Hope everyone is doing well under the circumstances. What a crazy time. I made my original post literally a day or two before the world was tuned upside down and so I deleted my original post. Now that things are stating to return to some sort of normal (at least here in Texas), I thought I would provide an update (at the end).
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Send this guy a PM and ask for his advice/opinion:
This is what you are missing:
"Grades are not exceptional, but are not terrible either at 2.8 GPA and 920 SAT. "
Those grades in HS are going to give coaches reason for concern as playing ball and making grades at college are both a lot harder than HS. There are lots of kids with his athletic measurables who the coaches won't have to worry about in the classroom.
Go to the Juco and make the grades there and he may have a better chance after proving he can handle the academics and baseball at the next level.
Do what Desert Duck said to do.
Some questions... you say he played for a high level travel team. What do the travel coaches say about his recruitment status? What has been his recruiting strategy as far as contacting and getting in front of his target schools? What kind of dialog has he had with schools? What level has he primarily targeted? Aside from travel coaches, does he have any hitting instructors or others who are qualified connected mentors?
You say LHP - does he hit lefty as well? You say leading offensive numbers and strong - does he hit for power against top pitching or mostly for average? Does he strike out a lot? Does he rate high from a character/teammate standpoint? If you had to make your best educated guess, what would it be as to why no interest from schools?
DBAT-DFW posted:22and25 posted:This is what you are missing:
"Grades are not exceptional, but are not terrible either at 2.8 GPA and 920 SAT. "
Those grades in HS are going to give coaches reason for concern as playing ball and making grades at college are both a lot harder than HS. There are lots of kids with his athletic measurables who the coaches won't have to worry about in the classroom.
Go to the Juco and make the grades there and he may have a better chance after proving he can handle the academics and baseball at the next level.
You make a lot of assumptions. He works (and has worked since last summer) 20 hours a week at an aviation internship for school, has 60+ flight hours and a private pilot working on his flight ratings to be a commercial pilot. He is neither dumb or unmotivated. But by all means judge him solely on his GPA.
I didn't call him dumb and I didn't call him unmotivated. I dont know him and neither do the coaches he wants a look from. The numbers are the numbers as far as coaches are concerned, no different than the other numbers you posted regarding his baseball skills. No need to get defensive, you asked what you are missing.
The facts are that your son has a C average and scored in the bottom 25% off all kids who took the SAT. These numbers are measurables just like a 60 time or exit velo. In academic terms your son has posted a 75 exit velo and a 8.25 60 time. If those numbers are not reflective of his real ability you are going to have to figure out real quick how to demonstrate that to perspective coaches.
Can he retake the SAT or sit for the ACT before the summer?
So he is on a DBAT team & no interest?
22and25 is spot on. Grades are monitored & academic support is available at all levels, if a student initiates. Understand that RC &.or HC are "judging him on his GPA".
It's been a few years, but I know coaches at an ACC program that had already recruited students (with big bats) and they were told to get their SAT to 1000 before the NLI. Minimum. Jus' sayin'.
keewart posted:It's been a few years, but I know coaches at an ACC program that had already recruited students (with big bats) and they were told to get their SAT to 1000 before the NLI. Minimum. Jus' sayin'.
Yea, the entire school had one day set aside for a practice SAT and he was out sick. Just went in and took it cold turkey. His math was actually in the 80% percentile. He ran out of time on the writing portion which greatly affected his overall score. He needs to take it again, and in fact I think you can actually retake just certain parts. Will not take much to bump up above 1000. That said, he has several friends within 10 points of his SAT score with offers so...
You asked the question and multiple people are sharing that the GPA and SAT are definitely red flags to coaches. They won't know or care or give him credit that he's in an aviation program for 60+ hr a week - they're measured on team grades and keeping players eligible.
Multiple schools during my son's recruitment had 3.0 GPA across core and 1000 SAT - MINIMUM. Definitely retake gotta get those up.
Check out Kranse Institute. They have some great study tips and tricks and it's written by a guy who aced the SAT/ACT and does everything in short burst videos. https://www.kranse.com/
Have you tried posting videos of him batting on @flatgroundbats or pitching with stats and measureables @flatgroundapp? They are great to help spread the message if he is uncomfortable speaking for himself.
That might be another item that causes concern to a coach if he isn't willing to market and stand up for himself. Cocky is never good, but he has to be able to market and show for himself to these programs.
