When do most players get offers and commit?

The practice of rounding up early commitments is growing, and you do see more and more kids committing early.

What used to be just the top level pitchers now extends on through the lineup.

That being said, no one I know finishes their recruiting this early (i.e., during the class's junior year). There will be plenty of openings left to compete for this spring and summer.

If you find what you want early, you have my blessing, but don't let "keeping up with the Joneses" get you all anxious. You're fine.

IMHO Based on my observation Universities are locking up kids younger and younger. the ones that are super freaks of nature. "Super Fast","Super Strong", "super big" and "flame throwers". Believe me, its not hard to spot these kids. They get locked up early but many never make it to the University because they get drafted and go pro. That's when Universities have to scramble and recruit the rest and fill empty spots.

As Midlo Dad stated, there will still be plenty of signings in the early (Nov) signing period and later. It's not a race to be the first to sign. Use your Junior high school season and the summer between Junior and Senior year to really show what you've got. If your're high on the school's lists you'll then start hearing from coaches after July 1st. Even if you don't hear from any or many at that time, don't despair--keep working and getting seen. Just be ready when opportunity knocks and leave it all on the field during every game, showcase, or tryout.

quote:

Originally posted by Three Bagger:
As Midlo Dad stated, there will still be plenty of signings in the early (Nov) signing period and later. It's not a race to be the first to sign. Use your Junior high school season and the summer between Junior and Senior year to really show what you've got. If your're high on the school's lists you'll then start hearing from coaches after July 1st. Even if you don't hear from any or many at that time, don't despair--keep working and getting seen. Just be ready when opportunity knocks and leave it all on the field during every game, showcase, or tryout.

Outstanding advice.

My advice is don't worry about what your friends are doing - you cannot control that. All you can control is attitude and effort. Learn to try harder than everyone else out there and that ought to be good enough. All you need is for one coach to fall in love with you. They are out there, now go find them and most importantly as Three Bagger stated, be ready when opportunity knocks.

These very early commitments seem crazy, but I am sure some of these high profile programs are pressured to announce early signings.

Please note there are a lot of programs still lining up the 2011 recruits who did not sign early in Nov. 2012s can't sign until 11/2012!

You have plenty of time to make a decision, no need to rush things just because some kids have already made their decisions. GO out and have a good Junior season and come late spring and summer things will start to heat up.

Most of the big d1's are done by the summer before senior year. Most of the rest are done after fall of Senior year. A few have openings in the Spring. Top d3's, Juco's and D2's start in summer before senior year and go into Spring. Many D2's are still looking to finish their roster following their spring season after the senior year.

D3's, and Juco's will look well into the summer after senior year trying to pick up those players that are passed over and/or who were late bloomers. They are good at patiently waiting for their prospects to realize their dream team is not going to call.

And don't forget that unexpected openings on the roster happen all the time, not just for draft reasons and even at D1's. Finances, grades, family, girlfriends, drugs...there are many reasons openings happen unexpectedly. If you really believe in yourself, be that player that is ready to take one of those spots. It happens even as late as after you graduate. I know because that is what happened to my son.

quote:

Originally posted by Leftysidearmom:
And don't forget that unexpected openings on the roster happen all the time, not just for draft reasons and even at D1's. Finances, grades, family, girlfriends, drugs...there are many reasons openings happen unexpectedly. If you really believe in yourself, be that player that is ready to take one of those spots. It happens even as late as after you graduate. I know because that is what happened to my son.

Have to agree, my son 2011 was recently approached by a D1 coach, who has bb money available due to a player being released. So don't get discouraged to much over what others are doing, get the exposure, be at your best, and the rest will take care of itself.

Resurrecting this old thread because well....things have changed since 2011, now we have 8th graders committing *rolling my eyes*

 

But, it is a valid idea...please share the story of when/where your kid was first approached. Was it at a PG event, was it at a camp, was it at his high school????  Was it in 12th grade/11th grade/prior to? When did they finally commit to a school?

