Who recruits "baseball players"

I would actually recommend going to a baseball factory-style JC to begin his college career. It would allow him to focus on baseball, grow as a person and a player, get college experience, and then after 2 years transfer to another school, possibly a DI. He would also face top competition at JUCO's as many of the top HS players attend JUCOs so they may be drafted after a year of two.

Virginia Dad: welcome aboard. There have been many baseball players in the Commonwealth that fit the same mold you describe (one lives at my house), leaving players, coaches, and parents wondering why the Virginia D-1's don't seem to have as much interest as you'd think they have. I've watched the Commonwealth Games and seen what appeared to be excellent talent that got nary a notice from Virginia's "big boys", especially guys that fit your son's description.

As we only have 1 D-II school, it's either D-I or D-III, if you want to stay anywhere close by. There's a reason why D-III baseball is strong at many Virginia schools-they get a lot of kids that have the talent to play higher, but don't want to be 7-8 hours from home.


I'd suggest your son not turn his nose up at D III's before looking at the programs and facilities in Virginia. A fair number of posters on this board have sons playing at D III's in Virginia, and it's pretty darned good baseball.

My younger son had identical aspirations as yours, and received a lot of D-1 letters, and some D-1 calls, but nothing that ever knocked his socks off. Along about now (October, senior year), he decided that if he didn't get a D-1 offer from a state school (or anybody in the ACC!), he wasn't going 7 hours from home and would play at a D III, in Virginia. There are lots of good choices (Bridgewater, CNU, Ferrum, MWU, Lynchburg, Washington and Lee, VWC, etc.), with an awful lot of nice facilities that are at least equal to many D-1's, or better.

I'd suggest he at least take a look.

If he is truly a four tool player - that's very much D1 caliber. What you didn't say was how much exposure he's had? What you did talk about was his HS accolades and if that's the only exposure he's had then you've answered your question right there.

If this site teaches anything it's baseball requires summer, fall and showcase exposure - rarely is HS performance during the spring noticed. Why, because there's no one there to notice - all the college guys are busy with their own teams.

If he's not had exposure here's what you do. Get him in some "unsigned senior" showcases and do it fast. Impact baseball is having a quick performance showcase for unsigned seniors and since your in Va. like me it's close and inexpensive get him their. Here's the link,

http://impactbaseball.com/news_detail.asp?NewsID=143

Perfect Game has an unsigned senior showcase as well but it's in FL. and comes with a much higher price tag - but if your son is as good as you say it might be worth it.

Before you go, contact the colleges your son is interested in and tell them about him, and, if you have references like any creditable instructors, or pro scouts who've seen him say so. Tell them your going to be there and maybe they'll see him.

Another thing to do is check and see if his preferred school is having a fall camp, if so get him to it!

Don't give up, but be realistic. The JC route is, IMHO only the way to go if a player has quick pro aspirations, or is a poor student. If your son can play then he should suit up anywhere he can that he'll get playing time, but the higher the academic challenge the better. If he's all everything at that level then you have a bargaining chip to transfer to a D1. NCAA hasn't yet cracked down on transfers but it's coming possibly.

Final advice, if your gonna deal with the baseball factory bring a wheel barrow full of cash! They'll find him somewhere to play, but it will likely be a small private expensive school.

quote:

The JC route is, IMHO only the way to go if a player has quick pro aspirations, or is a poor student.

IMHO, there are many valid reasons to select a JUCO other than these. In some cases, a student may be better off in a smaller/more personalized classroom environment even if they were good students in hs. Some may rather take basic Math, English, and Social Science courses that are required in most undergraduate curriculems in a classroom size of 30 rather than 300, for example. Also, the cost is generally much lower at a JUCO even though you are learning the same things as your freshman/sophmore counterparts attending the bigger schools. If you prosper at the JUCO, you can get into just about any school in the nation. See the movie Rudy for example. My own experiences attending a JUCO were extremely positive.

Athletically, the JUCO offers the chance to play and further develop your skills. If you can develop, there is a good chance that you will be recruited at a bigger school or even attract pro attention. My son's school recruited a JUCO SS from Florida this past year but he was drafted in June and ended up signing.

Welcome to the HSBBW!

First of all, I think everyone can agree here that we all feel our players are special. That's because they are! To us, and the people who know him well.

On the college level, I have seen very few 5 tool players, very few 3,4 tool players also. Many MLB players don't even have 5 tools.

Your son is young, college coaches or pro scouts expect that players will not fully develop until early, mid twenties. For a player to possess all 5 tools in HS means that he is an exceptional player, in comparison to his peers and most likely would be of high draft interest.

