Recruiting Process?

My son has just started his rollercoaster ride. Since the Jr. State Games, he has received a lot of letters from college coaches, from Upper DI (SEC) all the way down to DIII (GA) colleges. On July 1st, he received several phone calls and since then has received a few more phone calls. Several colleges are asking him to come visit on a unofficial visit and one has ask for a official visit in the fall.
What advice can anyone give us on these unofficial visits and the five official visits? Should we go to every unofficial visit that is offered? What occurs on unofficial visits? Should he go to only the colleges that he is interested in? How can we make this rollercoaster ride smoother?
He has been very excited since the first letter that has arrived this year and he checks the mailbox daily with excitement. He did receive letters from 13 collges last summer after he attended a showcase but none as big as now.
I hope that he is able to sign during the November signing period so he can concentrate on helping his team win games. Instead of worrying about what college coach is here today to talk to me after the game.
Thanks for any advice or help in this recruiting process!

 

All I can say is keep all your options open and the unofficials you can take as many as you want. And take as many as possible to get a good feel for the school, coaches and what not. But they usually take you around the campus show you the buildings with the classrooms and the cafeteria. Show you the basketball stadium and football stadium if its close. And of course the baseball stadium and club house. And it gives the coaches a chance to sit down and usually make an offer to the kid face to face.

 

Dont Rush

There is no way you can know what all your options are if you dont wait and see what they are. If the school you have always wanted to go to offers and you know that that is where you want to go then fine. But if you really want to know what all your options are and you want to investigate the best place for you then you need to wait and see. I would be willing to bet the the process is going to slow down a bit with the new rules for the 08 class. Having to give at least 33% to all recruits on scholarship and the reduction in roster sizes is going to make college coaches do a little more homework on players before they actually make an offer. And with the new transfer rules it "should" make players do alot more homework as well. There is a place for every kid that has the work ethic and desire to play at the college level. Its not where you are but what you do where you are. Too many kids get caught up in the name on the jersey instead of going where they are really wanted and can contribute. That is just my opinion. The name on the jersey will not mean as much if your pulling spinters out of your rear end for a prolonged period of time. If you are a competitor and you want to have an opportunity to contribute find a place that #1 wants you and #2 a place where you feel you can contribute #3 and a school you want to attend. JMHO. Good Luck

 

Great advice.

Keep in mind that the new rules only effect the D1 schools. But the advice that Coach May gave you is right on target. Go to the school that you feel really wants you...and that can be the hard part, because they all want you to feel wanted. But after awhile, you will know the difference.

 

More Questions

What do you mean by "Wait and See"? Meaning, go on the college visits and see what they have to offer, or What?
Also, the statement, "#1 Wants you", how do we know that? They will offer a lot more than the 1/3 or they will say that he will probably be a starter the first year if he works hard, is this what you are talking about?

So, going on unofficial visits in July, do they give you a package with a time limit of 1 week, 1 month or until November or what?

I know with a senior on the team this past year that hadn't sign during the baseball season. They were given him two to three weeks to make a decision after the visit. Hopefully, this doesn't happen with early signees.

I would like to go to these visits with as much knowledge as I possibly can. What are questions that we need to ask during the visit? I'm sure that there are some people out there that left the visit and said, "I should have asked him about this or that".

Thanks for all the help!

 

Excellent advice. I might add, take all your visits, official and unofficial. I took mine, my spouce took his, and my son will take all his. It doesn't hurt to expose yourself to as much as possible. It's a great learning opportunity. Good luck and enjoy the process.

