my son plays D3 baseball. He picked his school then pursued playing baseball after that decision was made. His coach had never seen him play before he showed up at the first fall practice but gave him a shot. He earned all conference honors his first season, while over half of the guys who were “recruited” and came in with him as a freshman have now quit in year 2.
I’m telling you this because when a coach says “never say never” - its true. In D3 kids will cut themselves over playing time, or decide the work load (which is a LOT) is not worth the lack of scholarship, injury, etc.
Ask yourself how much you would pay for your son to play on a summer team that he wanted to be on. $1000, $2000 at most? Now, ask yourself how much you would pay for him to be on the roster of the team, but only as a practice player. $500? The college team is nothing more than that. The overwhelming odds are against any D3 player from ever playing anything but recreational ball past college- don’t get sucked into spending tens of thousands of dollars on a dream that isn’t going to happen.
Walks ons, and preferred walk ons, are a part of college sports. Some can, and do, play for the college team. Best way to approach this is to assume that your son will be able to practice, but not play for the team. If you, and he, are OK with that arrangement, then enroll. If not, don’t.
My son was recruited by multiple D3’s to play ball. If he can not play there, for whatever reason, he will still be pumped about going to school there. The school that was finally chosen was also a financial fit for our family.
Many recruited players get little to no playing time. They just tend to get more chances than a walk on to prove that they can play.
OP - I see your concern that the D3 school is just trying to get your son to commit and he has no real chance but I doubt it is just because you would be full pay. All of the schools are concerned about yield so I think that it is normal practice to “sell” the school to all admitted students.
But, it sounds like the coach is being straight with you - he might play and he might not. At least your S has been told he has a spot on the team. I’m not sure any D3 coach will give a guarantee of playing time. You never know how kids will develop. I’ve seen freshman who are so amazing that a senior gets benched.
Has your S been able to talk to current team members? Maybe they could give him a sense of the level of play and commitment the team would require.
What does his other college choice offer for his sport - could he play at Club level?
This sounds like a “glass half empty/glass half full” situation.
The reality is that if he improves significantly (relative to the other players who will also be improving), he will probably have a shot at playing.
The problem is that “work hard” is a relative term and that “hard work” does not always result in significant improvement.
“Working hard” at the college level means year-round nutrition, skills, aerobic, and strength/flexibility training with some highly skilled/professional guidance. It is a big time commitment that many are not willing to make.
Also, an extremely strong player could show up at his position in a subsequent recruiting class (or the person ahead of him could drop out or get injured). This is true for existing starters as well.
Sports are very Darwinian. There are no playing time guarantees unless you are a superstar, continue to work hard and manage to avoid injuries.
An interesting sanity check would be the number of hours your son has spent improving his skill since the conversation with the coach…
“Also, an extremely strong player could show up at his position in a subsequent recruiting class (or the person ahead of him could drop out or get injured). This is true for existing starters as well.”
Yup. My kid’s college coach used to say “I’m trying to recruit your replacement, not your backup.”
“Also, an extremely strong player could show up at his position in a subsequent recruiting class (or the person ahead of him could drop out or get injured). This is true for existing starters as well.”
Yup. My kid’s college coach used to say “I’m trying to recruit your replacement, not your backup”
Yep and that’s also life. Your kid’s employer will be doing the same thing.