Why things are moving so slowly

If you expect an offer on the first call you are sadly mistaken---it very rarely happens---and there are weeks to go before the early signing period, so get a few more eggs in the basket before you jump---my guy didnt make a decision until May of his senior and he went major Division I with a great deal

quote:

Commitments will still be made early, but you may find those commitments to change even after the NLI is signed.

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schools may be more lenient in releasing your NLI commitment.

Wow,...so its ( the recruiting rollercoaster ride ) not really over until.....when???

In other words, even with a NLI,...would you reccomend that son still keep communications open with the other colleges?

Do we as parents, and the kids as players ever get to feel assured that the recruiting process is over?


I was kinda hoping that if son got the NLI we could all breath a bit easier and just get back to playing ball.

So the 08 class gets screwed - thanks alot NCAA. What a bunch of morons.

The National Letter of Intent is a widely misunderstood agreement.

It is designed to provide notice to other institutions participating in the NLI program that a student athlete has committed to an institution and that other institutions should not continue to recruit that athlete.

For those condidering an NLI agreement, I would encourage you to visit the following website.

http://www.national-letter.org/

The site includes the text of the NLI agreement and has a FAQ section that explains, very clearly, the ramificaitons of a NLI agreement.

I didn't imply that after an NLI is signed you can start looking all over again or encourage your player to do so.

Once a player signs that agreement there are penalties if you do not attend without a release. But players are released all of the time.

An example, suppose a player signs an NLI agreement with a school out of state. Parents have financial difficulties before student arrives to school and an in state school is more affordable. Usually they would be obligated for one year and then try to transfer, now with the sit out transfer one year, under certain circumstances the school might be a bit more lenient. After all, it should be aoubt teh student athelete. Students are released all of teh time, another example, the UF coach needing to cut down roster. You don't think those students were NOT released from their NLI?

The NCAA has nothing to do with the NLI.

I suggest that you do read what FO has provided.

TPMom,..I know you werent implying anything. I was just wondering about the NLI. I apparantly was greatly confused. I have a MUCH better understanding now, and I thank you.

Thank you also FO,...that was great information and one that I obviously needed to read.

You're welcome.

I am new here - but going through the process like everyone else with an 08. I have read many posts and have found them so helpful. My question: If the school admission deadlines are November 30, January 1, and a school doesn't start talking to you until after that - because of draft, someone with a NLI backing out, etc, and you haven't been admitted (much less applied) - then what? Can the program get you in?
This process IS a rollercoaster ride.

A player should apply to the schools he wants to attend regardless of baseball---this does a few things for you

It makes sure you have admission to a college and are not left out in the cold come spring

It lets the coach know you have interest in the school and that can be a plus


Keep in mind that as far as college is concerned baseball is a bonus---you want that degree with or without baseball

quote:

Can the program get you in?

Yes.

FO

Not always---it depends on the timing and the players talent

Thank you!

If a coach asks admissions if you have applied will admissions tell him or does he have to find out from the ball player if he has applied yet??

You do not have to apply until admissions requires one to do so (any student).
This is early admissions period, so be careful you don't apply too early. If nothing happens during early signing period, you might want to have your son apply to perhaps a state school(most deadlines are December but check) just so that you feel comfortable he has a place to go to college.
The nice part of this baseball stuff is that after you sign an NLI, your admission packet comes usually marked BASEBALL. We sent sons back to the coach who handed it to admissions, no fee, but he had to wait like everyone else for his acceptance letter in spring. It's just an easier process. I wouldn't have your son apply to any school just yet.
If you apply to a D1 school on yuor own and accepted to that program, most likely you will be reimburshed if you let them know.

What is the concern about applying too early? Are you talking about the early decision cases where the student then must decide on the school one way or another? I'm a little confused because our school (which has many student athletes) is encouraging students to have their applications in by the end of October. At this point we have one or two schools that may work out baseball-wise but nothing is a sure thing yet. What do you suggest?

Paz, we did not do "early decision" but we sent in applications very early to the schools where my son was interested. Often, we had admission decisions VERY quickly, which then helped when we talked to coaches, because we could tell them that he had already been admitted. I would suggest applying early to the schools that you like the best. Like I said, you don't need to do "early decision" just apply. Also, be realistic about whether your son fits the academic profile of the average student at the school. Finally, one note for those of us with boys....a LOT of schools are looking for male applicants because they are getting more female than male applicants. My son got some admission decisions in less than a month at some schools, long before we had to make a decision.

There are two routes for "early" applying--Early Decision--which is binding, and Early Action which is not binding. I would suggest applying Early Action to as many schools as you can. Early Action is not binding and you can apply to as many as you want...most on-line applications are free. If the school is relatively selective, the chance of getting admitted is greater than if you wait until the regular application dates. Academic scholarships are sometimes based on early admittance. And even if they are not, with an early admission you will also have an idea if you will receive academic money which could also help in your decision--especially since baseball money is what it is. It may help a coach in his decision, too, if he knows that a potential player is admitted, like JohnLex wrote, and that he is getting some financial help even before filling out a FAFSA.

