<p>I've been on this site for the past year trying to get my daughter (non-athlete) prepared for the college search and application process. She'll be starting to submit her apps next week to her EA schools.</p>
<p>Now, it's time to start thinking about my son LOL. He is a HS sophmore RHP, and I have some concerns. </p>
<p>I've pretty much eliminated DI and will focus on DIII opportunities in the northeast. It seems as though a lot of people have their plans set by the time they start their junior year of HS. This means that he'll need to showcase this summer after sophmore year? I don't think he'll be ready, physically. He is on the younger side for his grade, with some of his friends almost a full year older than him. He turned 15 end of the summer.</p>
<p>Are there any options once he hits his senior year of HS? The colleges are playing at the same time as HS, so he won't be seen senior year. By the time summer ball rolls around, arent' the colleges pretty much set with who is coming. Just from my daughters experience she'll know where she is going, in some cases, by Dec. Doesn't seem like there is a way to make this happen.</p>
<p>His biggest obstacle is velocity. I know he's young and will continue to get bigger and stronger, but the radar gun doesn't lie. I pitched at a small D2 school many, many years ago so I know what i'm looking at and am very realistic. He's been cursed with my fastball LOL. </p>
<p>He has been doing strength training for the past few years and also works with an ex major leaguer. He's about 5' 10" and hasn't filled out at all - he's about 140lbs. He hasn't been clocked since last spring where he was only around 71. Not sure if he can make up that much in the next two years - or less depending on how the process works. Could you expect 3-5mph a year? That only puts him at 80. Right now, he has good late movement on his FB with a good curve and CU. However, I know what college coaches are going to be looking for. </p>
<p>Academically, he should be in pretty good shape. he's taking the PSAT as I type this, and his practice tests have converted to a 1900-2000 SAT, with no prep. So, I think some of the better academic schools may be possible.</p>
<p>Some D1’s have the bulk of their recruiting class by the beginning of the HS junior year - but not most of the D1’s. Most of the players are recruited during the summer after their junior year at the many showcases, tournaments and camps. In the fall of the senior year are several significant showcases (e.g., Arizona Senior Fall classic, Headfirst Jupiter Florida).</p>
<p>Even more important is the improvement your son can make. He has several things working for him: he is young for his grade which means he is just scratching the surface to his terminal velocity (which, you are right is the single most important pitching component evaluated). At 15, S was a light throwing (72 mph) pitcher standing 5’ 8" weighing 125. At 19 he’s 6’ 170 (after a year of college training) throwing 90+. Adding 5 mph/year can be done - with a great pitching coach (with a track history of developing HS pitchers) who bonds with your S; intense commitment and effort. The other thing he has working in his favor are academics - the better the grades/scores the more options.</p>
<p>If Monstor (one of our posters) would offer up his experience, it will help. I hear that he is developing very nicely at an Ivy school as a RHP - he is from the northeast who really worked on his velo during HS.</p>
<p>D3’s really only begin recruiting in the fall of the senior year so for D3’s ball there is plenty of time. But I would not rule out the push for lower end (e.g., Ivy, Patriot league) D1.</p>
<p>thanks for the info. Your son made great strides velo wise. His pitching coach has told him he’s seen plenty of kids start HS throwing 80 and leaving HS throwing 80, and he’s seen kids like your son. I guess you just don’t know and all we can do is wait and continue to work.</p>
<p>I can not offer any advice about the pitching. I can offer input about D3 recruiting. We were very happy with our HeadFirst experience. Son attended this past summer as a rising senior. We have been all about the academic side of the equation in this process so we were happy that there was an event such as Headfirst. In my opinion and experience if you want to go the academic D3 route then summer between junior & senior year is fine - a bit earlier for Ivy & Patriot league. There is a Headfirst event in Jupiter that is held in November. I was on their conference call for this event and they talked about seniors and recruiting. They mentioned that it is not too late BUT that you do not have alot of time to waste so the player has to be much more proactive and direct about contacting coaches and making sure that they are seen at the event by the coaches of schools that they are interested in etc