 

CaCO3Girl,

 

The summer after my son's Junior year he was approached at a Perfect Game event by an ML scout who was friends with the coach of the school he eventually signed with. The scout called the coach and told him he had to sign this kid even if it was sight unseen. The coach got in touch with us and invited my son for an official visit. We did send a video but at the visit when I asked the coach if he needed to see him workout, he said no he was going to give him a good offer without seeing him workout. He then signed in the November early signing period with this DII even though he had lower level and middle level DI offers and interest. He went on to have a great career at the school.

Coaches had seen my son play at various showcase tournaments and then again at a few camps.  He had coaches coming to see him in March/April of his Junior year.  He made a verbal commitment in May and just signed his NLI last week.

Son started to garner attention fall of his sophomore year. Couple of camps during December of his sophomore year and he received more attention.

 

After this summer he visited a couple of schools and was offered and committed week before Junior year started.

Son started getting attention summer after his freshman year. Played in many PG events throughout the fall and then into the summer and fall of Junior year. Committed fall of Junior year.

DI Pitching coach first saw son at a college team camp and again at a PG tournament summer after Freshman year.  He came to HS game the following Spring, head coach saw son pitch soon after, and offer was made on campus at the end of son's Sophomore season. Son then spent the summer making sure the school was the best fit for him and accepted the offer at the end of summer just before starting his Junior year. 

 

 

My son committed to a D2 JuCo towards the end of his senior season.  The coach signed him the night of the district championship game (yes, they won).  We had visited the campus a few weeks prior.

 

The day after I moved him home from the JuCo (after 2 good seasons), he received a text from an assistant coach at a D2 university stating they were really interested in him.  The following weekend we went to visit and about a week later he committed. Signed the NLI shortly after that.

Son a 2015, was approached by recruiting coach after PG event this past June. He committed around mid August. He just signed the NLI to play D1 baseball a week ago.

Beginning in the summer after his Sophomore year my 2015 received several offers after attending camps or tournaments on college campuses, and a couple from coaches who saw him at PG tournaments.  He ultimately committed in the Fall of his Junior year to one of the schools whose camps he attended.

I'm tempted to answer the question in the title of this thread simply by reminding everyone that most players never get to commit to anywhere at all, ever.

 

In some circles it may seem otherwise.  In our area, for example, we had a Virginia 6A team last year that would put a 10-man lineup out there (9 + DH) with all 10 being D1 commits already.  Mind boggling really.

 

But that's the exception and not the rule.  On any given HS team, the majority of players will not move on to college ball in any form.

 

For those who do, it continues to be true that the trend towards earlier and earlier recruiting and even commitments, at least for those players perceived as the top of each class, has continued over the past 4 years.  But stories about 8th graders still rate as "man bites dog," that is, they don't represent anything remotely close to the standard practice.

 

The OP was from a player then in the winter of his junior year.  While today, many players at that stage are indeed committed already, it remains the case that most of the D1 slots remain open at this stage.  Even more so at D2, D3, JuCo and NAIA.  So the message remains, don't panic, stick with the process and do all you can to perform at your best on the field, in the classroom and in your personal conduct.

P.S.

 

If anyone knows the original poster, it might be interesting for us to learn how his path turned out.

As some concrete data, we had 14 regular 2016 guys on our fall squad.  6 of them are D1 commits at this point, and a 7th is weighing two competing offers right now.  4 of the 6 were committed actually by last spring, a 5th committed in July, the 6th in October.

 

That leaves 7 other guys still hunting their first offers.  I think some of them would get offers if they wanted them right now, but as they are not quite ready to commit, they haven't made that request. 

 

But my point is, we're a pretty high level team, if you don't mind my saying so.  Yet half our guys are still uncommitted.  So let's not get too carried away with thinking that super early commitments are totally the norm.  Yes, there are many more of them, but lots of decisions will wait another 6, 9, 12 or even more months.

