What a cat and mouse game this recruiting process is...

I agree with you. My son got contacted after a showcase by a D1 school here and we took an unofficial visit to the school. First of all let me say grades are important. He is going to take the SAT in October and coach said we will make an offer if his test scores are higher. In the mean time he has gotten two offers from NAIA schools. I did let the coach from the D1 school know we had a couple of offers and a Nov. 1 deadline to accept on one. I basically wanted to know how serious this coach was. He basically said we will make an offer but you never know what can happen in the recruiting game. That he can not say 100%. That is all I had to know. He was playing games with us. So yes, they do wait and string you along until they think someone better will come along. This coach may offer but we won't be waiting around to see.

I know there were some talk on these forums about NAIA schools accepting anyone, but NAIA eligibility is higher than Division 2.

Many lower tier schools do tend to wait "for the smoke to clear" before recruiting those who are left. My son received offers from D1's in September and early October of his senior year, but didn't commit until Oct. 31, so other schools didn't know that he was "taken" until early to mid-November or so. That's when other lower-tier schools started contacting him -- via letter and phone call. As one D3 coach jokingly commented to us, "We know where we are in the pecking order."

If your son is a senior and still does not have an offer -- which is typical for many, many seniors -- rest assured that lots of schools will come out of the woodwork in late fall, winter, the spring, and even the summer after graduation.

1BDad is correct, my son is starting to hear from the other schools, JC, DII, etc. One of my questions to a dad who's son got an early commitment was "if they can't contact you, how did the deal go down?" They had gone to one the schools camps and at that time school offered them a good deal, plus it was the player's school of choice. I should have figured this out last winter, we went to a big D1 powerhouse for a camp, they were sending son flyers and no one said a word to either of us. That was the sign they truly were not interested in son. Never asked for his transcripts too.

If they don't request transcripts, how do they know you qualify to attend? Coach from small D1 school will see son this weekend for games, he still hasn't asked for transcripts, I intend to give them to him. When he sees the grades, that should separate the men from the boys.

For the parents of the elite players, this recruiting process appears to be enjoyable, for the leftover player's parents its frustrating. Thanks to HSBW we can help each other out and learn.

My 09 position player son is kind of in the same boat ---Had some initial interest from a few D1s , made a couple of unofficial visits in the spring , received a few phone calls after July 1st but then there was never any followup calls . Now he has started to receive some calls from a couple of D2s and D3s . The way i look at it is this -- these D1s are going to miss out and let him get away to a school that truly wants him by not playing games and seem to appreciate his talents. Going to be their loss ..not ours.

Sulltiger24, exactly my sentiments, I've seen my son do things on the field many of the early signees could not do. They had better grades, and got more exposure earlier.

I went through this twice, with two sons playing college baseball, one just finishing last spring. Don't try to figure it out too much or you'll go mad-the process has ups and downs, ins and outs, you see kids get more interest than your own, even though you somewhat-kinda-sorta-little-bit-unobjectively can't see it, and end up with quite a few aaarrrgggghhhh!!!!moments. Fast forward a couple years and you'll see your kid in summer ball playing right with the guys that play at the big name D-1's and still not see a difference.

Go with the flow, and just as baseball players can't get too high or too low, the same goes for their parents. If they end up playing somewhere-anywhere for that matter-they're way ahead of the curve. They can have a great experience at any level and you can enjoy watching that experience at any level.

Obsess not and just let things flow. You have only so much control over the process (actually very little), enjoy the moments-unexpected letters or phone calls, one on one time with your boy as he goes to showcases and tournaments, long rides where you can talk as he feels comfortable, the thrill of looking at nice college fields and seeing your kid envisioning himself out there on the sea of green.

Relax, as much as possible. Say your prayers, and enjoy the ride. It will be bumpy.

quote:

Originally posted by Pop Up Hitter dad:

For the parents of the elite players, this recruiting process appears to be enjoyable, for the leftover player's parents its frustrating. Thanks to HSBW we can help each other out and learn.