I found that many schools charged a fee to apply. Going through the coach got the fees waved and the process streamlined.
One guy I know was turned down by a very hidh academic school and if he went through the coach he would have got in. He had top marks but the program he was applying for was full of academic achievers.
I also found the coach would push for max academic money .

I have also heard that many schools charge fees for applying on line - anywhere from $30 to $40 for each school. This was told to us by the high school guidance counselors at a meeting that was held for parents this summer.

The one school we applied early to was $35.00 but it was waived. The coach was addimant that all contact with the school was through him. It was an academic school in New England .

quote:

Originally posted by play baseball:
There are two routes for "early" applying--Early Decision--which is binding

Early decision is not really binding. It is an agreement by the applicant that they will not apply elsewhere. In the end, if you do not appear on campus for the first day of class, what are you bound to? I view the implications suggested by 'early decision' applications as more like a trap used by prestiguous insititutions to corral new students well in advance of the admissions department student recruitment deadlines.

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by bbfan#1:
i've read that on average top students apply to 8 to 10 colleges. their list will usually include colleges that are thought to be Reach, Match, and Safety for them....for example, 2 safety colleges, 3 match colleges, 5 reach schools.
a student athlete is also seeking a good fit for their collegiate sport and is sometimes seeking merit aid (academic scholarship $$$'s). imo, taking those additional layers into consideration, applying to 10 to 14 colleges is not out of the question. Check with the h.s. counselor's office to see if they limit applications from their students.

jmo, and I AM referring to DI schools only ...
there is a huuge difference between STUDENTS seeking out a college choice ...
& colleges seeking out/recruiting STUDENT ATHLETES to come to their school

if your list is DI schools, it's not necessary to apply to any school until you verbally commit .. then an app will come thru the baseball office and coach will carry it "thru admissions"

also, be cautious about thinking "squeaky wheel gets the offer" ... coaches have their own process - they don't just forget about a guy, then get hot on him again if he shows alot of interest.

Our son applied to 4 schools based on what he is interested in studying and where he thought he could get in academically. Our goal was for him to have his applications done by the end of October.

Our game plan was to apply to these schools and then see what happened with baseball. If a baseball offer came through, great. If not, he had some great options for colleges and would play club or intermural baseball. His offer did come through from one of these schools but not until the spring so it was nice to be able to have a good fallback plan!

The Texas Common Application (I think there's also a national common application) takes awhile to fill out - save as you go! Also, do the essays in something like "word" and then cut and paste it onto the online application. My son thought he was saving a rough draft of an essay and accidently sent the essay to the school when he "saved" it! Oh well - he didn't end up going to that school but did get accepted anyway....

Our high school also had a very involved online application both the parent and the child had to fill out to get a letter of recommendation from a counselor or teacher. Stuff like - "ten adjectives to describe your child" , etc. UGH!!

Also, he had an official visit in the fall to one of these schools and it helped us to have the application on file to see about academic money.

We needed to provide the college with a copy of his high school transcript and SAT, ACT or PLAN score and register with the NCAA Clearinghouse before the official visit.

Good luck to everyone - I did not enjoy the constant encouraging or "nagging" we had to do to get the son to finish the application process! ("You are not leaving this house until this is submitted").

There must be varied reasons for why "it is going so slow"

We have players with scheduled visits almost every weekend and are talking with college coaches every day in this regard as we try to coordinate vsiits with our game schedule


I don't see it as slowing down

We applied to 1 school early and got acceptance. We did everything through the coach and received Max academic money. We had only a moderate interest in the school and it was mostly academic interest. When the coach deals with your application he has a vested interest in getting you Max academic money. As it turned out it was the largest scholarship offer we received.
We knew academically we would have no problem getting into a college but the coaches really wanted to get involved.

Just got an e-mail from our families #1 choice. Large D-1 always in the hunt. He said that he would like to discuss how my Son would fit the needs of their program. I called back and went to voice mail...
It sounds to me like an offer to walk on.
In today's environment how significantly do you think that a non-money utility player (Hit,3rd,2nd,OF,Pitch)will be utilized. I know that a recruited walkon is a little better than it used to be with the new NCAA rules. But what do you think?

Folks will tell you that recruited walk-ons are barely a step above bat boy. My sons team has had several that were starters, all conference players and draftees out of college. If you can play better than a kid with scholly money, then you usually will, based on my experience.

I think we all agree the recruiting system is good, with talent usually seeking its own level. The system is far from perfect though. Kids do fall through cracks in the system, don't get money, but still play well and often. especially now with money getting split into less pieces.