You won't find many college players who really hit for power in every line up. Each player brings is own special skill to a team. One is the HR hitter, one is the speedster who steals with ease, one can lay down the perfect bunt. Some hit to L side, some to R side, some to both sides of the field. Some are not even power hitters, but their defense makes up for the power at the bat. As mentioned many times here, college ball is not like HS, expectations are much higher for the player.

Has your son every participated in a showcase? Has he had exposure? You need to seek out someone who can evaluate your sons skills someone who can be more objective than you or his HS coach.

You also mentioned he is an OK student. Do remember the main purpose of going to college is to get an education. If a coach feels that the recruit is not able to handle the curriculum and the baseball schedule, the 4 tool player can be passed over.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with looking into other division programs, along with JUCO's as well. That is just my opinion.

Best of luck.

I really agree that you should explore all different levels. There are so many options out there and most of them have both advantages and disadvantages--including the fact that there are disadvantages at the D1 level.

My son got a fair amount of D1 interest but he was not an early-signing type. He/we thoroughly researched all options, at all levels. At the end of the process, he had a baseball scholarship at a small D1, several excellent D3 admissions with baseball in the mix, and an invited walkon spot at a major D1. What he chose is ultimately less important than the fact that it was really hard for him to choose between the guarantee of being a top recruit at some of the schools versus taking his chances at a D1. It is a fantastic feeling to have lots of options. And the posters above are always right

I really appreciate the feedback. As I mentioned, I personally have no problems whatsoever with my son playing D II or D III. What I have tried to do is allow baseball to be his thing, with me merely trying to provide parental support. I suspect the D I option, if there is one, is based more on his competitive fire than anything else. He's played against a lot of D I players in high school and legion ball and always excelled.

Anyway, continued advice is appreciated.

I also should have said that the JUCO option is one that I have recommended as a possible option. Thanks to those of you have have reminded me of this. He has former teammates who are playing at the JUCO level and are attempting to recruit him to their teams.

That fact that your son does not hit for power should not be keeping top level schools from showing serious interest in him. There are numerous guys at the D-1 level that do not hit for power at the college level and did not at the HS level. If your son is outstanding in the field runs very well like you said and can hit like you said then you need to get him some exposure. TPM as usual hit the nail on the head with her post. Good Luck to you.

Welcome to the website! My first piece of advice is to spend some time on this site reading the experiences of others who have gone before us in this journey. My mind has been changed about a lot of things and, in turn, I've been able to help my son see things a bit differently. It has taken some time..I've been here almost a year absorbing this information. Our boys have high aspirations and they should feel that they can shoot for the stars. Parenting a boy who has all this talent and works hard to keep developing his talent and, then, feels like he's not getting his just deserves is a real challenge. The one take away lesson from what I've read here (perhaps the most important thing I've been able to convince my son of) is that no matter where you are, if you're good, you'll be found. This has been our absolute experience. He's gone to a few good showcases and school camps. The coaches that have contacted him have never seen him play a game in league and really only assessed him at a showcase or camp. But they saw something they liked. Our sons sounds really similar. My son is in his best form when he is in the middle of a season, competing and totally in the game. Not many college coaches will see that...they will have to trust their gut with a player who might not show all their "stuff" in the brief time alloted in showcases or camps. Good luck!

What is his physical size?

Virginia Dad - Your profile has you are a retired scout, would he get drafted?

As you may know, there are a lot of smaller D1 schools that are not the top programs that take players who are not the elite type players, but they may not in the local area to Virginia, is he looking to stay local?

Homerun04,
Wow, I didn't check out the profile!

Virginia Dad,
Retired scout, what exactly do you need help with?

My son is 6'0, 155. I've been around baseball for a long time and have a good idea of talent but know very little about college recruiting. I have written an evaluation of my son and forwarded to the team I scouted for before retiring, but had to say in that evaluation that he needs several years of maturing and strength work to be effective at the professional level. He has considered attending some professional prospect camps but my advice to him has been to go to college.

It is incredibly difficult to evaluation your own son. I see him play in all of his games while others get only a snapshot. Having said that. no one I have talked to doesn't believe he is capable of playing at D l level.

We have been to a couple of showcases (PG and Blue-Grey) where he has done very well. Still he is, at this point, getting very little attention from college coaches.

As a junior he was first team all district and first team all region, yet that seems to mean very little to college coaches.

One aside, my nephew is playing double AA ball in the Dodgers organization and considers my son one of the best young hitters he has seen.

