Recruiting Process?

Braves--


You hit the nail on the head.... Too many kids think that playing D-2 baseball is playing down, when it is not. If a player is a pro prospect, they will be seen by the organization or bureau scouts. The word will definitely get out!!
Otherwise, IMHO if I want to play at the next level, why not go where I can actually get time and not sit for up to 3 years... To me if you go somewhere and sit for 2-3 years, you have done nothing to improve yourself as a player/prospect. Game experience is so valuable....

One other thing to consider... make sure you encourage student athletes to attend a college that has a degree they are interested in... if not they will never be happy!!

 

I have never felt D2 was 'playing down'. Plus the key word is play". While being a role player is part of the team, it's no fun not playing any over 4 years. In the case of d2 I may however look more closely at the academic values of what a particular D2 school offers. The schoolwork comes first.

 

This is a pretty good website....Thanks, Braves.....And Thanks Coach27 that is a lot of good information. We are definately not counting out any DII or DIII colleges, I guess we won't know until we start going to these visits. I wanted to know what to expect and what we should be doing. I knew that a lot of people here has been through this process before and would have many examples, suggestion, ideas, etc....So I want to be prepared as a father and hopefully I'm able to help my son make the correct decision, since the transfer law will be changing during his first year. It's best to get it right the first time. Hopefully, a lot of other players that will be going through this in the next few months will learn from this thread as well. I'm sure they have! Thanks, again.

 

Let's take academics out of the equation for a second because I realize students also choose to go to a particular school because it's their dream school or offers a major not found at many schools.

But put yourself in the player's shoes; to be athletically gifted enough to be offered a D1 scholly means that the player is very talented. Also, you would think that he is very competitive. Now, to put this described player in a situation where he rarely plays or pitches must take some of that drive away from him. And the fact that they rarely play or pitch can not help them progress in their skill or development.

Speaking strictly from the baseball side, I don't believe it is a stretch to conclude that if your desire is to continue playing at the "next level", be wise, ask intelligent questions during the recruiting process and as many have said, "go where you feel the most wanted"...regardless whether it is State U or D3.

With the new transfer rules involving D1 schools, you may not get a 2nd chance in starting over. And with the talent level dramatically increasing each year at the D2 level, you may not find many opportunities to transfer over there either.

 

Having been through this process with my eldest son - both the absolutely horrible recruiting and initial collegiate baseball experience - as well as the "bounce back" from the nonsense he went through during that time - all I can say is you should heed the words of advice you are getting from Braves and Coach May.

You cant show people what you have if your coach doesnt put you on the field.

Remember that when you are making your choice of schools to attend.

 

I would like to add two things that alot of people forget to think about.

(1) There are different levels of players. There's the no doubt div 1 guy who dominates at the high school level.

Then there is the player who is all-conference and maybe even all-state but is lacking something top d1's are looking for, usually foot speed and velocity. This is the player who he and his parents usually get frustrated by the recruiting process because they don't realize what the big boys are looking for. There are still div 1 programs that will give this player a chance but the reality is he will most likely be recruited over during his four year college experience.

Then there is the level of player who is probably good enough to play college at some level but may never be offered a scholarship or not the dream schools he once hoped for. This player is often has the hardest path because there aren't enough people doing their research at the schools the player is good enough to play for.

Which leads me to my second point....

(2)Parents, players, and high school coaches need to do more research on d2,d3,naia, and JC programs. It's usually an after thought to find out about these schools because UNC never sent a letter.

I have seen parents pay 350-500$ dollars to send a kid to Elon camp or clemson camp they never drive down the road to watch a local small college play a weekend game. That's probably where the kid needs to be deciding if he can play at that level or if he likes the coaches game style etc.

One last thought. For you HS coaches in the charlotte area on here why don't you take your varsity players to a belmont abbey or catawba game some time. How many of you have seen the level of play these two schools are at in the past 2 to 5 years. How many of your players know the caliber of play? It will give your kids a new level of awareness for how good they need to be and it will help you the next time a coach calls and ask you if a kid can play at their level.

 

Good points as usual.... Very good dialogue here. NIce to read intelligent posts.

 

I one major thing I learned here is what the coaches here refer to as "TOOLS".

Your kid may have the highest batting average on the team, be all-state, undefeated pitcher, yada, yada, yada. But the read I get from the coaches here is your child needs to be exceptional at something and good at everything else (my standards are high for everything else). Hit for power, hit for average, foot speed, arm strength, and maybe the glove. The kid that is above average at everything may be all-conference or all-state but not D1 material. Doesn't mean the kid is not a good player and can't play somewhere, just maybe not D1.

Another thing I have seen is you gotta be damn good to play top D1. A lot of very good players go to App., unc-a, Winthrop, Belmont Abbey etc, etc.

Now when my son and I evaluate his talents we discuss tools and what can he become exceptional at. It appears all-round good isn't enough. No sour grapes, just the facts.