Post by Coach P on Aug 13, 2019 12:58:59 GMT
Below is a great discussion from the HS Baseball site. It's full of significant insight.
Question:
Curious if anyone can offer some insights on the communication process from D1 schools with regards to the Sept 1st date. In the case of my son I'm referring to a 2021 and more HA D1 type institutions. I realize some kids get contacted/early recruited via travel coaches. For those just beneath that level, what are the expectations for the fall? So far, he's gotten a fair amount of interest particularly after a recent multi-school showcase. But almost all of it has been to sign up for camps in the next few weeks. Cynical me says this feels like a fine line between true interest and $$ grab prior to Sept 1st. Post Sept 1st, what kind of coach/recruitment exchanges do you think he can anticipate?
Answers and comments:
It’s easy to tell the difference between a personalized email and boilerplate. If it isn’t personalized it’s a money grab.
Personalized doesn’t mean they placed his name in the right boilerplate spot. Personalized will reference a performance or have something hand written on the side.
What’s amusing is when a college program buys the registration list, tells your son they liked his game at XYZ tournament ... and he didn’t play that weekend.
More curious what the D1 communication will be when they are a bit more unshackled after 9/1. Assuming it will be less immediate camp focused and more on unofficial visits, or potential winter/spring camps post standardized tests.
Don't expect things to change that much after Sept. 1st. You may STILL not know whether the school/coach is interested or it's just a money grab. Or you are 1 of x they are interested in. Or they could be gauging your interest in them. They don't want to work too hard recruiting you unless they know its reciprocal. And by paying for their camp you are showing interest. As you will find repeatedly on this site, you will know true interest when you see/experience it. Everything else is just a camp invite. They may or may not be interested. You can pay big $$$ for a head coach academic camp and then just get camp invites afterwards. The head coach who saw your son there texts him directly and states how much he enjoyed watching him play--then invites him to his $$ camp at his school the following week. So what do you do? Pay more $$ right after that coach (the one who makes the decisions) saw him play at the $$$ head coach academic camp? My response was to have my son thank him and tell him he couldn't make it. I would think if they were truly interested they would work a little harder on their "sell". That being said, if it was a top-school choice for my son then perhaps we would have attended the school's camp.
If your son is on someone's radar come Sept 1 you can expect a smattering of texts, calls, emails + possibly even some snail mail. My son got 2 or 3 letters that were signed by HC's and we were shocked.
I would say, from what we've seen with our 2020 friends, even after they can make contact, initial contact still comes through coaches for the most part. Also, even when things appear to be personalized, they aren't always. My son got a DM on twitter from a coach asking him to attend a camp. We rearranged a few things to make it, dm'd back that he would be there, and they didn't even talk to him. They then called his club coach the next day after seeing some video and asked if he had any interest in their school. They didn't even know he was there for 5 hours the day before. Complete waste of time.
@baseballhs - Yeah that's a bit of my concern for sure. Went to one camp earlier in the summer and perhaps it was early but came away feeling like it wasn't a terrific use of time/money. Do wonder if it's a bit different with someone they've seen in advance, did well at a showcase, etc. Either way, he has his strategy in place which is to simply work on improving, and see how it all shakes out in the Winter/Spring now that he's on some radars (literally and figuratively)
Ask around. Some camps are run very well. Some have a reputation for being run by players and unorganized (what we experienced). That said, we went to two very well run camps with no prior contact and started contact solely due to being seen at the camp. I don't discourage camps at all, you are in a smaller pool of kids and sometimes it is easier to standout and be noticed than hoping to be seen at a tournament, but do your research.
I would say that unless your kid is a can't miss prospect for them (P5/high level mid major caliber) most of the more serious conversations will take place next summer. A lot of these schools don't have much if any money to play around with and want to make sure you are essentially a done deal before they offer. They also need to make sure grades and test scores are there before moving forward. Most don't take it until middle or end of Jr year. Unless he's receiving phone calls/texts/personalized emails don't worry about it too much.
Identified as talent will trigger HA interest but I will also add that it is a MUST to have test scores before a HA D1 will recruit. You did mention that your son does not have test scores? When my son went through his journey, every school requested his transcripts and test scores before they went full force. After they received them each school made their decision to continue recruiting or not. HA D1 have the same goal of pursuing the best players on the Sept 1 date that every other school has but also have to meet academic guidelines. If guidelines like Academic Index and school's selective min admission requirement can't be met then there is not reason to move forward with the recruiting. Most schools were pretty transparent and let you know pretty early on where the player was on their recruiting board.
Sept 1 is not some be all end all day. Many guys will have their phone blowing up. If your son's does not, do not panic! Make sure you are fishing in the right pond (I think that is Fenway speak!) and keep working hard and improve test scores if needed.
