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Ok, just getting into the game with my 2023.  His hitting coach and varsity coach thought the following schools would be a good fit for my son.  They are all going to be at a showcase that was recommended to him.  Are there any on here he should target or avoid?  Or is there somewhere that I can look that would give me good information.  To be honest, I don’t know where to start.

Bucknell, Penn State, Virginia Tech, coppin state, VCU, eastern Kentucky, eastern Illinois, Washington and Jefferson, university of Dayton, Wright state, Norfolk state, central Connecticut, canisus, university or Richmond, umbc, Towson, Georgetown university, frostburg state university, Ohio state, California university, ball state, Indiana state, Campbell university, Elon university, Youngstown state, st joeseph’s university, seton hill.

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That is a wide range of colleges.  You have top of the ACC and teams that are the bottom of bad conferences.  I think you definitely need to narrow it down.  Is he a P5 guy or a mid-major or a low D1?  Because obviously he is a D1 since all of them are D1.  Virginia Tech is a whole different set than the rest of these you listed.  I'm assuming that is his dream school since they are a top 25 team this year and getting better.  I will also assume that money is not a problem since many of these schools give very little baseball money and some are very expensive.  Plus you have from sea to shining sea on here.  Is he truly open to go anywhere in the US to play college ball and are you willing to not see him or travel long distances to watch him play.  Some kids can handle being in college and playing ball with no one close personally watching them but others cannot.  ASU recruited my son but I had to remind him that I could not go to Arizona every weekend so was he fine playing week after week with no one from his family there to watch?  I think the list is a weird list of schools in a wide range of baseball especially.  JMO

I'll second Pitchingfan with the simple comment that is a very wide list.  There are at least a couple of D2 on that list and at least one D3, and without doing any research, I'd say there's quite a bit of diversity in terms of perceived academic rigor and difficulty getting accepted.  Some of those schools may be a fit for your son, but I wouldn't think they all would be.  If I was in your situation, I'd start by narrowing down based on geography of where he'd prefer to attend school and at the same time attempting to match up academics with your sons academic aspirations and fit for his academic ability.  Then lay baseball opportunity over the top to start arriving at a list that makes sense to put your focus on.  JMO

I think it is California university of pa...  the showcase is c5t elite summer showcase.  Which ones are very expensive?  We might be ruling those out. He will be fine living anywhere - I’ll guarantee that!  I’m not questioning you, but how did you know they don’t give much baseball money - that’s good information that I need to know.  To be honest, I have no idea if he is D1 material or not.  Son just told me coach pulled him aside one day last week and said he knows the guy running this camp and feels that Hunter should go to it.  Coach emailed him the link.  I ran it by his hitting instructor and he thought these would be good schools for him to target.

like I said, I don’t know much, I’m just along for the ride!  But in seriousness, I want to help him as much as I can.

9&7, academic aspirations?  He just turned 16 and like someone said, he doesn’t even know what he wants for dinner tonight, let alone years down the road.  He’s an average student at best but in a very top school in the state, not sure if that means anything or not.  He is going to take a forensics class this fall.  I’m hoping he likes it and heads in that direction.

@Dadof3 posted:

9&7, academic aspirations?  He just turned 16 and like someone said, he doesn’t even know what he wants for dinner tonight, let alone years down the road.  He’s an average student at best but in a very top school in the state, not sure if that means anything or not.  He is going to take a forensics class this fall.  I’m hoping he likes it and heads in that direction.

Apologies, let me clarify a little.  By academic aspirations, I mean is he an academic kid who might be Ivy or high academic D3 type, or does he struggle with school and is better suited to a much less rigorous college, or something in-between.  There are very good academic institutions on the list you presented, others that are much less so.  I wasn't saying he should have his major selected, but is he a science/math/engineering type, or maybe business school is better suited, or something else.  You might be well served as you start your baseball/recruiting journey to start considering these types of things in order to help provide focus to where to spend your energy (and money).

