Question for parents or players

Would you rather go to a school that wins but you dont get much palying time or go to a school where they lose but you get more playing time.

But of course the school that is better also gets more recognition than the school with the bad record.

Do you go and be the big man or do you sacrifice playing time for a chance at a championship?

 

i would rather have a challenge..

 

I can't imagine anyone selecting a school just for playing time. But I can see a Kid going to a D2 school so he can immediately play as opposed to sitting at a D1 for a year or two.

 

they are somebody's kids

someone has to play baseball at Campbell & UNCW (this year) & Duke (well Duke is better this year). oh well.

 

Give..me...playing...time! You can't get better not playing. Having said that, if you are on a championship team, it may be that you might have to wait your turn.

The bottom line is if I'm not playin'...I'm not contributin'

 

Fixed....remember when he is at most D2 schools, he is competing against 50 other players vs the 25 or 30 at D1...and the talent level for the position players is not dramatic. The biggest difference between the two divisions is the depth of quality pitching.

The point I'm making is a player might be a stud in HS, but at the college level, he may not see much playing time. There are too many variables that affect this and talent is just one of them.

 

My son was a perfect example. He was down to South Carolina as an invited walkon or Davidson with a chance to pitch right away. He had a very good academic scholly offered by USC so financially USC was the better choice. It really was a tough decision because he had alot of success in high school and really thought he could eventually play at USC. I basically listed out all the pros and cons of the two schools and baseball situations and had him list them in order of priority. When I saw his ranking, it was clear that educational opportunity and the opportunity to play right away outweighed the chance to be on a top 10 team.
Davidson struggles to be competitive in the SOCON due to the stringent academics, but there is something truly noble about this effort that you only really appreciate by meeting the players and seeing them play. They are all great young men, great students, and good ballplayers. Most of these guys will truly "go pro in something other than athletics".

 

Great point. Baseball is a fun sport and it's great for those who get the opportunity to play in college but life is VASTLY more important. What are you going to do when baseball is over is the more important question than playing time or championships because the reality for most college players is that baseball is about to be over and life is about to begin. I think we can sometimes worry so much about baseball that we forget the bigger picture for these guys.

 

As a starting point, identify schools where you think you'd be happy without consideration to baseball (This especially includes having the right academic profile.). Then, take that group of schools and ask yourself, "Which ones make sense for me given my current skill level?" Finally, within that smaller group, ask yourself, "Which programs are ones I'd like to be a part of?"

The first step, in my opinion, is the most important. Baseball circumstances can change, literally, overnight. The coach can quit, the player can get hurt...you name it. Much better to already be in a place you like than have to consider transferring because the baseball "rug" got pulled out from under you.

By the way, this advice first came to us from a highly respected, Division I head baseball coach when my son was about 13 or 14 years old. We hung onto the advice, and we're all very glad we did.

 

I know with D2/JUCO, that we have JV teams, but im not sure with D1. So with those JV teams your carrying more people thna you usually would. But I think our staff is around 22 or 23 guys. Take 5 starters away from that group and your left with 17. Take like 4 or 5 for JV. Then your left with 12 or so guys trying to come out of the pen. It is tough for a coach to get a guy innings in when there are two or three guys throwing good everytime out. So if you must consistently be at the top of your game everytime out because if your not then someone else is right behind to take your position.