I agree with Midlo. My son had some early interest (summer after sophomore year), but he had a dream school and was willing to be patient to allow them to see him the next summer. He went to a prospect camp fall of Junior year and they were seriously interested, but explained they wanted to see him pitch in tourney setting rather than camp setting. He was willing to take the chance. It was very nerve wracking at time as most of his summer team had verbals to big time D1s. His patience and faith in his ability paid off. He was offered by and accepted a scholarship from his "dream" school this last July, and signed his NLI last week. To some that was an early commit, to others it was late. I can say this, one of the coaches at son's school lamented to me how they hate this early recruiting, but it is the sign of the times and you have to or get left behind.

My sons HS team has "0" commits for classes 2015 & 2016.  And from what I know, very very little contact as well.  So from my standpoint, early commits is not even a topic when it comes to our HS players

He signed with a D1 in the early signing period his senior year.

Swampboy,

 

That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?  As in, a lot of anxiety that was all unnecessary, things worked out in due time.

 

There's the takeaway for anyone feeling similarly at this stage.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread CaCO3Girl.  Very timely.

 

IMHO there is no one answer to this question of "When do most players get offers or commit"  Some people go into this process with baseball being the overwhelming driver to their college-bound decision.  Some take a more measured or balanced approach and still others look at this purely from what the "Bank of Mom and Dad" can afford.  

 

 

I think each recruit has to practically understand (by visiting, talking or showcasing) where they (possibly fit or not fit) into each one of these sub categories of D1, D2, D3, JUCO and NAIA.  There is bleed over and exceptions to each level, and that is a key take away for these young men.  Associating visits, watching games and researching conference RPIs (http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2014/conferencerpi) is great way to begin understanding where your son fits or doesn't fit.  Yes, there is a lot of trial and error.  Your son is going to be told "No, we aren't interested" many times over.  It is part of the gig.   If there isn't alot of "error" then you're not trying hard enough.  What gets learned and applied to this process is what becomes important now and in the future (earning playing time and looking for a job).  It took my son and I about 18-24 months to finally figure it out the recruiting puzzle.   Some would say 18-24 months is a long time to learn something....."are you stupid or something"?  Maybe, but what we found was a perfect fit for him  JMO..

For  Midlo-----"""That leaves 7 other guys still hunting their first offers.  I think some of them would get offers if they wanted them right now, but as they are not quite ready to commit, they haven't made that request.  

 

My son is in the exact situation as these other 7 you refer to, my question being, what do you mean with this?  Are you saying the kids when they are ready to commit need to ask the coaches if they will  offer?  Or are the coaches not offering because the kid isn't ready to commit anywhere?  Thanks in advance

First third party contact returning phone calls late summer/early fall 8th grade/freshman year..Very small amount of showcases.Two summers of very good tourneys verball committ late summer of soph. year.

Sorry to post on here but proudhesmine doesn't have PM available....how are these kids getting contacted in 8th grade, and why?  Are parents taking 8th graders to showcases?  Or do kids like proudhesmine have pitchers that even in 8th grade are hitting over 80?  How are these kids even seen?

AZ10, to answer your question:

 

To be clear, some of the 7 do not have anyone beating down their doors right now.  But we expect them to get taken care of in due time.

 

Some of the 7 are well and truly desired by certain schools, but the players may not be ready to commit to those schools -- maybe not yet, maybe not ever.  Some may be holding out hope that their "dream school" may yet come through for them.  Others may not have thought about a particular school before, then they came expressing interest, and now the player has to investigate the school more (research, visit, etc.) to figure out if he's interested.

 

In those situations, the college coach will often make it known, often via the head coach of the travel program, that the college coach is ready and willing to extend an offer if the player gets to the point where he would want one.  If the player does get to that point, often you'll have an "unofficial visit" where the sides can talk at length, then shake hands on terms.

 

But the college coaches are reluctant to just make offers willy nilly and then have them out there while players sit for months on end without deciding.  For one thing, it puts the college coach of having to continue searching and, if he finds another guy, then he has to pull an offer, which can lead to bad feelings and misinformation that can hurt their reputation in recruiting circles.  The other risk is that the program can get over extended in terms of how much money they have offered out there, putting it at risk of having to renege if a surprising number of acceptances come in suddenly.