They want to hear from him not the parents. It's tough. We help get them to a point but then have to let them drive and we can "Back seat" them as much as possible. 
The JUCO route is not a bad option. Lots of schools LOVE their JUCO transfers. (Arkansas, Texas A&M, etc). Get some good grades and exposure underneath him and transfer to a program is an option. Get him in a program, put on some weight, add to his pitching package and velo and you should be good.
Don't burn your bridges. Tight nit community. Someone is always watching. Get the word and videos out on Twitter and you'll get something.
Eokerholm posted:You asked the question and multiple people are sharing that the GPA and SAT are definitely red flags to coaches. They won't know or care or give him credit that he's in an aviation program for 60+ hr a week - they're measured on team grades and keeping players eligible.
Multiple schools during my son's recruitment had 3.0 GPA across core and 1000 SAT - MINIMUM. Definitely retake gotta get those up.
Check out Kranse Institute. They have some great study tips and tricks and it's written by a guy who aced the SAT/ACT and does everything in short burst videos. https://www.kranse.com/
Have you tried posting videos of him batting on @flatgroundbats or pitching with stats and measureables @flatgroundapp? They are great to help spread the message if he is uncomfortable speaking for himself.
That might be another item that causes concern to a coach if he isn't willing to market and stand up for himself. Cocky is never good, but he has to be able to market and show for himself to these programs.
They want to hear from him not the parents. It's tough. We help get them to a point but then have to let them drive and we can "Back seat" them as much as possible.
The JUCO route is not a bad option. Lots of schools LOVE their JUCO transfers. (Arkansas, Texas A&M, etc). Get some good grades and exposure underneath him and transfer to a program is an option. Get him in a program, put on some weight, add to his pitching package and velo and you should be good.
Don't burn your bridges. Tight nit community. Someone is always watching. Get the word and videos out on Twitter and you'll get something.
This is great info. Thank you very much.
DBAT-DFW posted:cabbagedad posted:Some questions... you say he played for a high level travel team. What do the travel coaches say about his recruitment status? What has been his recruiting strategy as far as contacting and getting in front of his target schools? What kind of dialog has he had with schools? What level has he primarily targeted? Aside from travel coaches, does he have any hitting instructors or others who are qualified connected mentors?
You say LHP - does he hit lefty as well? You say leading offensive numbers and strong - does he hit for power against top pitching or mostly for average? Does he strike out a lot? Does he rate high from a character/teammate standpoint? If you had to make your best educated guess, what would it be as to why no interest from schools?
He loves his travel coach. Great relationship. He has targeted mainly D2 schools. He has had the same hitting instructor since 12, and they also have a great relationship. He does hit lefty as well. As for stats, I have included them so far (for now) for the 2020 season. These are not my stats, they are from the team. As for your last question, I would say he has not been aggressive in touting himself. He thinks that is self-serving and is not comfortable talking about himself.
OK good. So, a part of where I was going with the coaches and instructors was not so much how good the relationship is between player and coach but how connected they are and what efforts they were making to contact schools on your son's behalf (or at least be a strong reference for those schools your son is contacting). What are those coaches/instructors saying about his lack of receiving interest? Is he contacting mostly in-state and adjacent D2's where they would likely be familiar with him and able to come watch him play or is he relying on sending videos? Does he have any specific majors in mind or otherwise prefer to go out of his home region? Is he opposed to going away from home?
He definitely has the tools to play somewhere. I will say it can be much more difficult for an OF to be recruited or even get much attention. So, all the more reason he needs to be proactive with his recruiting approach and really utilize his resources (travel coach/instructor/other). That said, he sure seems to check a lot of boxes.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong. NCAA doesn't use your actual SAT score, they use the Math section and only the reading portion of the Evidence Based Reading and Writing (English) part of the SAT. So it's quite possible his score is much lower than 920 and with a 2.8 (have you calculated his core course GPA? It could be significantly higher or lower) he's probably quite close or under the 700pts he needs. Certainly closer than coaches would want. Here's a link: https://www.ncaa.org/sites/def..._Reference_Sheet.pdf Yes, the baseball is important but I would suggest a focus on the academics part. This Saturday is a testing date, all the deadlines have passed but you could try to talk your way into a test. If not, May 2nd and he needs to practice. Multiple times. Khan Academy has free test prep and tutorials.
