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We are riding the recruiting roller coaster right now. I am reading as much as possible trying to help position my son as best I can without going broke in the process, we have been doing this for 4 years now. Those of us on the lower end of the recruiting spectrum, the kids that are “just good enough”, just looking for a chance, watching their son repeatedly get rejected for not being strong enough or big enough receiving vague advice from coaches or being straight up lied to so you can be a part of their fundraiser it can be very frustrating. Limited resources mean you can’t travel to big events, or to a lot of school “prospect” days.

     When you know, you know. When you visit a school and the head coach takes his time to talk to your son (3 hrs). When the pitching/catching coach (My kid is a catcher) spends 45 minutes discussing the difficulty of handling 15+ pitchers vs 4 or 5 in high school, giving advice for cardio when your knees are tore up after 40-50 games. When they freely give their plan for your son and it is well thought out and tailored to him. When they discuss academic, physical and moral development citing concrete examples of current or former players. You will know that is a program that wants your son. It will be very evident.

     As my 2022 closes in on his decision I will tell you what the key to our low budget baseball journey was. He is a good kid, outgoing, and talks to everyone on the field and I mean everyone. Umpires, coaches of the other team, players of the other team, random people standing by the fence, pretty much everyone. He is a good smart player and it showed, he didn’t hit 500 ft bombs, he played situational baseball. He didn’t throw everyone out, although he does have a low pop time of 1.83 – 1.90. He did talk to his teammates when mistakes were made. He didn’t shout he talked and discussed. It was noticed and pointed out on more than one occasion by individuals watching the game. One in particular had a 20 min. conversation with him after the game. Just a guy watching a baseball game, not a scout, not affiliated with any school. Somehow his name was passed along to a coach, 1500 miles away, who watched a video and that coach texted my son. When my wife asked what skills the coach wanted demonstrated during a visit the coach said he can play good enough as evidenced by his videos. He liked everything he heard and wants a quality kid that can lead, coach, and mentor on and off the field. One school is all that is interested, and that is all it takes.



This is what worked for us:

  1. For the player, Be a good person
  2. For the player, Become and play the best you can
  3. For the player, grades always matter
  4. For the player, have an open mind
  5. For the parent, Make a lot of videos
  6. For the parent, encourage your child continuously
  7. For the parent, put your money into making them technically proficient (Training over games)
  8. For the parent, have an open mind
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An important thing for the player to remember is the offer and acceptance is just the beginning of the process. Next comes the real audition. Day after day in the fall the player has to prove he belongs and can contribute. This earns part three, playing time in the spring. About half of players fail at this second and third part.

Last edited by RJM

Tagging onto RJM’s post………I like to see the kids I know succeed and it gives me joy when they do. Especially those that I coach. IMO (based on years of observation) the single biggest factor that determines success (or not) in college isn’t the amount of talent a player has - it’s the initial choice they make about where to go to college. Those that make good, well thought out, realistic decisions tend to do well. Those that make poor decisions (usually being a baseball program that’s too good for them to see the field) tend to not fare so well. The problem is that I see far more bad decisions initially than I see good ones. It’s harder than ever to recover from a bad decision without losing the enthusiasm for the game and the result is more failure than success. It’s not the end of the world if college baseball doesn’t turn out as good as anticipated. But there is more than enough failure built into the game of baseball without increasing the bad odds by making bad decisions.

Tim - one interesting nugget in your outstanding post: "One in particular had a 20 min. conversation with him after the game. Just a guy watching a baseball game, not a scout, not affiliated with any school. Somehow his name was passed along to a coach, 1500 miles away, who watched a video and that coach texted my son."

This is the thing I didn't appreciate - the importance of networks. Son's HS coach knows the HC at son's university (ED willing). Gave Jake an entry point and ensured his video was seen.

@adbono posted:

the single biggest factor that determines success (or not) in college isn’t the amount of talent a player has - it’s the initial choice they make about where to go to college. Those that make good, well thought out, realistic decisions tend to do well. Those that make poor decisions (usually being a baseball program that’s too good for them to see the field) tend to not fare so well.

THIS.

99% of the kids who have the ability to play in college were never bench sitters in high school and travel. To go from that mindset and expectation to a situation where you will be sitting and watching for 50 games while your eligibility is burning off the clock is the problem.

The answer to that problem is don't get into that situation. Be honest and objective and look for a school and a division where you have a chance to play. And, don't fall into that D1 or bust mentality.

This is why 50% transfer after their first or second year.

gotta echo Tim and OSKI.  I've written about this before but it bears repeating. #2 son's First choice ED at an extremely competitive admissions didn't materialize. Long story, and not germane. HA Older son asked his coach for help since #2 was also trying to go high academic.  That coach had seen #2 at a camp and had also offered #2 an ED spot, which #2 turned down because he didn't want to compete for an OF spot with is older bro.  Older son's coach  made several calls and against all odds #2 was supported for spots at two other HA schools.  Stressful, but it IS a small world and these coaches, if nothing else, seem to trust each other's evaluations.

Last edited by smokeminside

Tim, I couldn't agree more with you post.  I coached for 18 years for a small (one high school team per year) travel organization, so we usually didn't get the top tier talented kids in our area.  We had good to some really good players who wanted to play at the next level.  Our kids were in the mix with thousands of others, and were not the phenom, P5 dude that has many teams chasing him.  The best advice I gave our players was "do the little things," those things included taking care of your body, taking care of your grades, learn the game (not how to be a showcase player), be a good person and teammate, be a leader, hustle, hustle, and did I mention hustle?  Be the player that the opposing coach stops in the hand-shake line to talk to.  Some kids listened, and generally, they were the successful ones.

As for finding the right place, again, you are spot on.  My oldest went to a P5 as a walk-on because it had a top rated business school which he was admitted into their honors program.  He turned down money and promises to play, etc. from D2, D3 and NAIA schools because his goal was the business school, not the baseball program.  He walked on, redshirted, and was cut the fall of his sophomore year with a coaching staff change.  He was content with his "cup of coffee" on the team, and moved on from baseball.

My younger son, is all baseball.  He had a few P5 offers as a walk-on (one that happened to win the CWS last year), but chose a mid-major where he was told that he had an opportunity to play as a freshman.  In fact, on the recruiting visit at the mid-major, he accepted the offer, with me sitting next to him without consulting with me other than our talks beforehand on the trip.  Afterwards, he said, he knew it was right.  Well, he was given the opportunity as a freshman as promised, broke into the lineup at DH, and an injury led to him starting the final two thirds of the his freshman season as a position player.   All that to say, he knew it was the right fit from the recruiting visit. 

We are very fortunate that we our two sons had/are having great experiences.  Many of the kids that I assisted in finding a place to play were not so lucky, and despite not coaching any longer, I am now helping them find transfer spots.   Bottom line, don't let chasing the P5 or D1 moniker affect your decision.  Go to the place that the player, and parent, feel is the right spot.   

Good luck to you guys in the journey. 

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