Last edited by 9and7dad

I will apologize also.  I thought the list you put was the list he had made for schools he was interested in rather than a list of schools going to a particular showcase.  With the list of schools that say they will be at a particular showcase just know that does not mean that the HC or RC will be there.  It may be that a volunteer assistant is going to be there to help with it.  I will again apologize and suggest that you sit down with your son and talk about what level of ball he thinks he can play with some advice from coaches, where he would be comfortable playing, academic level, future aspirations, and what he is looking for in a college baseball experience.  After this conversation, you can give us some feedback and we can definitely help point you and him in the right direction.  Good luck.

Dad,

This is the list of schools attending the camp I assume?

Might I suggest...Take the list and cross out the ones that are absolute easy no's.  If your kid is an average student at an exceptional school, it's still going to be difficult to get into an Ivy. It will actually work against him in that his class rank is likely very low.  So, unless he's the superstar that the coach uses his pull to get in (and he still has to be in the "mix"), there are a few on the list that can be crossed off.

I might suggest a quick Niche search on each of these schools.  It will tell you admit rates, available majors and average cost (if that's an issue, it is for us so I track it).  I know he doesn't know what he wants to major in but maybe you can rule out a few?  My advice is to keep any school that wouldn't pass the broken leg test off your lists, that way you don't have a kid fall in love with just for the baseball. (My 2022 is a STEM kid all the way, recently a HA Liberal Arts school showed him some love.  He was convincing himself that he wanted to change the direction of his entire life by switching areas of study just because this coach "loved" the way his threw.  4 for 40 people!! Obviously unless your kid is getting drafted) It's their life, but these are also teenagers.

As for baseball fit...I say start with the ones that are likely a good fit, but contact all of them.  Why not? Once you see who is interested, then that would be a good time to research a little further into the program as far as if they are notorious over recruiters, etc.

Just my two cents

I agree with PitchingFan, but I would add that it was really hard for me to pin any of that down during my son's recruiting, let alone him to do it. It's important to sort of differentiate between college for baseball and college.

We did a lot of visits at a lot of different size schools, including a couple that didn't offer baseball, just to get a sense of the size of the school and the feeling. My daughter, for instance, visited a couple of schools that were in the middle of cities before she decided she didn't like that feeling and wanted something with more open spaces. My son visited two schools with great baseball programs, but no football, and realized it was really important to him to have the big school football weekends.

I would suggest visiting a variety of schools — if you have some near you that's a great place to start. We usually contacted coaches and tried to tie our visits to a camp or a showcase, or in some cases, got to go to a practice or a game and have a short chat with a coach. We ALWAYS did the standard academic/admissions tour and that was a huge help for son as he started to get an idea of what college was going to mean for him.

That's a great list of schools to showcase in front of, but the above is helpful as you start to think about schools to attend.

Quick search:  Google the COA (cost of attendance) for each.  Then, look at the rosters to see where the players come from.  Then mapquest each to see how far from home.  (You do want to go to games, don't you?).  Sometimes the player's bios on the roster will tell if the players are All Americans, or what accolades they had in HS, and you can see if your son is that mix. 

The list of schools listed above are all over the map in location, baseball, and price tag.  There are similar schools to each of those listed that are not on this list that you may want to reach out to after the showcase. 

Side note:  I have mentioned on this site in the past that my son wanted to go to Texas Christian (this is when he was an 8th grader, and I think they were playing in the CWS that he was watching on TV, and who doesn't want to be a Frog?).  I looked at the roster and ALL BUT ONE OF THE PLAYERS were from Texas.  This little Virginia boy was not going there.  Texas (and Florida and California) can pick and choose from their own state.

Remember, you want to go where you can play.

@Dadof3, awesome to hear that you're just getting started in the process.

The short answer is that it is REALLY tough to tell you which schools to target or avoid without knowing more about your son.

Ultimately, none of these schools are inherently "good" or "bad".

They are only ever "good" or "bad" fits for your specific son based on who he is as a player and a student!

This is an annoying cliche to hear (I know), but ultimately the truth.