I would agree that JUCO is probably the best route and this point. Also, send video to Embry Riddle in AZ, he's low for academics but he fits in their "demonstrated passion" department, and they just started a baseball team. Who knows how much pull the coach has? (long shot but...) Good luck.
I second the Embry Riddle suggestion. Seems to be a fit for a lot of reasons. Very good coach.
juco is fine, too. Hope you connected w Adbono. Great resource.
not that you need to hear this again but admissions offices and many coaches start w grades and scores and THEN move to skills. To them the academic part can’t be the projectible skill. Get a sat/act tutor ( some athletes do WAY better on the ACT. ) Retake the test. Walk in is a good option but I wouldn’t do it this Saturday without more prep.
smokeminside posted:I second the Embry Riddle suggestion. Seems to be a fit for a lot of reasons. Very good coach.
juco is fine, too. Hope you connected w Adbono. Great resource.not that you need to hear this again but admissions offices and many coaches start w grades and scores and THEN move to skills. To them the academic part can’t be the projectible skill. Get a sat/act tutor ( some athletes do WAY better on the ACT. ) Retake the test. Walk in is a good option but I wouldn’t do it this Saturday without more prep.
ERAU Prescott? Not familiar. I only know of the Daytona Beach campus. Is this a new baseball program? There’s literally no information out there on it.
Program starts up in the fall of 2020!
Go to school, finish all the aviation training etc and go fly planes. Juco sounds like the best "baseball" option but it is not glamorous at most schools and if he has a passion for aeronautics, why bother with baseball? No harm intended here, my son was not driven or did not have a passion like this outside of baseball, so i admire it. Best of luck to your son.
DBAT-DFW posted:umpin757 posted:Program starts up in the fall of 2020!
Very cool! If anyone out there has any contact information that would be great. Prescott is definitely one of the most beautiful areas of the country, and without all if the Sedona pretense. LOL
seriously if he can play ball Embry do it, a buddy of mine is an alum, played ball for them in Florida. 200k a year working about 10 days a month. his golf schedule off the hook. life win right there.
old_school posted:seriously if he can play ball Embry do it, a buddy of mine is an alum, played ball for them in Florida. 200k a year working about 10 days a month. his golf schedule off the hook. life win right there.
Pretty much this 👆
DesertDuck posted:DBAT-DFW posted:umpin757 posted:Program starts up in the fall of 2020!
Very cool! If anyone out there has any contact information that would be great. Prescott is definitely one of the most beautiful areas of the country, and without all if the Sedona pretense. LOL
Thanks for the link Duck. Some great info there. Impressed with what I read.
https://twitter.com/FmhsPep/st.../1237926587791806464
You have to include the measureables they mention on their twitter page with your video.
https://twitter.com/FlatgroundApp
(Name, class, height, weight, city, State. Velo, etc., GPA, etc.... It couldn't be more simple.
Seems to have worked. Already got a D3 & a NAIA opportunity in 2 hours.
Shoveit4Ks posted:Go to school, finish all the aviation training etc and go fly planes. Juco sounds like the best "baseball" option but it is not glamorous at most schools and if he has a passion for aeronautics, why bother with baseball? No harm intended here, my son was not driven or did not have a passion like this outside of baseball, so i admire it. Best of luck to your son.
I agree with the above about the JUCO option. I also agree about raising the academics, especially the GPA.
Embry Riddle here in FL is pretty hard to get into and about 50k+ a year so you would have to have scores that would qualify for academic money.
DBAT-DFW posted:Shoveit4Ks posted:Go to school, finish all the aviation training etc and go fly planes. Juco sounds like the best "baseball" option but it is not glamorous at most schools and if he has a passion for aeronautics, why bother with baseball? No harm intended here, my son was not driven or did not have a passion like this outside of baseball, so i admire it. Best of luck to your son.
Oh, I agree. This may be the best option. In fact we own our own plane, so the flying / training is the easy part. This was him last night handling it like a pro already.
NOT taking the opportunity to have my WWII Hump-Flying pilot grandfather teach me to fly for free at 16 is one of my biggest regrets. I can't tell you how many times i've been up in his 150,152, 172, 210 when i was a kid. I lived about 800 miles away at the time i turned 16 and ....believe it or not, i chose girls over flying (what a loser). Anyway...i think flying is awesome and just the other day one of my sons travel ball team mates got his license and i was super jelly. He is out of ball now and was shortly after going to a mid major, but is now dream chasin his other dreams.