Virginia Dad, nice post and thoughts. I don't have any answers. I think generally players are a bit more aggressive more pro-active in that it is common to contact college coaches, particularly of schools he might be interested in, and attend as many showcase type events that you can afford or have time for. Good Luck, and yes, trying to evaluate and unbiased your child is near impossible. I think we are either too generous or too harsh.

VA Dad:
welcome aboard. I think I relate to your situation pretty well. I have a player in a D-1 school was also an outfielder. Some of what you're dealing with has to do with not simply the visibility he might or might not have created for himself, but also to do with his position. Our experience, and I think that of many of the posters here, has been that recruiting tends to go follow the sequence of pitchers, catchers, middle infielders, and outfielders after everthign else is filled and as Tiger Paw Mom has correctly noted, depending on the skill the team might be looking for. If your son has the skills capapable of competing and being successful, you will probalby need to guide him to search out the opportunity for himself or enlist the aid of folks who can help him fulfill his dream. True enough, Virginia has many excellent colleges and universities, but it also has some very good D1 baseball programs in some very competitive conferences - 2 in the ACC, several in the CAA, the Big South come to mind. The D3 schools are also very competitive academic and baseball programs. CNU, HSC and RMC as well as Virginia Wesleyn all are good programs or are on. All of that is to say that there may not be a need for his skills in the D1 or D3 schools in Va. You may need to think outside the box in terms of potential schools, and look at different schools and try and determine what the schools needs are. It took a while to fully embrace the notion that in baseball recruiting "one's man's treasure is another man's trash" really does apply. Pitchers, it seems, can find a place, position players, especially outfielders, need to work a bit harder. I think you might want to get the feedback from the PG and Blue-Gray folks on where they see your son fitting in. I think that would be a good starting point. I didn't pick up on any mention of a legion or high school coach's involvement in using their contacts to help find a spot. Unfortunately, you probably need to get someone's honest assessment where your son fits in, and again, just know that some of the feedback might not be what you want to hear, but if used properly will help shape expectations.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, just know that many, many players don't get "recruited" in the traditional sense of the word. As noted all over these boards, money is is short supply, and getting a scholarship may mean anything from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand with you figureing out the rest of the cost. point being there are many many players receiving who get nothing beyond an opportunity to play and a team hat. We learned that there tends to be a real dead period that comes after the NLI date where teams fall back and begin to re-assess their years for the following year based on fall ball. Activity picks up again in the spring as coaches better understand who is going to be drafted, transfer, likely to quit, or who they don't see as progressing, and then they go out back inot the pol to see who is still availalbe to fill in the holes on their rosters.

I'd suggest that you gather information about you son and start looking around. Your son needs to contact coaches, epxress interest in the schools and programs and put together tapes, a baseball resume and make the effort to be identified. not everyone is found, some have to make themselves known. think out side the box as the aying goes, but understand at the end of the day, going to college is supposed to be about getting an education, so look to schools with an eye of having that school's diploma. While baseball is important to our kid's self esteem and identity, most of our sons and daughters will end up making more money outside of baseball than the rest will inside of baseball.

I might suggest looking at www.collegebaseballinsider.com

to and follow the link to the leagues. It will take you to the team pages for the different conference schools so you can broaden your thinking a bit. We found tht very helpful to help us identify schools

Havefun,

I really appreciate all the thoughful information. To be honest, I thought I had a pretty good handle on college recruiting (as a third party). I've realized recently that it is much more frustrating than I had thought it would be. The good information I am receiving has helped enormously.

Virginia Dad - You can check Perfect Game's evaluation of your son, it may provide an independent evaluation of your son. Perfect Game provides a rating up to 10 being the highest.

Looking through the PG Crosschecker's 1000+ listing, there are still a very few 10, 9, and 8's who have committed (given, if they have notified PG of their verbals) and most of them to high profile schools. If you have access to PG Crosschecker, it has additional information from the showcase profile.

Virginia Dad,
We were in a very similar spot some years back, even to the point of the physical description of your son. Your son sounds more talented than ours at a comparable time. But their recruiting experiences are/were quite similar.
What we finally realized was that DI programs either didn't view our son's abilities in ways that we did, or we did not give him enough visibility, and we made that realization at about this point. Ours did go the DIII route and is now playing professionally. If you want any more about that journey, I would be happy to share it with you rather than post what many folks have read several times.
Through this site, bbscout taught me a lot about scouting and how college/professional are so much different. The most important thing I learned from him is college coaches miss prospects for a lot of reasons. In retrospect, it seems some DI coaches missed ours. Professional scouts lose their jobs if they do the same.