In case this helps at all, here's how I view those schools you listed:

High Level D1 - Penn State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Seton Hall, Cal - these are all really strong baseball programs - the limiting factor here will be how strong a player your son is

High Academic - Bucknell, Richmond, Georgetown, Elon - these are all higher academic schools - not sure what your son's academic profile is (he is still just a Sophomore), but the limiting factor here will likely be his grades/test scores

Mid Major - Dayton, VCU, Towson, UMBC - mid-level D1 programs - again, limiting factor will likely be your son's playing ability

Very Random Assortment Of Schools - Coppin State, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Illinois, Wright State, Norfolk State, CCSU, Frostburg State, Ball State, Indiana State, Youngstown State, St. Josephs - The inclusion of these schools tells me that this is just list of all the schools that are going to be at this particular showcase

Until your son has two full years of an academic transcript under his belt, it will be tough to tell where he projects as a student, but hopefully you can begin to get a clearer sense of where he might fit into the mix as a player.

What sort of measureables is your son putting up that makes the coach think he’s a D1 player?  Is he running 6.8 or better, throwing 90+, and has a 95-100 mph exit velocity?  If not, the coach may be out of touch and you may want to revisit your plan of attack.  

More than ever, it’s important to fish in the right pond when it comes to colleges.  There is a huge logjam of talent at D1 with players coming back next year for their extra year of eligibility and a ton of JUCO players coming in, too

It is a super interesting list and I agree with starting with a wide net. I think it would also be good to get one some campuses to see what your son feels comfortable with. Go to some local colleges even if he isn't considering going there to see if large (Ohio State, Tech), small (Richmond, Elon), urban (VCU...you see where I'm going), rural matter to him. That also helps focus your search.

As for specifics, we have friends playing at AND committed to VA Tech (plus it was on PTWoodson's list) and Towson who are very happy. UMBC not so much (in terms of the players there being happy). Georgetown has a new coach and seems to be building a healthy culture there. My husband and I both went to Richmond so Go Spiders...coach is a great guy AND it seems to be a school that a lot of people target because it ticks a lot of boxes but it is a bit harder (from a baseball and academic perspective) than some people realize. Dayton and Wright State seem to fish in the same pond and have a good reputation at least with the people I know. Wright State loves to challenge itself in the pre-season so whoever goes there has a chance to play in some cool venues in the SEC/ACC. My son has a HS teammate who is a freshman there. I can dig more if you'd like.

Also, fellow HSBBWer has a great website that digs into a lot of the data about schools, teams (including turn over) which may be helpful: https://collegebaseballinsights.com/

Have fun with the search, stay open and listen to your kid.

Good luck.

There are many websites that will allow you to google or compare different schools.  The College Board has a website for searching schools:

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search

You select all sorts of factors (including NCAA level, and whether they have baseball), tuition, selectivity, etc., and it gives you a list.  The individual listings include tuition, financial aid, graduation rate, size, etc.  It seems to be free.

I also agree, save the deep research until a school has expressed interest in your son for baseball.  You can waste a lot of time on the internet doing this kind of research.

Tiger great way to separate, appreciate it, ty!  Great info by everyone else too!   As to what the coach sees, idk, but I can tell you he has coached a few mlb players, and right now has 2 D1 commits on it.  Maybe he isn’t, his hitting instructor thought that they would be a good fit for son as well, but again, we are just beginning the journey, so who knows, surely not I!  

It might give you an idea of where your son is at metric wise by doing some independent testing and then getting some verified metrics from Perfect Game (PG) or Prep Baseball Report (PBR). Lots of thoughts here on the board (use the search feature above) on PBR vs PG and how they do or don't measure exit velo or tee velo or if the 60 times are laser or hand timed.

I am guessing that there will be some sort of metrics taken at whatever showcase or camp you attend. Parts of those metrics matter a lot to some schools and none of it matters to many others. Once you have those metrics from PBR/PG or another way you can do some comparing to current 2023 commits to target schools or kids in your area or even the 2 D1 kids your hitting coach works with.

@Dadof3 posted:

Tiger great way to separate, appreciate it, ty!  Great info by everyone else too!   As to what the coach sees, idk, but I can tell you he has coached a few mlb players, and right now has 2 D1 commits on it.  Maybe he isn’t, his hitting instructor thought that they would be a good fit for son as well, but again, we are just beginning the journey, so who knows, surely not I!  

Well... unless you have an unlimited budget, it might save you a lot of time and money to determine if his measureables fit the minimum threshold that D1’s require.