100% False

The many FITS of the entire process hold true regardless of where a player is rated on a list.

One thing that I noticed was that coaches are constantly feeling you out. They are trying to feel what a player will settle for.
My son's 1st choice strung us along with constant contact by phone, emails and letters. All looked like he was going there. This went on for over a year. I made the mistake of not forcing his hand. Looking back I should have asked for a commitment and gained control. Instead I listened to the retoric and gave them control. I should have asked right up front what they were going to offer if anything. The coordinator was smootha and a great guy to talk to. Always keeping the hope alive. They said they saw my son as a grade A prospect but no offer came. When I started to figure it out I pressed them and they kept trying to string me along. Finally the coordinator asked if a pro scout had seen him recently. Yes we had gone to a Royals MLB tryout and my son pitched 2 innings striking out 3 and grounding out 3. These included college players and a couple ex MiLB players. The coordinator got the email address and was told he was a great pitcher but he needed to develop. He only weighed 165 and threw 82-83mph. This scout had also seen him throw a perfect 4 innings against his Elite team. You would think he would be very enthusiastic about my son. According to the coordinator his college was at thye regionals last season and were looking for experience and guys that would get them to the super regionals. They took a JC transfer instead.
You just don't know what the college is looking for. This could result in a lack of offer to an otherwise grade A prospect not getting an offer. By the way that coordinator stayed in touch with me after my son played games as a freshman. Emails congratulating him on his games.
So you don't always get the offer from colleges even when they like what they see. It is important to be proactive and not be afraid to ask for an offer. I also made sure they knew he wouldn'y be cheap but in a nice way. If they can string you along they will.

I would like to share my take . My son was only getting juco's and a couple of D-2'all through his junior year.He sign with a very good juco baseball program.But he wasn't going to give up on a D-1 so he work out hard.He decided he would pitch if that would help him.He went to the world showcase for PG that showcase had pro scouts only. He did well as a catcher pop time 1.78 pitching velocity was 90 mph that got him invited PG Iowa. After that he went to a camp and got his first d-1 offer this was march his senior year. He did not except he was going to wait till after the draft and it work out. My point it is not over till school begin's He sign july 24th of his senior year.Play select ball your senior year work hard you never know also he had offer's from the big 12 to the ohio valley so all these schools lose player's to the draft etc, good luck to all

Another thing to keep in mind is that the coaching staff may not be in agreement on their needs - or in their assessment on a particular player. I know of one player here in Northern California who the recruiting coordinator loved but the head coach saw him on the worst day of his summer and put him down as not a player. Player ended up going elsewhere - to the same school where the recruiting coordinator also ended up.

Not to claim that my son is "elite" but he was ranked pretty highly on most of the lists you see referred to. For what it's worth, we had some fairly frustrating experiences with recruiting. One school in particular really behaved in an eye-opening way.

In the end, we considered ourselves lucky to have learned their true selves BEFORE son signed an NLI with them.

But it was not an enjoyable experience, and it wasn't the only frustrating experience.

Though the story did have a happy ending! And that's all that matters, really.

The "elite" players get paid handsomely every June. The rest are all good players who share similar frustrations in the process.

BBHdoll is right when he says handle the string-alongs quickly. No early offer generally means you are not #1 on the list, even though you may be told that. It is also NO reflection on a players abilities.

We found the whole process very enjoyable and my son wasn't attending showcases or on any lists. Had a sub par velocity but could perform well.
His DVD was great and got him good offers from colleges that never ever saw him in person. It also got him invites to a couple of top D1 college camps.
The key was that we weren't unrealistic nor did we limit our scope. We knew he could pitch at any college in the country but we also knew that many would be hard to get the kind of offer we wanted especially not being a showcase dweller. We actually talked about showcases and if we didn't get an offer we liked we were prepared to sit out a year and go to showcases and to some camps that we were invited to. Several Florida JR colleges asked us to come and workout for them. Our goals were not playing for a big power houseschool but hopefully against them.
Our goals made life on the recruiting trail very enjoyable.

