What do you wish you had known sooner?

quote:

Originally posted by Racab:
Probably if the time goes back, I try to convince my son not to sign pro, and go to college. And that involve to help him to be a better student.
Good grades plus talent=D-1 scholarship=hight round draft= good money bonus =quit move up the ladder=back up profession=future security.

I sometimes wondered while son was first year in college if he had made the right decision. You never think you know the right answer to give your sons, wishing you could see things through a crystal ball for answers.

Gotwood,
I was wearing that T-shirt yesterday
REALLY. Do you know where I got it ??

If you go into this collegiate experience thinking the college coach is thinking and acting in your son's best interests - you are in for the shock of your lives.

Put your helmet on - and get ready for a ride.

The overwhelming majority of college coaches at the D-1 level are thinking - and acting - in their own best interests only.

They will sell their soul for 1 more win. Your kid is nothing more than a piece on the chess board.

Welcome to the real world of the NCAA

IMO

This T-shirt 3up?



Let me guess where you got it...

quote:

Originally posted by itsinthegame:
Welcome to the real world of the NCAA

Brutal...yet true.

Lets put it in numbers.

Lets tell the truth. (Most people dont want to tell the bad stories for fear of retribution or for fear of being labeled a "sour grapes" parent. --- **** them). Tell the truth. The truth is more important than any of this money making BS

Be fearless.

At the school my son attended - on a nice scholly:

We were told about 20 "significant" things during our recruiting experience with the oldest.

Every single one was a bold faced lie.

Every one.

They were 0 for 20

And that was just the beginning.

Put your helmet on. And make sure the strap is secured tightly.

Tell the truth - and dont let them scare you. **** them.

Mrmom and itsinthegame describe some very frightening scenarios. My question is, if the coaches at a school we are looking at have a reputation of being men of good character, do we really need to doubt their integrity or the majority of the things they say as we are evaluating their programs?

Their reputation speaks for itself in my judgment...they should be trusted, but keep in mind what a past president said..."Trust, but verify."

Lets be honest no matter what the level. If your kid plays all the time the coach is great.

quote:

Originally posted by Infield08:
Mrmom and itsinthegame describe some very frightening scenarios. My question is, if the coaches at a school we are looking at have a reputation of being men of good character, do we really need to doubt their integrity or the majority of the things they say as we are evaluating their programs?

I would say that these scenerios are out of the ordinary. Seeking out advice and recommendation from someone who has been or is playing for the coaching staff is definetly important.

But sometimes what one perceives as a good situation may not be to another as is all things in life. As an example, ABC's experience was that he was very happy with his coaching staff, XYZ may not have been. Keep that in mind.

Also keep in mind that the recruiting phase is the courting stage, with the NLI the marriage. Sometimes when you begin living with that other person, you see things differently.

The importance of it all is your overall opinion on everything. The school, the location, student population, baseball program's objectives, team, coaching staff. If most things are positive and one negative, you certainly have made a good choice. Those who enter and not really fond of their coach, usually are so happy with all other reasons they chose the school it doesn't matter. If the player is not happy at the school, a terrific coaching staff and team will help in the balance.

The most important thing is that everyone goes into every situation with eyes wide open and do as much as they can to weigh the pros and cons for each opportunity. Then when you look back you can say that you knew everything you should have sooner, but not all things work out in the end.

Recruiting is not a one size fits all situation, the end result, as in iitg's son's situation is to put the past behind and move forward.

The "culture of the team" that your inbound college player will joing will be one of the defining moments in his life... He will be faced with a maze of opportunity and decision that will be affected by the "culture of the team".... every college kid is faced with this but when joinging a baseball team I think the stakes are a little higher than the non-player... just my 2 bits...
It's nothing you all haven't thought of, I just wanted to emphasize it as you and your kids look at schools...

That makes a lot of sense to me skipper...well said.

quote:

Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom: I would say that these scenerios are out of the ordinary. Seeking out advice and recommendation from someone who has been or is playing for the coaching staff is definetly important.
But sometimes what one perceives as a good situation may not be to another as is all things in life. As an example, ABC's experience was that he was very happy with his coaching staff, XYZ may not have been. Keep that in mind.

I certainly am glad to hear that Mrmom and itsinthegame posts are not commmon place. Also agree that you need to do your research and talk to people. There are certainly enough obstacles to clear when trying to make a choice for college with or with out baseball.

But to hear that a coach intentionally put a players year of eligibility in the trash with one at bat is shocking! mrmom is a much better person than I am because I would have been pushing legal action at point. I believe it would be very hard to turn over THAT stone no matter how much research you did.

But this does present us with a new area to discuss with the coach. Do I really ask the college coach where my son has committed the following question when we do our official visit in a couple of weekends?

QUESTION: If you make the roster, are healthy and in good standing with the school; can the coach kick you off the team for no cause after one appearance?

