My son has been told by a couple of college coaches that he will be to young to play at a division 1 school. He will be 17 in November and is graduation in June. They have recommend that a good option for him is a year of prep school. I have looked into it but found it very expensive. We have thought of another option but I need to know if you attend college part time do you loose a year of eligibility and he would play with a good travel team that can help further develop him.
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Rick will pop in here hopefully and get this right, but one option could be going to a JC and take less than 12 units which would mean he would not use a eligible year, but I believe it starts his 5 year clock. Commonly called a "gray shirt year".
This seems like an odd comment from a coach. November is on the young side, but not that much. This year's #1 overall pick turned 18 in August after HS graduation, just a few months younger than your son. I looked back at some previous posts and recall that your son was cut from his JV team and you were contemplating changing schools. Is it possible the college coaches were being polite by saying he was young, as opposed to lacking the necessary talent? What did the college coaches have to say about his talent level with regards to D1?
This seems like an odd comment from a coach. November is on the young side, but not that much. This year's #1 overall pick turned 18 in August after HS graduation, just a few months younger than your son. I looked back at some previous posts and recall that your son was cut from his JV team and you were contemplating changing schools. Is it possible the college coaches were being polite by saying he was young, as opposed to lacking the necessary talent? What did the college coaches have to say about his talent level with regards to D1?
Coach said he is athletic enough but could use another year to develop and gain some muscl if he wants to play at this level. His 60 yarddash time was 7.2 , first to home was 4.65 and he threw ss to 1b at at 78 mph. They told the kids in a group setting that they need player that can step in as freshman because of the 35 player limit and if you are young look into prep school
Your son could attend a local JuCo and take two courses per semester. Taking three in a semester will start his eligibility clock. The issue would be he wouldn't be playing baseball in the spring. He would have to find a quality summer team to compensate.
Why is it necessary to play in a D1 program? It doesn't sound like your son is a pro prospect. He should be looking for the best possible combination of education and baseball experience. There's nothing wrong with D2 and D3 ball. Sometimes players at these levels physically mature and turn into pro prospects. Another option is to go JuCo for two years, physically mature then decide the appropriate level of play.
I'm not sure how much I would buy into the word of college coaches who aren't offering anything in the future.
Walkerr, something to factor into the equation...
The arm strength and running speed you state are not really close to what most D1's look for and most D1's recruit approximately two years prior to HS graduation. So it is a likely realism that your son will not be recruited by D1 even if he waits a year. You may want to have him adjust his target to another level which may be a better academic and athletic fit and help you with any decision to slow the clock.
Walkerr, your son has a one-year "grace period" after his HS graduation that he can delay full-time college enrollment, and still play on a travel team in organized competition without harming his NCAA eligibility. He won't start his eligibility "clock" as long as he doesn't enroll at a college as a full-time student. The downside is that he won't be eligible to practice with the college team (if the part-time classes are at an NCAA institution) if he's not in a full-time course load.
BOF mentioned less than 12 units, and RJM referred to two courses. Both are on the right track. The key is that your son NOT register for whatever that particular college considers to be a full-time course load.
Here's an example of a mistake some athletes make - an athlete signs up for a course load considered to be full-time at a particular college. The athlete attends the first day of classes at the college with his full-time course registration. On the second day of classes, he drops a class and is now considered to be a part-time student. In this scenario, the athlete has started his NCAA eligibility "clock."
Coach said he is athletic enough but could use another year to develop and gain some muscl if he wants to play at this level. His 60 yarddash time was 7.2 , first to home was 4.65 and he threw ss to 1b at at 78 mph. They told the kids in a group setting that they need player that can step in as freshman because of the 35 player limit and if you are young look into prep school
I IMO, this coach is letting your son know, in a nice way, that he is not D1 talent. Don't let him get hung up with D1 fever....start looking at your other options as previously mentioned, DII's, DIII's and JUCO.
Many times we talk about the other levels, D2, D3, Juco, and NAIA. There are others levels as well, including Club, NCCAA, and USCAA.
Club
USCAA
http://www.theuscaa.com/sports/bsb/index
Some NCCAA schools are also NCAA schools but many are not.
http://www.thenccaa.org/index.aspx?path=baseball