DBAT-DFW posted:Shoveit4Ks posted:Go to school, finish all the aviation training etc and go fly planes. Juco sounds like the best "baseball" option but it is not glamorous at most schools and if he has a passion for aeronautics, why bother with baseball? No harm intended here, my son was not driven or did not have a passion like this outside of baseball, so i admire it. Best of luck to your son.
Oh, I agree. This may be the best option. In fact we own our own plane, so the flying / training is the easy part. This was him last night handling it like a pro already.
But did he do his homework first? 
Seriously, if he wants to play baseball you need to call his counselor today. Find out what his core course GPA is, when he can take the SAT or ACT, start studying with a tutor. I'm thinking SAT only because you said he did fairly well on the Math section so he can focus on the EBRW section in hopes of combining two best scores. College baseball isn't just for kids who aren't good enough or need more time for development before the MLB, it's for players that have done both the work on the field AND in the classroom. Your son is probably a great kid, but he hasn't done what he needed to do.
If he wants to be a pilot, let him follow that dream. Although, unless he applied to a backup school, deadlines have passed. He is probably headed to junior college- there is no shame in that. You just need to decide if he can handle school and baseball or if he should focus on academics, then find the best option available.
This thread certainly took a left turn at Prescott, AZ! My experience is that new programs rely heavily on JuCo transfers in order to be as competitive as possible right from the start. Even if Embry Riddle is the desired final destination 2 years of good JuCo ball (and academics) is the best way to get there.
I don't see how a 2020 can really bring their GPA up so late in the game. You're usually only taking a handful of courses and now it's well into the second semester. IMO that ship has sailed. If he can go knock out a 1200-1300 SAT that'll help.
Keep in mind for a D1 to combine academic and athletic money you need a 3.5GPA or at least a 1270 on the SAT.
I love that this community, it is so helpful to everyone. Hope your son makes the JUCO route.
But in your original post you ask, "What are we missing?"
It is too late to raise your GPA. You can't take the SAT or ACT to make it matter for your 2020 son now.
Your son may not be dumb or unmotivated, but yes he is mostly judged on his GPA and test scores. Let me repeat that, HS students are mostly judged by their GPA, test scores, extra circular activities, and essays for college admissions.
Player 1 6’0”, 185 lbs 3.2 GPA 1150 SAT
Player 2 6’0”, 185 lbs 2.8 GPA 920 SAT
If you where a coach, which player would you accept into your program.
That is the way the world works. You can't complain about it after the fact. For whatever reason your son was motivated in the wrong activity. If you wanted him to be a pilot, that is great. If you wanted him to be a baseball player in college then he didn't work on what he needed to.
You have some blame in this. You have been a member on this site since 2015. You must have read countless posts confirming that grades matter. You have been to the Senior Fall classic so you should be familiar with the Senior All Academic try out. You need a 3.7 GPA or an ACT of 27 or higher or SAT score of 1200 higher. Was this not an indicator?
I'm sorry if I sound mean. Don't take this the wrong way. I'm just speaking the truth. Hope your son goes on to play in JUCO. But if he wants to consider a transfer to a D2 or a D1, guess what, grades will matter then too.
Think about my situation. My son is 5'7", 140 lbs soaking wet. No matter how hard he works at it, he is not going to be 6'0. But he worked hard on his grades and his game and was able to make a D3 program. Your son has the size, but he worked hard in want, flying, and you are asking "What are we missing".
Best of luck to your son.
I tried to delete my original post (unable to do that for some reason) because right now there are a lot more important issues going on than this. A lot of seniors out there in college and high school who are missing out on what is supposed to the best season of their career and who will never get these games back. It’s terrible. Wishing everyone the best.
Just to bring this thread back to life. My 2020 ended up getting multiple D2, NAIA and JUCO offers. It all worked out in the end. I guess it’s never too late. He will also be playing in the (modified) Connie Mack tourney at the end of July, so double bonus! Thanks for all your insight and help everyone.
Very confusing way to handle this, but congrats and best of luck to your son.
Sorry for the confusion. Just some good news to share in all this mess, and maybe offer some hope to other uncommitted 2020’s. I’ll wait until he signs his NLI before posting more, which may be tomorrow but not 100% certain. Regardless, it should be soon.