Question:
Curious if anyone can offer some insights on the communication process from D1 schools with regards to the Sept 1st date. In the case of my son I'm referring to a 2021 and more HA D1 type institutions. I realize some kids get contacted/early recruited via travel coaches. For those just beneath that level, what are the expectations for the fall? So far, he's gotten a fair amount of interest particularly after a recent multi-school showcase. But almost all of it has been to sign up for camps in the next few weeks. Cynical me says this feels like a fine line between true interest and $$ grab prior to Sept 1st. Post Sept 1st, what kind of coach/recruitment exchanges do you think he can anticipate?
Answers and comments:
It’s easy to tell the difference between a personalized email and boilerplate. If it isn’t personalized it’s a money grab.
Personalized doesn’t mean they placed his name in the right boilerplate spot. Personalized will reference a performance or have something hand written on the side.
What’s amusing is when a college program buys the registration list, tells your son they liked his game at XYZ tournament ... and he didn’t play that weekend.
More curious what the D1 communication will be when they are a bit more unshackled after 9/1. Assuming it will be less immediate camp focused and more on unofficial visits, or potential winter/spring camps post standardized tests.
Don't expect things to change that much after Sept. 1st. You may STILL not know whether the school/coach is interested or it's just a money grab. Or you are 1 of x they are interested in. Or they could be gauging your interest in them. They don't want to work too hard recruiting you unless they know its reciprocal. And by paying for their camp you are showing interest. As you will find repeatedly on this site, you will know true interest when you see/experience it. Everything else is just a camp invite. They may or may not be interested. You can pay big $$$ for a head coach academic camp and then just get camp invites afterwards. The head coach who saw your son there texts him directly and states how much he enjoyed watching him play--then invites him to his $$ camp at his school the following week. So what do you do? Pay more $$ right after that coach (the one who makes the decisions) saw him play at the $$$ head coach academic camp? My response was to have my son thank him and tell him he couldn't make it. I would think if they were truly interested they would work a little harder on their "sell". That being said, if it was a top-school choice for my son then perhaps we would have attended the school's camp.
If your son is on someone's radar come Sept 1 you can expect a smattering of texts, calls, emails + possibly even some snail mail. My son got 2 or 3 letters that were signed by HC's and we were shocked.
I would say, from what we've seen with our 2020 friends, even after they can make contact, initial contact still comes through coaches for the most part. Also, even when things appear to be personalized, they aren't always. My son got a DM on twitter from a coach asking him to attend a camp. We rearranged a few things to make it, dm'd back that he would be there, and they didn't even talk to him. They then called his club coach the next day after seeing some video and asked if he had any interest in their school. They didn't even know he was there for 5 hours the day before. Complete waste of time.
@baseballhs - Yeah that's a bit of my concern for sure. Went to one camp earlier in the summer and perhaps it was early but came away feeling like it wasn't a terrific use of time/money. Do wonder if it's a bit different with someone they've seen in advance, did well at a showcase, etc. Either way, he has his strategy in place which is to simply work on improving, and see how it all shakes out in the Winter/Spring now that he's on some radars (literally and figuratively)
Ask around. Some camps are run very well. Some have a reputation for being run by players and unorganized (what we experienced). That said, we went to two very well run camps with no prior contact and started contact solely due to being seen at the camp. I don't discourage camps at all, you are in a smaller pool of kids and sometimes it is easier to standout and be noticed than hoping to be seen at a tournament, but do your research.
I would say that unless your kid is a can't miss prospect for them (P5/high level mid major caliber) most of the more serious conversations will take place next summer. A lot of these schools don't have much if any money to play around with and want to make sure you are essentially a done deal before they offer. They also need to make sure grades and test scores are there before moving forward. Most don't take it until middle or end of Jr year. Unless he's receiving phone calls/texts/personalized emails don't worry about it too much.
Identified as talent will trigger HA interest but I will also add that it is a MUST to have test scores before a HA D1 will recruit. You did mention that your son does not have test scores? When my son went through his journey, every school requested his transcripts and test scores before they went full force. After they received them each school made their decision to continue recruiting or not. HA D1 have the same goal of pursuing the best players on the Sept 1 date that every other school has but also have to meet academic guidelines. If guidelines like Academic Index and school's selective min admission requirement can't be met then there is not reason to move forward with the recruiting. Most schools were pretty transparent and let you know pretty early on where the player was on their recruiting board.
Sept 1 is not some be all end all day. Many guys will have their phone blowing up. If your son's does not, do not panic! Make sure you are fishing in the right pond (I think that is Fenway speak!) and keep working hard and improve test scores if needed.