A coach can always find a "valid" reason for what he does with a player

Redshirt is not granted until the END of the season. The main reason being, if roster is short, that redshirt player can now be called upon to fulfill a spot.
You all need to understand the redshirt process. Good question to ask when being recruited.

Coaches burn players on redshirt all of the time, it is not umcommon. I am not sure of the reasons, but as TR suggests coaches always have ways to find valid reasons.

"Yeah I wish somehow I didn't know now what I didn't know then"

ya just got to like TK!

cheers
Bear

quote:

Originally posted by Bear:
" I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then"

Greatest lyrics ever. Against the Wind--Bob Seger

Amen to that, play!

Along with "if you had just a minute to breathe, and they granted you one final wish, would you ask for something....like another chance"

--Traffic.

I love that song!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by play baseball:

quote:

Originally posted by Bear:
" I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then"

Greatest lyrics ever. Against the Wind--Bob Seger

...and my favorite song.

We too live in a state that gets virtually no exposure. We have NO showcase summer or fall teams - would have to drive at least 3 hours to join one and even then, I'm not so sure he would get much exposure other than with some (marginally academic) DII schools. So what would we have done differently - STARTED EARLIER and gone to more showcases. My son played in Florida after his sophomore year and the coaches there gave us INVALUABLE advice (including looking up PG)on how to get to the next level. They felt certain son was good enough to play DI ball. Because we did the things they told us to do he does have several schools from DI to DIII and some good JUCOs "interested". I feel certain had we not gotten this advice he would not be getting any looks. My son is not a "national prospect" or a star pitcher. He is just a very good, very hard working player with a great bat and a plus arm. Amazingly, he has a very good g.p.a. and A.C.T. score because really he has never cared about anything but baseball. Second thing we'd do differently is not let him put ALL his eggs in his batbag. Hopefully it will work out - I feel certain he'll play college ball somewhere, and it would be great if it is DI.

I too, have been grateful for this web-site and all the help. Those of you who have gotten to watch your sons dreams come true have much to be grateful for - and you prove that you are grateful by your willingness to help the rest of us get through all the muck. Thanks for that.

Here's to hoping that a few years down the line we will be happy with the school our son chooses and that the "fit" will be a good one so that we can say "we wouldn't do anything differently".

#1 thing we would have done different.

Don't believe the HS guidance office when they say all of the core courses are approved.

I would have checked the NCAA Clearinghouse website myself in his freshman year to check the courses. I would have checked again when I looked over the new schedule for the following year. Do it again each year.

You can check now. Go to the NCAA Clearinghouse. There is a link elsewhere in this website. Search for your HS. Check the approved core courses. Now check the declined core courses.

My son had an English Course in his senior year that was not submitted to the clearinghouse by the school district. When it was discovered by the NCAA Clearinghouse, he was already at college. He couldn't even practice with the team until it was cleared up. The HS submitted the course - which was turned down for "To much vocational content to be a core English Course". (The course was Digital Media and Electronic English. They did projects using digital cameras and computers instead of paper reports. One of my son's projects is now used in the middle school to recruit students to the HS Academy of Finance and Academy of Information Technology.)

My son was declared to be 1/2 credit short to play D1 sports.

The college asked for and received a waiver. In the meantime my son missed the fall baseball season. His scholarship money was in limbo. It was late November before the waiver was approved and he could participate, and the scholarship money could be paid towards his tuition. The college was real good and didn't come looking for money from us while the waiver was pending.

It was a major headache that a little research could have avoided.

TomR- thanks for the heads-up about denied courses on the NCAA clearinghouse site. I would have never thought to check this. Luckily, son's hs doesn'nt have any denied classes on the list. I think this could be a common problem if parents/educators did not check this. All our hs's approved classes are pretty much what is approved for our University of CA and Cal State U. requirements. Sorry you had to find out the hard way!

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Lets be honest no matter what the level. If your kid plays all the time the coach is great.

Not true. My kid set nearly every pitching record at his HS and his coach was completely corrupt.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom R:
#1 thing we would have done different.

Don't believe the HS guidance office when they say all of the core courses are approved.

I would have checked the NCAA Clearinghouse website myself in his freshman year to check the courses. I would have checked again when I looked over the new schedule for the following year. Do it again each year.

You can check now. Go to the NCAA Clearinghouse. There is a link elsewhere in this website. Search for your HS. Check the approved core courses. Now check the declined core courses.

SOME OF THE BEST ADVICE YOU'RE EVER GOING TO GET!

I know to do this and yet, I almost messed up with a kid this year. He transfered in his Junior year from another community in Illinois and was told he'd already met some requirements by the guidance department. However, "core classes" are not all alike and some are determined by what the school has deemed "core classes." We almost messed up by waiting too long to investigate this. However, thanks to staying on this, my player was able to meet the requirements and keep his D-I ride. I'd felt terrible if he had to forgo this scholarship.