Over Recruiting

Just to give it some historical value, the replies are from 3 parents that their kids had very successful careers at UNC; and had gone though every aspect of the recruiting process...plus you had an experienced HS Coach and a pitcher with the most wins at UNCC and a drafted player.

 

True. You don't want to ride the bench and not play. I've seen some very good players commit to Division 1 schools in the state and never get the chance to play. These are guys that should be on the field playing, but for whatever reason, they just weren't playing at the school they chose to attend. Probadly the school brought in too much talent. Some of these players ended up transferring, and some just gave up baseball altogether. In most cases, the coach is going to let you know after your freshman year what your chances of playing are. I've seen some transfers have great careers elsewhere.

 

I know that some coaches get a bonus for students enrolling in a school. I know of one that over-recruited for a certain position, 13 players and by the Spring there were only 3 that made the roster. Dollars still make the world go round.

 

I know of one school that lost about 16 players to graduation last year. They signed 11-12 high schoolers to LOI's. Since then they've also added about 14 transfers. Long story short, their fall roster now totals 45 players. You can do the math. About 10 of these guys won't be playing baseball next spring.

 

Do you think any of this has anything to do with players possibly committing too soon? Before they have had time to actually ask the tough questions and do all the math? For some kids, the thought of just putting on the uniform at the school of their dreams can take reality out of the equation.But most kids "expect" to at least put a uniform on.

I actually heard a very well respected coach - try to discourage a kid from committing too soon. Something to think about.

 

Timing of Commitments

I am curious about the timing of when senior high school baseball players sign with a college. Approximately what percentage sign before November and what percentage sign after March? Are there still opportunities for players not signed during the early signing period?

 

The college baseball coach at a major D-1 school has THE worst job of any coach at a major D-1 school. Who else can have the majority of their recruits taken away the day before school starts...only the college baseball coach through the MLB draft. Over recruit>>> I'm not really sure after now being on the college side of the equation what choice a college baseball coach has if his teams are to be competitive. Look at UNC for instance a couple of years ago when they were so devastated by the draft they had to bring Levi in early. Yes do your homework regarding each school and players at your position, but if you are going major D-1 it is just a fact of life that their will be 40 players going for 35 spots every year.

 

To pick up on Dawgswood's comments:

The head coach at a major DI program already had a serious challenge on his hands before the NCAA's recent imposition of a strict 35-player roster. Imagine trying to determine a year or two in advance which players are most likely not only to be prepared to succeed at the highest collegiate level, but which ones you might have at least a fighting chance of landing in the face of the draft out of high school. Add to that the uncertainty around which of your existing players will leave after 2 or 3 years and which ones will be around for their 4th year of eligibility, and you begin to get a feel for the magnitude of the problem.

However, before the enactment of the 35-player limit, a coach maintained some much-needed flexibility because his roster size could vary considerably more than it can now. Now that the limit is in place, it makes the exercise of trying to predict who will come and who will stay even more critically important than it already was.

While we tend, understandably, to focus on the years when the roster needs to be pared to conform with the limit, it's also quite possible that a coach can find himself suddenly short-handed if a higher percentage of his recruited players and draft-eligible existing players decide to opt for the professional paycheck.

It's my contention that the large majority of coaches at major Division I programs go to great lengths to try to manage their recruiting in such a way that they come out as close to the 35-man limit as they can. However, when you consider the uncontrollable factors involved, it's understandable that they're going to miss the mark; probably more often than they hit it on the nose.

 

I can understand it with UNC. Their recruiting is so good, you can usually rattle off 5-6 players each year that are candidates to go pro right out of high school, and then add to it the ones who may leave early. This is a problem Mike Fox will constantly have. Then you've got the transfers. Are there any other Major D-1 schools in North-South Carolina that are getting hit as hard in this area as the Heels are?

 

My comments were meant much more generally than to be specific to any one program...or any one region, for that matter.

They apply to any program that routinely plays in the NCAA post-season tournament. One of the dilemmas of the sport is that if you're not recruiting players who are capable of playing professionally directly out of high school, chances are that you're not going to have the caliber of team that consistently has a decent chance of making it to and beyond the super-regionals.

While it will inevitably vary in degree from year-to-year, all of the top-performing programs face this challenge.