What to tell a coach in recruiting email

Be wary of mass emails.  So many programs send mass emails to every email they can get their hands on...and will send you regular emails.  They may say you are being recruited - but you just may be on their list.  There are several degrees of being recruited.  This forum will show you lots of examples.  Many programs use these emails to get you to come to camps, etc.  Did the email say anything specific to make you believe that they really know/have seen your son?  Or is the content pretty generic?  Not trying to dampen your excitement - but I've seen lots of folks get fooled. 

My rule of thumb - you aren't being recruited until there is a phone call with a coach. 

bblov20and12,

Welcome to the High School Baseball Web!

As relatively early as it is in the recruiting process for your son, I'd suggest that you not pull the other program's name into the dialogue at this point. Instead, your son should make certain that the lead recruiter at the state university knows of his interest. As he does so, it never hurts to be specific about what it is that sparks his interest. Familiarity is considered a good thing.

Beyond that, he should make sure that they have current information on him in their database and know when they can see him at a showcase or tournament. 

Meanwhile, he should be learning all he can about colleges that fit his baseball and academic profile. As your post indicates that you know, recruiting requires mutuality of interest and need. The better his efforts in learning about schools, the higher the probability that he'll end up somewhere he fits; both athletically and academically.

Best of luck to him!

Thank you both for your info.  We are definitely new to this so have lots of questions! Regarding the coach's email to us, maybe you can help us translate it -- he did not invite us to a camp (we live in midwest, school is on coast), wanted us to fill out prospect information form, (not the same questionnaire that was on schools website), made the comment "we are truly honored to have the privilege of recruiting you', and recruiter/coach gave us his work and cell numbers.  At this point, we have no idea how he got info on our son.  We replied to the email, and plan on having our son call him tomorrow.  I guess we will know more after that phone call.

Great idea on having your son give him a call.  Good luck!

To the specific question:  No, your son should not mention it.  The initial contact is way too indefinite to merit discussion with anyone other than in a reply to that e-mail itself.

The only time I can think of where this would come up is when a player gets an offer with a deadline, and has to go to a preferred school to let them know he has a deadline and would respectfully like to know where he stands with the preferred school so that he can respond to the offering school appropriately.  That is a situation that has to be handled very delicately and worded very carefully to avoid bungling both ends. 

Otherwise, everyone assumes that players are generally "on the market" and being looked at by lots of schools, so it's not noteworthy from the perspective of the preferred school.  Plus, preliminary discussions are no one's business but your family's.

Our question is, is it proper for us to let our State school know that he is being recruited by this other school?

When he goes on a date, does he talk about other girls?

only if he wants it to be his last date with THAT girl

Judging by your quote above, my 2015 received the same email on Sept 1st.  He immediately went online and filled out the specific questionnaire.  He felt that even if this is a robo-email, he had to respond given the school who sent it.  Also he knows that the coach who sent it is a legend and felt that is was respectful to respond.  Of course - it would be a dream come true for 2015 to play there.  This is both thrilling and terrifying...

Many thanks to all those on this website who have helped me manage myself to best help my son manage himself... most of you don't even know just how helpful you've been. 

Lots of us here have figured out who sent the letter on Sept 1 saying they were honored to recruit your son. This is a top-tier baseball and academic school. Every rising junior and below who attends one of their camps receives these emails. Don't konw if they send the same format to others. Did your kid attend one of their camps?

Bottom line, if this school is seriously interested in your son, just sit back and wait for the offers to roll in. Your kid is a stud and he will certainly have loads of choices.

If your kid got the email just because he was on a list and the school has no particular interest in him, telling State U about it would not be helpful and may actually be counterproductive and embarrassing. (See MidloDad above)

We were told throughout the process by travel coaches and former RCs that mentioning a specific school in an email is bad form.  They did say that you can mention having offers and the conferences or level (D1, mid-major D1, D2, D3, etc) can be mentioned.  My son mentioned conferences (D1) in his email and ended up committing to a school in a conference that he had a previous offer.  RCs have told us that offers drive other offers by drawing attention to the player.  The RCs will make a stronger effort to see your son IF they have a need and IF they can get to him WHEN they know he is attractive to other schools.  IMO only!

My son had the emails mentioned in this thread.  He went through the process of submitting his test scores and grades too, but it never went further.  I truly enjoyed reading the mass emails.  From a marketing perspective, they are very good.

So how did the call go?

What would be the reason for mass emailing everyone, including those you have no interest in recruiting? Guess the only reason I can think of is to stay in contact so the player might attend a future camp.

Often we look at recruiting from the player/parents perspective.  That makes sense because that is the purpose of this site. However, think about how vitally important recruiting is to the college program and especially the recruiter and his career.

If you were a college recruiter, would you recruit by mass email?  Do you really want to waste half of your day communicating with players you are not interested in? Or would you focus on those you truly want in the program?

