can only recruit that way, that takes out the negatives. If he is just doing it to fill roster spots, and spent all of his money on other players, invited more than he needs, that is where the negatives lie. If you are a solid position player at one position, and there is a proven player before you or one that has received nice scholarship money and received an NLI, I don't care how hard you bust your rear, chances are you will see limited playing time at many top programs. JMO.

In our experience, a recruited walk-on is one of the thirty-five, with no money. From what I read, this may not be the case at every school.

The player may be a late bloomer, or under the radar for any number of reasons. But if a no-money player is out-playing a scholarship player, it would be hard to believe that the coach would not give him playing time.

It is a matter of trust on both sides when a no-money student accepts that promised roster spot. It is easy to check the integrity of the coaches, and their history with recruited walk-ons. For 08-09, there will be 10 out of the 35 getting no money. If the school and team are a fit, that may be a great opportunity for a kid willing to work hard.

Some people really make it hard on trhemselves. A prefered/Recruited WO is a guy in limbo. He has a miniscule chance of making the cut.
My son was offered a WO by his #1 choice who had recruited him for over a year. It came down to him or a JC transfer. They took the guy with more experience at the college level. They had reached the Super Regionals last year and thought experience would get them to the next level. They referred to my son as a grade A prospect and pffered him a RWO scenario. I asked the coordinatore what it meant and he was very clear. No money for the 1st year and maybe thye next year. He had to make the team with no promises made. We declined that offer very quickly and moved on. It's not about trust or honor. It is about people hearing what they want to hear. A WO is a WO. The recruited ones may have a slightly better chance but very few make it.

Bobblehead, I don't doubt that this was your son's experience. However, based on my conversations with quite a few folks in various parts of the country, there are many programs which do not require any fall tryouts for recruited walk-ons. At some schools, the recruited walk-on offer is a guarantee that the player will make the roster and have an opportunity to compete for playing time, just as thirdbaseside stated.

I know of a player who got miniscule money and made freshman all-american. If he were an '08, he would have been a recruited walk-on. I know of another player who got 68% and got a mere 15 AB's as a freshman. Once a recruit arrives on campus, his playing time depends on how he grows and develops and how hard he works. The amount of money he is receiving has little to do with the playing opportunities he'll receive.

Inf08 all WOs have an oportunity to make the roster. Yes there have been some success stories where players have WO. I cetainly agree that all players receiving scholarship money don't pan out. However there are no guarantees that non scholarship players will make roster and I have seen several who got minimal money and were cut after fall. I have seen guys who were cut in their soph & JR years who were receiving scholarships that were not renewed.
Why would a player take the risk of playing for a coach who would not give him a BB scholarship. A BB scholarship shows his commitment to the player. I know your state has great financial assistance but that is not thye same as a coach commiting financially to the player. It doesn't even have to do with funding the players education. It is about commitment.