For instance, my son talked to the Recruiting Coordinator at Wright State.  The slowest position player on their roster runs a 7.2 60.  And he’s a huge first baseman who hits the ball 450 feet

Last edited by 3and2Fastball


High Level D1 - Penn State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Seton Hall, Cal - these are all really strong baseball programs - the limiting factor here will be how strong a player your son is



Unless I'm mistaken when reading the list in the original post, Seton HILL and California U of PA are both D2's located in Pennsylvania.

Doesn't change the very good point tiger made, or his approach to making it, but I thought it was worth pointing out.

@Dadof3 posted:

I think it is California university of pa...  the showcase is c5t elite summer showcase.  Which ones are very expensive?  We might be ruling those out. He will be fine living anywhere - I’ll guarantee that!  I’m not questioning you, but how did you know they don’t give much baseball money - that’s good information that I need to know.  To be honest, I have no idea if he is D1 material or not.  Son just told me coach pulled him aside one day last week and said he knows the guy running this camp and feels that Hunter should go to it.  Coach emailed him the link.  I ran it by his hitting instructor and he thought these would be good schools for him to target.

like I said, I don’t know much, I’m just along for the ride!  But in seriousness, I want to help him as much as I can.

Bwahahahaha,

One of many emails you and your son will get to separate you from your $.

Get an independent opinion (one with no financial interest in your or your son) on where he fits baseball wise and then make your target list.

@used2lurk posted:

It might give you an idea of where your son is at metric wise by doing some independent testing and then getting some verified metrics from Perfect Game (PG) or Prep Baseball Report (PBR).

Get your metrics yourself, and only go to PG (hugely expensive) or PBR (somewhat less expensive) if the metrics are really, really worth displaying to the world.  They make a lot of money off people who do their showcases "to find out," "to measure themselves," "to document progress," etc.  Or even, they don't know why they're doing it, it's just what you heard you should do.  It's not hard to measure a 60-time or a FB on your own, even to video it.

I haven't read through this entire topic but here is my input. Go to the event and see who makes contact with your son. I am suggesting this until you figure out what type of program as well as academics will be a good fit. More importantly, he needs to go to a showcase where he will be evaluated.  Its important that he needs to play and show himself well to get attention. He may not be ready.

Remember one thing, coaches recruit players, not the other way around.

Get your metrics yourself, and only go to PG (hugely expensive) or PBR (somewhat less expensive) if the metrics are really, really worth displaying to the world.  They make a lot of money off people who do their showcases "to find out," "to measure themselves," "to document progress," etc.  Or even, they don't know why they're doing it, it's just what you heard you should do.  It's not hard to measure a 60-time or a FB on your own, even to video it.

This ^^^^^

@BOF posted:

Bwahahahaha,

One of many emails you and your son will get to separate you from your $.

Get an independent opinion (one with no financial interest in your or your son) on where he fits baseball wise and then make your target list.

The varsity coach pulled Son aside after practice when some of the other kids were not within hearing distance and told son he knows of a good camp that he thinks son should attend.  I doubt varsity coach has any interest in separating son from his money

@Dadof3 posted:

The varsity coach pulled Son aside after practice when some of the other kids were not within hearing distance and told son he knows of a good camp that he thinks son should attend.  I doubt varsity coach has any interest in separating son from his money

You have been given great advice from those who have lived through recruiting.

Get an independent evaluation.

@BOF posted:

Bwahahahaha,

One of many emails you and your son will get to separate you from your $.

Get an independent opinion (one with no financial interest in your or your son) on where he fits baseball wise and then make your target list.

I was kinda thinking the same thing. There are a TON of emails and letters going out right now that make you and your kid feel special. Trips to the Dominican with Ivy coaches, coach saw or heard about my son and wants to see him in person, etc.. Heck the Virginia coach emailed my son last night inviting him to camp and you would have thought he has legitimate interest. I can guarantee he has no idea who my son is and the email was likely written by a marketing person and sent using a service like Constant Contact.

Now the coach pulling your son aside could be a differentiator. Has your son asked any other kids if they are going to the showcase/camp? Is the coach helping out in any way at the camp?