 

My overall message is, don't let the rising number of very early commitments get you all anxious.  There's still a lot of time for all this to sort itself out.

It was the summer of 8th grade year.After travel ball.He was going to have to go to a showcasecase sooner or later.Was only a couple hundred dollars.

Pm open now

A newer way that younger players are getting in front of college coaches is through team camps/showcases in which two or more travel teams play each other in a one or two day mini-tournament on a college campus.  Son participated in more than one of these at the 14U age level.

Nothing new at all about those types of games being staged.  In fact, that is how things got started.  The problem over the last several years has been with the proliferation of teams, leading to the expansion of tournaments to include any number of fields away from campus, and the seeming shift away from recruitment focus towards the tourney sponsor's business interests.

 

I don't know of any recruiting going on at the 14u level, so anyone going to a 14u tourney is there for the experience of playing in the big venue.  I suppose there is value in getting used to being "on the big stage," but you won't plow any ground towards recruitment that wouldn't be just as available to you 1 or even 2 years later.

 

The challenge, of course, is to make the roster of a travel team with a reputation high enough to get to where it is one of the few teams for which the college coach is willing to allot field time slots.  If there were enough time slots available to provide that kind of exposure for everyone ....Well, then the number of teams would probably just metastasize even further I guess.  More seriously, though, recognize that not everyone gets onto the college's field.  Your coaches have to be credible in persuading the college coaches that they will bring talent worthy of their time to watch.

Agree with all, thanks Midlo Dad.  Was just answering CaCO3 girl's question about how players that young are getting contact with college coaches.  Five of the 14U players from my son's team were invited to meet with the recruiting coordinator and tour the facilities immediately after their team camp game.  They were also invited to attend a college game in the spring, as well as given the RC's email address and asked to send updates on their progress.  I'm not sure if that qualifies as recruiting per se, but it seems to be at least the beginnings of the process.

That would suggest your son is on a very high level team, to have that many players given the VIP treatment that early.

 

That does qualify as "being recruited," but it can also be their way of trying to make sure they are # 1 on a lot of guys' lists from the get go.  High level programs want to have the power to take the pick of the litter, when the time is ripe.  On the other hand, some of those boys may develop, others of them may falter on or off the field over the next two years.

 

Also be aware that the recruiter may not be there at all in 3 years, and whether his files remain behind for his successor, who knows.

 

Final point:  Don't feel like you have to pay to attend every camp they send you a brochure for just to stay on the path.  You don't.  But I would wager you'll be getting those brochures regularly from now on.

My son attended a few showcases and college camps starting in the fall of his freshman year.  This was just to get a little experience in that type of situation.  We were not expecting anything to really happen.  He is now a sophomore and has started getting more interest.  He has been invited to attend a non-baseball event at a D1 school, and "since he will be there", he has been asked to tour the baseball facilities.  This school is not on his short list, but it seems like a good way to start to understand the process.  

The camp was two years ago so I can actually share how it turned out. Two of the five players (son included) ended up getting and accepting offers from the school the summer before their junior year. You were right about the camp brochures!  We resisted for the most part, attending only two. However, he did attend a PG showcase each year and played in PG tournaments in the summers.  His team also attended several other college team camps.  All games were played on the hosting college's campus and facilitated by their coaching staff.  There was no tournament director, paid staff (other than umpires), or advertising, so the cost to the players was very low.

First offer was Oct of his Jr Yr.   We had emailed telling them he'd be at an Area Code Tryout June of his sophomore year but didn't hear much back.  On Sept 1, a D1 on his list sent a very targeted email which we forwarded to our HS coach to get his thoughts.  HS coach called D1 RC/PC to get true interest. We visited in Oct and HC offered on the spot.  Gave my son awhile to look around.  I told him I'm fine if he wants to take it, but he wants to look around a bit more and hopes to up his velo to see who else might be interested.  Whatever he decides, we're thrilled.