What D1 Conference?

Conferences are a good way to start the evaluation. But then I would proceed to where teams rank 1-297 RPI wise. I would look at their non conference schedule. More importantly I would look closely at the education I’m likely to receive.

When it’s all over I would have looked at the education, the potential baseball experience, the social environment and the cultural environment. By cultural I mean what happens when you put a big city northeast kid in a southern rural environment and vice versa and several other factors that contradict his normal every day life he’s become accustomed. 

Larry Bird got to Indiana, got intimidated and left. He thought everyone was rich. It was just that he was so poor. He also saw Bloomington (85,000) as the big city. It certainly wasn’t about talent that he failed at IU.

In my experience, many D1 programs & conferencess fluctuate between mid-D1 and low-D1   A little bit of targeted research can help you determine how much of a fluctuation per program.   Over 4 years, my son's team played a couple P5 D1 schools, D1 Mid-Majors and low D1s every year in addition to playing their regular conference schedule.   Also, I witnessed his program fluctuate between D1 Mid-major and low-D1...it was very apparent to me year after year and I'm just a Dad.   

In terms of playing time based on a conference....it is going to be a crapshoot based on your question.   There are so many variables when you consider a conference unless 3-4 schools are recruiting him that conference which kind of tells you that it may be a good fit.  You need to look at your son's skillset and project to a specific team.   What you don't know is how much is your son going to improve/learn when he gets on campus, player-coach relationship, JUCO transfers, injuries, coaching changes, etc...   My son was blessed with a great position coach that was there all 4 years.   He loved his pitching coach.    If all of this is positive and the wind is at your back then you have a chance of seeing the field.   I hope this helps.  Good luck.

As always, JMO.

If you are looking for RPI rank of conferences, I usually go here:  http://www.warrennolan.com/bas...l/2020/conferencerpi

If you click on archive at the top, you can see conference rankings back to 2011.  Will give you an idea where a particular conference falls from an RPI perspective year over year.

There is a big difference between the #11 and #31. This tweet says a lot 

https://twitter.com/FoulPoleSp.../1108169381140463616

How do you decide which an opportunity is better? You make a decision based on academics, fit, affordability, and the program. There is more that goes into it than the record of a team.

In our case, they both put together lists of schools within their academic range and started contacting schools from there. There was wiggle room based on higher academic schools offering less or no money and there was wiggle room with less academic oriented school that checked all the other boxes and made it very affordable. You have to decide what works for you. 

Some schools may give your son the opportunity to start right away. But maybe, they don't hook their athletes up with apparel and they have to pay out of pocket from a catalog. Maybe they don't have halfway decent facilities or locker rooms. Maybe another school says we're going to give you a year to bulk up and after that you'll get to compete for the starting spot. Maybe that same school has enhanced housing for athletes next to the stadium and gives their students clothes, backpacks, sneakers, gloves at no cost. Maybe that same school places very well in summer collegiate leagues. 

Your son has to decide what he's looking for out of all this. Does he want to start from Day 1, does he want the best academic/baseball combo, does he just want to try to make school a little more affordable? 

@Francis7 posted:

There are 31 D1 Baseball Conferences.

Most kids who play D1 are not at the level to be able to play in the SEC, ACC, Big 12, PAC-12, and the other very top level Conferences.

That leaves the rest of the Conferences - let's call it #11 through #31.

Basically it's the middle and the bottom. How much of a difference is really between the middle and the bottom?

Let's say you had a chance to commit to a team in the Colonial Athletic or ASUN. But, you are probably going to sit for 2 years and might end up having to transfer after your freshman year.

Would you be better off committing to a school in the America East or Metro Atlantic were you were more likely to play sooner and not be a transfer candidate after your freshman year?

Or, is the difference/experience so much greater in the middle that you have to go for it if you have a shot?

My usual type of questions for you, Francis...

Does your son have offers to commit to schools from all - Colonial, ASUN, American East and Metro as your hypothetical lays out?  If so, why would he be considering an offer where he is already of the impression that he may sit two years and/or transfer after yr 1?  For that matter, why would he consider an offer with that as the presentation anyway?  I get that many players are willing to stretch and "go for it" with a bigger/better program but if he has multiple opportunities, he probably has some where he is loved more than that where the program is decent.  This is where considering a lower level than D1 may come into play.  I'm sure you have read many times here where it can be far more rewarding to play for a successful D2/D3/NAIA than a crappy D1.  