If the kid takes the attitude he is qualified to play in terms of his scholly then he might struggle. Most coaches and players want the best 9 on the field, regardless of scholarships.

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It sounds to me like an offer to walk on.

just wondering how you concluded that from a voice-mail??

I agree with Dad04, coaches will put the best 9 in to play, and knowing who you are talking about they WILL do that.

But don't let the "always in the hunt" be the reason for choice. Sometimes walking on to a program in that D1 category, will limit your chances to do what you came for, besides getting an education, a chance to play on a regular basis, be on the travel squad for away games, get to play post season and tourney championships. If that goal isn't met, it becomes disappointing.

JMO.

I spoke with the coach over lunch and they view my Son as a 3rd Base or 2nd baseman and have offered him the ability to be a recruited walk-on. He would be housed with the baseball team and although it would cost about 6K per year he has Florida Bright Futures which will absorb 75% of his tuition costs. The coach of course indicated that there was the possibility of money down the road based on performance, and the indication was that he would play as a freshman. He indicated that being a recruited walk on was not a "throw-away invite" he would not be trying out, they like him and want him but don't have the ability this year to offer money due to the contraction in the roster and the dividing up of the scholly money.

Good points TPM, the coach said that he was not going to ask us to commit right away so if additional offers surfaced from other programs we had the opportunity to go with them. He indicated that they thought my Son would fit in well there but would understand if other offers came with money attached that we may need to consider those as well.
The kid is a hard worker and I think plays very well and has a good stick. I believe he has the ability to keep himself in a line-up. I know he thinks he can.

floridafan, I think a lot of it may boil down to how much you can trust what this coach is telling you. Do some research into the type of person he is through a search on HSBBW, PM's to people whose kids play for this program, etc. You can also google this coach's name with the word "baseball" (John Smith baseball) and find articles with comments about the coach. I did this for two new coaches at college programs and got some very valuable information about their character. If you need additional information, you can go so far as to call directory assistance to get the phone number for the parents of players on the current roster. (Search the roster for players with a unique last name and find out what their hometown is. Sometimes, you can search the baseball program's news archives and look for the news release regarding early signees -- usually published in November. Parents' names are oftentimes mentioned.) Parents can be valuable resources of information and are oftentimes very willing to share helpful info.

If everyone you talk to says he runs his program with integrity and is a man of his word, your son would probably have a good experience there. If, on the other hand, even one person has some negatives to share, proceed with caution.

You might also want to ask this coach (or others familiar with the program) about the history of invited walk-ons at this school. Typically, how many have they had in the past? What sort of success have they enjoyed? Ask the coach to describe some "failures" and explain what happened. Ask how many invited walk-ons have been cut from the team after 1 or more years.

most programs in "Hope" or "Bright Futures" states recruit walk-ons

and, other than some info on recruited walk-ons who have contributed recently & earned $$ ...
I wouldn't need to know why others failed

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by flfan: indication was that he would play as a freshman

that does soung great, but what-ever do they do with all the upperclassmen each yr keeping that freshman PT promise

wow infield08. very impressive. lots of valuable info. you have done your homework.

I believe that they lost a 2nd Baseman and Shortstop to the draft. My Son is a pretty good hitter, which is his main attribute.

Infield08 has some AWESOME info.

I am just wondering though, how much "past" info regarding recruited walk-ons is going to apply in today's new recruting environment of smaller roster and limited schollys. I think some teams are going to have to use recruited walkons that didn't have to in the past. This may mean you MAY have difficulty finding historical information from SOME programs in this area.

In any case, GOOD Luck!!!

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Originally posted by Bee>:
what-ever do they do with all the upperclassmen each yr keeping that freshman PT promise

I agree, everyone has to work to earn their spot.

My sons HC said it takes approximately 22 games for him to decide who will end up in what permenent position for the rest of the season. How can a coach make a statment on getting frosh playing time when he has seen him play a few times?

quote:

If everyone you talk to says he runs his program with integrity and is a man of his word, your son would probably have a good experience there. If, on the other hand, even one person has some negatives to share, proceed with caution.

Excellent advice! You can find almost anyone on the internet. I like www.whitepages.com. I found a dad whose kid got cut, who said (son's) coach was extremely fair. Nuff said for me.

Flfan, please read would play as a frosh, as could earn pt. NE more is a shallow promise, imo, as pt is earned every week.

What are "Hope" and "Bright Future" states?

Dad04 and all,
Yes we are aware that there is no guarantee or promise to play as a freshman. But, there is the possibility to play if he proves himself on the field. The top 9 play. So long as they play the top 9 then my Son has an opportunity to earn one of those spots if he has the talent and work ethic. That is all anyone really has at a competitive program. Isn't that right? An opportunity to perform and earn a spot in the line-up.