 

I'm kind of out of the loop anymore with recruiting since it's been almost 4 years since I last had an active part in it, but I will say a few things that I don't think have changed. First, don't let any school pressure you into a situation. I don't think I could trust any school that says you have "X" number of weeks to decide if you take their roster spot or not. What changes in that amount of time? If you are good enough today to play for them, then why aren't you good enough in "X" amount of time? Now, I do understand that the money/spot offered may be taken by someone else, but that's a chance to take if you aren't 100% sure that this school is where you'd like to attend. Secondly, make sure you like the coaching staff and school. Don't worry about surroundings and the like. Meaning, just because a school is "in the middle of nowhere", don't let that be the lone reason you don't attend a certain school. The last piece of advice I have is to make sure the coaching staff is being honest. First, about money. Secondly, about the academics and team. If a team were to say, "You will start from day 1," then I'd be really hesitant about them. Odds are they will tell the very next recruit the exact same thing, and only 10 players (w/DH) can start everyday. Also, what happens if you are promised you will start and you don't show up to practice? Are you still going to start? Should you start over someone that's been at all the practices? No school should ever promise starting positions to anyone. This is just an example of ways of being mislead. Just make sure they are shooting straight with you. Good luck to all of you as you go through this exciting time.

 

This link will provide you with any question you will need to go into any interview with a coach.

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/questions_to_ask.htm

 

What I mean

by wait is wait and see what all your options are. Every school that is going to offer your son is not going to offer on the same day. If you take the first offer then you have no idea what all your options are going to be. If your fortunate enough to have several schools interested in you then take as many unofficial visits as possible and ask questions. Sometimes the best people to ask are parents of players that are and have played in that program under that coaching staff. Look at the rosters. Your son is a pitcher so imo that is not as much as a concern as a posistion player. Who is the pitching coach? What kind of success has he had developing players? What is his background? How do the current and former players feel about him? Too many times players focus on the coach that recruits them or the head coach. You need to find out about the guy that you are going to be spending most of your time around. Dont get caught up in the money as hard as that might be to understand. Some kids need more money than others and the value of the player is not always tied to the money offered. It just depends. With the new rule for 08's 33% is probaly the max unless your son is a Porcello etc. And even in these cases 33% might be all that is offered. A programs desire to have your son may mean that he is worthy of the 33% so dont get too caught up in that. And for Gods sake dont listen to other parents who tell you their son is getting 90% etc. Just focus on yourself and not what others tell you about money. And I agree with the other poster if they try to pressure you into a time limit dont be pressured. If they want you they will allow you the time to make a good decision. "We need to know something in a couple of weeks because we need to move on to our next guy as soon as possible if you are not going to come". Of course there is a point where you need to make a decision but you need to take the time to make a good decision. The schools that are really interested are going to ask you to come visit. Make sure your son does not just look at the baseball situation but really looks at the campus and school especially the dorm situation. It does him no good to like the baseball and hate the school. And to me above all do not get caught up in the D-1 thing. The best place for your son to me is a place where he is wanted , can play and likes the school. Sometimes a LR or Wesleyan is the best place and they are outstanding programs. I have known alot of kids that were so stuck on playing D-1 that they put themselves in situations from the get go that were disasters waiting to happen. Good Luck

 

Coach brings up another good point. Many D2 schools are now recruiting outside of NC (specifically Florida) and the reason is the attitudes of many players in NC. We are fortunate to have many D1 schools in our state and if a player doesn't attend one, the inference is he's "playing down".

The players being recruited by D2 schools from other states are excited for the opportunity and realize their dream of playing pro ball have increased (due to having a better opportunity of playing vs riding the bench). As I mentioned before, I wish I could post the names of players that were extraordinary HS players, but ended up being role players (at best) at the D1 level. And the problem with that is....most coaches that recruited them knew that at the beginning.

We have been spoiled with the successes of UNC, USC and Clemson. They only have 9 positions that can play and with a tremendous recruiting year each year, one's chances of starting is very, very tough. And the one's that do start this year, may not the following year as the new class comes in (filled with HS All Americans). Even at the mid major schools, the same scenario occurs. Let's face it, as the quantity and quality of players in NC improve, the opportunities to play at the D1 level will decrease. Heck, the opportunities to start at the D2 schools have decreased.