How many of the "11 thru 31" conferences actually have schools that are likely targets that fit all of his objectives (region, major, culture, cost, distance from home, recruiting logistics, etc.)?  It's fine to cast a wide net but no need to make it more difficult than it needs to be.  Target the schools that make sense and if a different opportunity presents itself from elsewhere, you can weigh it in at that point. 

Beyond that, when you get to the very bottom of the D1 conferences, there is even more overlap with lower levels.  In fact, I have seen some low level D1 conference play that is clearly inferior to that of the better D2 conferences.  I have seen some particularly weak D1 teams that would get beat up by many strong NAIA programs.  Clearly, putting too much stock solely in the D1 label is a mistake.

Even though I don't necessarily agree with the NCAA classification of student-athlete, that is the approach we took with son.  Excluding baseball  he ranked schools based on education, environment, and opportunities.  Then he figured in baseball and saw where it overlapped.  There are too many variables with playing baseball as mentioned above where there is little or no control.  If baseball doesn't turn out then you are stuck at a place you may not want to be at.  If you love the school based on education then baseball, if successful, is icing on the cake.  I always referred to his conference as Mid-Major but based on the above from 9and7dad I guess it is a High-Major.  Either way I still recommend going to a school where there is a realistic chance of playing.  My son's only regret was not experiencing the World Series.  If you have the tools and with some luck you will receive the recognition.  If you go in over your head and have to sit or RS (non-injury) it can possibly make it more difficult to get to the next level, if that is your intention.  End of day you will have a degree from a school you loved and experienced the college life (post Corona).  Son achieved his success by going to a school that gave him the opportunity to play every day.  Would he have had the same success at a top ranked baseball school instead? Possibly but I would still favor the better odds of playing where you are given a chance.

You can create all the target schools you want. But step two is they have to show some interest in the player. It’s why I always advise making the list large (50+). It won’t take long to figure out what schools aren’t interested or there are negatives the player doesn’t like about others.

Francis, it seems you’re looking for something close to a guarantee. Every player goes where they believe they will play in D1. Half end up being wrong and transfer. 

If you’re questioning whether or not your son can play in the MAAC or AE I wouldn’t shoot higher. 

Note to remember... It’s not recruiting until the player has an offer. Everything before this is tire kicking.

I've got less experience than many here, but mine is very recent, so I'll throw out some thoughts.

• Irrespective of conference you should evaluate how likely it is that the head coach will be at the school for the next 4-6 years.  Because if he goes the rest of your analysis could be worthless.
• Even though transferring is rampant, not all schools are active.  There are places where there is little movement in or out and players get a chance to develop (this might not be true in the P5).
• When recruiting is happening identify the median...some P5 kicked the tires on my son, and some lower level D1s were very interested, however the bulk of the interest came from mid majors with RPIs in the 50-100 range.  We figured out this was the right level.
• I told my son this is not like choosing a travel team where there is only a one year commitment...this is for life so choose a place you'll be happy at no matter what happens with baseball.

I go back to the chart that my son's HS coach made him draw as a freshman. X axis is academics, Y axis is baseball; nine total boxes (3 rows 3 columns). Mark them safe, fit and stretch along each axis. Populate schools and then move them depending on the interest they show and your son's academic progress. For example, my son's 'safety' schools include some HA D3s based on discussions with those programs and feedback from multiple outside observers.

This is useful b/c it gets away from the conference thing. For instance, there's a P5 school that my son has targeted who's somewhere in his chart, but it's the only school from that conference (for multiple reasons). It made no sense for us to include that conference's most recent champion as they've shown zero interest (and have now committed a kid at son's position). 

The chart is also very useful to show your kid that there are safeties - schools he can likely qualify for and play at. That's helped my son a lot with the ups and downs of the process, especially when target schools show no interest. 

Anyhow, this has worked pretty well for us - just our .02

I love free practical advise that I can apply with my 2024 in two or so years from now.  Thank you both, K9 and OskiSD.  I am reposting this screen image ... just so I know how to find it in the future.  My hsbaseballweb donation at http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/donate.htm ROI continues throw dividends :-) 

@OskiSD We also did what you did in terms of players recruited at my son's position not just in his year but in the year before. I know that bats play but it is still useful information. In fact, as he started to refine his list, looking at available metrics of players already committed was also very useful in helping to determine whether a school was a long shot or in his wheelhouse. 

PT great point. While my son is pretty far from the end of his process, there's a pretty clear delta between target schools who are not yet interested or mildly interested, and those that appear motivated. The primary difference between these schools is their relatively meager depth chart at my son's position, as far as I can tell. We've moved those schools closer to the 'fit' box for baseball as a result.