As I previously mentioned we were very happy with the Headfirst experience. Son also attended some camps at individual schools (we were less than thrilled with these). In hind sight, for us, Headfirst is all that was needed. Son had 20 coaches contact him (some more aggressively than others) after the event. He also had a few coaches speak with him at the actual event so in total about 24 coaches contacted him. He narrowed his list down and visited 6 schools and is now working on a ED application, supported by the coach, at a highly selective LAC. The coach already ran his transcripts & scores through admissions for a pre-read before he met with us and was given the thumbs up from admissions. I hope this helps! It has been an interesting journey!</p>
<p>Tellchoo, your son sounds exactly like mine - a pitcher with great pitches and academics but questionable velocity, but he’s a senior. We too are interested in the Northeast DIII LAC schools. </p>
<p>First, check out the test scores for the schools you’re interested in at Collegeboard.org. Those schools tend to be very competitive academically, and you don’t want to waste your time dreaming if your kid would not fit there. We did the full summer tour through them, and they’re looking for 3.8+ GPA kids who’ve taken a solid (probably 4 to 6 course) load of AP classes. </p>
<p>If your kid may qualify, then I agree with PBCMom that the Headfirst Honor Roll showcases are the way to go if you’re looking for academically elite schools. We went to the August camps in Long Island, and everything they say on their web site about the coaches who show up and the access to coaches is true. Offers were indeed made on the spot. But, my son went to his first one in August, and it was pretty clear that many of the coaches had seen a lot of the kids in at least one other showcase, and one of my son’s summerball teammates in fact had been to a previous Honor Roll showcase. But it can be expensive - about $900 for a two-day showcase. </p>
<p>As far as velocity goes, my son is skinny and a late bloomer, so he probably tops out probably at about 80 MPH now, and that has been holding him back, even for D3. Even though he struck out a bunch of guys at the Headfirst showcase and made 'em silly doing so with his movement, the radar gun did not lie.</p>
<p>What I’d recommend doing for kids who can’t hit 90 on the gun is to establish a relationship with coaches at schools that you’re interested in, even if it’s just early emails and filling out their online questionnaire. You can then sporadically tell 'em about his accomplishments and stats, so they realize that he can be effective without speed. But, if the first time they hear of him all they can tell is that he’s a kid who doesn’t have much velocity, he won’t have that track record. Just my two cents… Good luck!</p>
<p>What about the average “B” student? What is the process for them? My son is junior playing 3B and catcher. He does have AP and honor classes. Are there any tournaments besides HeadFirst - which are geared towards a higher academic level? Any feed back is appreciated!</p>
<p>Perfect Game Academic Showcase is what you describe as an alternative to Head First. My son did not attend it nor do I know any more about it other what you can find on the Internet. However, Perfect Game is the largest baseball scouting service in the world and they do a very good job for their customers (colleges, MLB scouts & recruits). </p>
<p>Keep in mind most of the academic schools that attend the academic showcases are looking for recruits that fit their admissions profile. An average “B” student is only one part of the equation. Academic rigor (AP classes), standardized tests, teacher recommendations can be huge in tipping the scales. If you research this and find that your son COULD be accepted at these schools (with his current profile) then I would attend either HeadFirst or PG Academic or both or something like them. The academic showcases can give you the exposure that your son needs. Recruited = Passion + Skill + Exposure + Luck.</p>
<p>As for the OPs original question: Baseball: Does the “process” have to be done by start of junior year?</p>
<p>Absolutely No. Some of the top basebball programs (ie ACC, SEC, PAC10) may have most of their commitments but everybody else will not. There is a timeline to this, and it starts with the schools high on the recruiting “food chain” (already mentioned) and works it way down to D3 due to the NCAA recruiting guidelines of the Division, admissions dates & policies and frankly the recruit’s talent or skills. In our experience, mid D1s really started in earnest in the junior year Spring, and D3s got involved in the late summer/early Fall of rising Senior year. We got involved with Ivys in July and August of rising senior year. Over the last two years, I haven’t seen or heard of that recruiting timetable changing that much. I know the NCAA set some times back,but really it hasn’t changed all that much. The bottom line is you have get exposure early, continue to get exposure throughout the process until you sign an NLI or are officially admitted. While getting that exposure, you should reach out to those colleges you are interested in, and reply to those colleges that are interested in you. Good luck.</p>