I'm not saying don't do it, but I would have limited expectations going into it. Is it cheap? If so it could be a great way for your son to experience the feel of one of these events so he is familiar and comfortable with it next time.

@Dadof3 posted:

The varsity coach pulled Son aside after practice when some of the other kids were not within hearing distance and told son he knows of a good camp that he thinks son should attend.  I doubt varsity coach has any interest in separating son from his money

Keep in mind, the coaching baseball community is very small and they all talk. They are like a bunch of 80s housewives when it comes to gossip at times and discussing players, etc. They don’t subscribe to hippa laws😀 He may be doing a favor for an old buddy that contacted him about prospects in the area. Who knows. Those of us that have raised boys have seen it all and have been fleeced along the way😀 Just trying to help is all. Personally, I wish my sons would have played all sports if I’d have it over again, played with his buddies in low-level leagues as long as humanly possible with no parent coaches (including me!) and then around hs, start looking at some form of off-season individual training for the sport/position that showed promise. And if a showcase was done, it would have been one entering his senior season (likely). PG would never have seen a dime from me outside of possibly the one showcase. Good luck and by all means, enjoy the ride because that’s by far the best part!

In regards to your opening question ...

Which ones should you avoid? Everyone of them your son doesn’t have the ability to catch their eye. When you go fishing do you ask which fish want to get caught? You need a plan.

Step one: A legitimate evaluation of your son’s potential and metrics. Then you decide where to look. But keep in mind you may target college,programs. But you don’t recruit them. They recruit you.

Once you know where you should be looking/gaining exposure make a list of about fifty college programs. Think academics first. If your son is a potential pro prospect he’s been told. I haven’t seen this mentioned. So his education is where his future lays.

Fifty colleges is not too many. Several won’t have interest in your son. Your son will lose interest in several as he learns more about them.

Start with what conference level he could potentially compete. Then pick colleges from those conferences. Write to each college head coach and recruiting assistant. Express interest in the baseball program and the academics. Ask what showcases and tournaments they attend so your son can get in front of them. Include baseball metrics in the email. A two minute skills (not game highlights/no music) video may help. The video is hitting, fielding to his right and left and throwing.

If they respond send another email thanking the program for their response. Contact them again to point out the player will be at certain events. All emails should come from the player, not the parent. It’s ok to help him with content. But it should be in his own words.

I would not just attend events to thrown spaghetti off the wall to see what sticks. What separates your son from all the other talent? One of the best forms of separation is a high school or travel coach contacting the college coach to tell him he has a player of interest. This is assuming the high school or travel coach has contacts and credibility.

The bizarre thing about your list of schools is it ranges from ranked teams, to doormats to NAIA. This isn’t targeting based on talent and potential.

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@PTWood posted:

It is a super interesting list and I agree with starting with a wide net. I think it would also be good to get one some campuses to see what your son feels comfortable with. Go to some local colleges even if he isn't considering going there to see if large (Ohio State, Tech), small (Richmond, Elon), urban (VCU...you see where I'm going), rural matter to him. That also helps focus your search.

As for specifics, we have friends playing at AND committed to VA Tech (plus it was on PTWoodson's list) and Towson who are very happy. UMBC not so much (in terms of the players there being happy). Georgetown has a new coach and seems to be building a healthy culture there. My husband and I both went to Richmond so Go Spiders...coach is a great guy AND it seems to be a school that a lot of people target because it ticks a lot of boxes but it is a bit harder (from a baseball and academic perspective) than some people realize. Dayton and Wright State seem to fish in the same pond and have a good reputation at least with the people I know. Wright State loves to challenge itself in the pre-season so whoever goes there has a chance to play in some cool venues in the SEC/ACC. My son has a HS teammate who is a freshman there. I can dig more if you'd like.

Also, fellow HSBBWer has a great website that digs into a lot of the data about schools, teams (including turn over) which may be helpful: https://collegebaseballinsights.com/

Have fun with the search, stay open and listen to your kid.

Good luck.



Here is a link that you should check out.

Keep Playing Baseball can help you organize your thoughts:

https://keepplayingbaseball.or...e-programs-online-2/

Download and print the checklist:

  Questions to Consider When Researching College Baseball Programs of Interest

make two copies, give one copy to your son.

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