The uncertainty of the whole process can make many people nervous. If your kid is still in HS and unsigned he still has many good options to continue playing.

The stringing out of the "non-blue chip" players has more to do with the fact many schools don't know what needs they may have until April or May. In April and May coaches get a "reading" on which kids will sign or transfer or not performing. This is not limited to second tier schools, based upon my limited experience.

The D2 schools in my area don't sign many, if any HS players early in the year. In our area I only seem to hear about D2 signings and commitments in the spring and summer.

btw the smoke never clears!

You have a some control over the process, but not much. Our son did all the right things, went to the right showcases, got the right grades, and got four D1 offers (all in Feb.), chose the wrong one, and was home by December after the original coaches left. It has a happy ending, as after a year at at JC he signed with the "right" D1.

If nobody wants him so far, then you have to be patient. Let the smoke clear. Do your research. Take your time to find the right fit, academically, athletically, socially and financially. And then cross your fingers. Like Midlo stated - all that matters is how it ends.

Brod:

Really he didn't get any of the D1 offers until Feb? I think 4thGen will be o.k., but I'm not sure if I can make it until them :-)

If you transfer to a JC midyear the offers will be later in the year. My son got his 1st offer in april and signed in late may. If you are at a JC in the fall you may get earlier offers as you'll be seen in the fall workouts/games and be able to participate in a JC showcases, if your state has one.

Couple of things.
It's just as frustrating for top prospects getting attention. You can have many coaches courting you, handing you lots of BS you know isn't true. It doesn't matter if you have 20 coaches calling you or 3, the bottom line none of them may be from the right program for your player. There was a coach begging son not to committ early until he saw his school. It would be the third of his only three visits a bit later than the others, but son said he would go on the OV before he committed anywhere else. The coach calls two weeks later and tells son he's canceling his OV! He had another player committ and used up all of his money. We all have stories and it wasn't always fun.

Next, very few players committ early. It may seem like everyone's son committs early, not true. There are just more that talk about it.The official signing period for baseball is April, the EARLY signing is November. Most of the larger D1 programs do sign players early, a big reason is because they need to stop the recruiting process to concentrate on their programs, but still many of them take players in April, after the draft and summer.
If your son isn't getting the attention you feel he should get, have you made sure that he has been in front of the RIGHT coaches. While we may feel that our player is a D1 player, would his skills be better for D2,D3, NAIA or JUCO. And what are you doing about it? Unsigned seniors showcase, fall tournaments, etc? Is he continuing to make contact with the RIGHT coaches? Is his search realistic or is he sitting around waiting for teh phone to ring? He may be a good player and gets the job done on the field, did he do the same in the classroom? Is he retaking the SAT to better his scores?

This is the time when many players make mistakes, they committ because they feel that they HAVE to, and sometimes that can be a big mistake.

From the responses to my posting I can see many others were frustrated with this process. My son isn't doing much to promote himself, mostly waiting I guess. He had one JC say they were going to set up OV, never called back.

I was going by the one experience my son's teammate had, his dad seemed quite smug about his son's early (junior year) commitment to a D1 school. The posters that had a good time evidently had son's who were mature, they had good organization skills and knew how to speak to adults. I'm not worried anymore after all the responses from others on this site. I will enjoy my last year of HS ball and sit back and watch.

quote:

My son isn't doing much to promote himself, mostly waiting I guess.

Pop Up Hitter dad, at the very least, have your son contact the JC college who mentioned an official visit to see if he can still arrange something. Your son also should either call or email the coaches of other schools he has a high interest in. You mentioned in an another post that others got earlier exposure than your son. Your son is already admittedly behind, so it would behoove him to get up to speed by demonstrating a strong interest in select programs.

Best wishes!