<p>Fenway South offers some excellent advice. I would only take issue with a comment that he made AS IT APPLIES TO THE ORIGINAL POSTER. Fenway said, “D3s got involved in the late summer/early Fall of rising Senior year.” My experience is that they are tracking kids much sooner, and perhaps if you are a truly talented kid that will be early enough. But, for a kid who’s not going to light up anyone’s radar gun, he’ll likely get lost in the shuffle. That pitcher has to get the coach interested early and establish a track record of consistent performances, both in games (i.e., with his stats) and at more than one showcase, so the coach feels comfortable with this player as both a performer and a teammate. Kids with lower velocity have to have consistent control, and a coach will want to see that a kid like that can consistently hit the strike zone. They’re more forgiving of a kid who can throw 92 MPH and may be willing to give him an offer after clocking two or three pitches. </p>
<p>In effect, the kid is the coach’s equivalent of a safety school - i.e., “Even if I can’t recruit the hotshot who may get snapped up by an Ivy or D1 school, I’d accept the alternative of having to fall back to Tellchoo’s son or someone like him and see how he develops.” Since there are a lot more kids who can throw in the low-to-mid 80’s than there are who can throw in the 90’s, the coach knows he can find someone like that to fill out the roster. You want to make sure that – among those kids – your kid is the safest bet.</p>
<p>A good place to check out about early recruiting issues is <a href=“http://www.recruitingrealities.com%5B/url%5D”>http://www.recruitingrealities.com</a> . It’s a recruiting advisory service that sells their lecture services to high schools, rather than to individual players, so they’re much less biased. They suggest laying preliminary groundwork in the sophomore year. </p>
<p>BTW, your questions about how much velocity your kid will develop is, of course, better suited to a baseball-oriented site than here, as valid as it is. You might go to Thecompletepitcher.com for example or the “I am a Pitcher” Facebook page (<a href=“Facebook - log in or sign up”>Facebook - log in or sign up). And, of course, much depends on the gene pool that a kid comes from. In my family, for example, men always get their growth late, so my son’s velocity is catching up to that of pitchers who got their growth early and were dazzling everyone with their 80 MPH fastballs at 14 and are throwing 82MPH at 17. But, yeah, hard work with trainers who know what they’re doing can make a difference.</p>
<p>There are plenty of DIII options for his senior year. My son started contacting coaches the spring of his junior year and posting video. He went to some camps (Headfirst was a great experience for him) both the summers before his junior and senior year. Ultimately, he was recruited strictly off video from 3 of the 4 colleges and the process didn’t really get rolling from the coaches end until the fall of his senior year.</p>
<p>Thanks for bringing up a good point that needs clarificiation. I agree with you that D3 coaches will be tracking some D1 talented kids who may be looking at D3 for mostly their academic experience. There is no question about that in our experience. We actually had a couple D3 coaches write personal letters of introduction after seeing my son pitch in the Fall of junior year. Some of these kids have both D1 and D3 options to consider, and the coach is hoping the recruit will chose the latter beause he knows he can get the recruit through Admissions. However, the majority of D3 exposure and recruiting decisions happens in the summer/fall before senior year. By no means does it hurt to try to get in front of these coaches or reach out to them earlier in the process.</p>
<p>Fenway, thanks for the clarification; I think we’re on the same page. My concern when you wrote "“D3s got involved in the late summer/early Fall of rising Senior year” is that by ‘involved’ it meant that coaches hadn’t really done much looking until then. In fact, even apart from the top D1 projects that they won’t to poach, they are avidly looking at filling out their rosters with other rising seniors at the BEGINNING of the summer. With your clarification about the coaches making final DECISIONS later in the summer and in the fall, I can agree with your comment. Any kid who’s not on the coach’s radar by the beginning of the Fall is at risk of being ignored unless he’s got ‘can’t miss’ talent, because the coaches have to then start pushing their top prospect to agree to apply early decision while simultaneously getting a ‘likely letter’ or ‘pre-read’ from the admissions office.</p>