Any mass emailing is done for marketing purposes.  Many colleges use it to fill their camps.  If you are receiving generic emails from colleges it doesn't necessarily mean you are just another name.  While it might be a mass mailing, it very well could be a true interest list. Sometimes it goes like this... They have never seen the player... Someone they trust has told them about the player... They send out a letter to see if the player shows any interest... If the player shows interest they make it a point to see that player and decide if they want to make him an offer.

When the time comes that the recruiter/coach is serious about recruiting a player, it will become very obvious to the player. Granted I'm talking about the DI level.  At that level recruiters are extremely aggressive in their own way. 

The one thing to keep in mind... The players that colleges want the most don't really have to do much other than to be seen. The recruiting process becomes very simple when everyone wants you. The players only dilemma is choosing between  several great offers.

Then you have the rest of the players out there, the majority! Players of varying ability, all wanting to play in college.  This is where it gets confusing at times.  Dad and Mom think their son can play at the DI level.  However, the DI coaches don't think he can play at that level.  What to do?  In most cases when a player is considered not good enough to play DI, he is also not good enough to play DII. After all, the DIIs are looking for the left overs from the top DIs.  Often they (DII) will make offers that beat any of the DI offers a player has.

Now the only places left that offer athletic scholarships are the higher level Jucos and some of the NAIA colleges.

After that it is the non scholarship colleges including the DIII schools.  The entire recruiting process changes at this point. Even the importance of being seen becomes less important.  This might be where players and parents have to do more work choosing the right college.  Remember, I am talking in general terms here because all colleges at all levels are not the same.  Some DIIIs, Jucos, and NAIAs recruit like DIs. 

If you fall into this category of player, once again the majority. Try this... Do your homework and figure out the schools that seem to best fit.  Then contact those schools, even through admissions usually works.  Tell them about your baseball history and mention you very much plan to play baseball at their college. In most cases this will get the ball rolling. Admissions will notify the coach and the recruiting process will start.  Do not expect guarantees of playing time or even roster spot.  These guarantees are never guarantees anyway.

It bothers me when I see recruiting services bragging about one of their clients committed to a DIII college. In some cases it might have taken a little work finding the right fit, but in most cases it doesn't take any work at all. Truth is there are many colleges where nearly anyone can play baseball.  The whole recruiting process involves recruiting the student rather than the baseball player.  In order for coaches to keep their job they need to fulfill enrollment quotas.

Anyway, back to this topic... It really doesn't matter what you tell the recruiter if he really wants you.  I would suggest telling the truth however.  Don't get flustered about whether you are doing the right things.  In some ways this recruiting process can be complicated, but it can also be much simpler than we make it. #1, be a good listener!. Don't let the sugar plums take over your mind. Understand that no matter how hard you try, you might be making a bad decision because no one can predict the future. Realize that a bad decision isn't the end of the world. And most of all, realize that each and every situation is different. Every individual is a brand new story.

The hardest part is understanding where your son fits.  Most every parent believes their son is better than he really is. I have seen full time baseball people who can accurately evaluate any player, believe their son is better than what he is. Most people over estimate their son's ability.  Not many people under estimate their son's ability. Try to be as realistic as possible without ruining your son's mental being. Let others figure out his potential. Sometimes being realistic in the beginning saves you from suffering the stark reality in the end.

I could go on forever, but I have a real job. Not very smart, but been through this stuff so much that some of it sticks. Best of luck to all the young players in their college search and to all the parents suffering from anxiety! I can't think of any place better than the HSBBW to help you wade through all of this.

I can think of at least two other reasons. Let's take the case of Stanford.....after all, that is the school that has been known to send the "honored to recruit you" emails.

Underclassmen who attend a Stanford Camp can look forward to a year's worth of emails...almost on a weekly basis..... from Coach Stotz that talk about Stanford baseball, Stanford academics, the MLB draft, career choices, and sometimes just random life lessons. These emails are a treasure!

I don't think Stanford needs to send emails to kids who have already been to one of their camps in order to promote future camps. The Stanford Camps sell themselves and there are usually long waiting lists.

So what are the reasons I referred to at the top?  First, to provide value for money, in terms of a year's worth of substantive advice for recruits, that no other camp out there (except maybe Yale as far as I know) is providing. For your camp fee you are getting all the camp activities plus a year's worth of Coach Stotz' wisdom. Second, schools such as Stanford consider it part of their mission to try to burnish their reputations in all their endeavors

Good point. Not sure they are sending out letters that say we are "honored to recruit you" to players they have no interest in recruiting.  Maybe they really are interested when they state that.  Sending that to every kid would only lead to more confusion. I'm sure if they run across a kid or two they truly want to recruit out of their camp, the correspondence changes.

On the other hand, what a great thing they are doing by staying in touch with all the campers and giving them valuable information. Coach Stotz does have a lot of wisdom to share with young players.