Close in the D1 rankings to Rice is Cal Poly which could be worth a look.
Lots of good D3 options - seconding Denison and Wesleyan, and I’d add Emory, which is a particularly excellent school for all types of data analytics, from their Quantitative Theory and Methods majors Quantitative Sciences Major to the Sports Analytics work being done in the business school https://www.fandomanalytics.com/about
Wow. Thank you all for the input. This is such an active site. I love the consensus opinion that he doesn’t need to worry too much about the ECs. I’ll leave him alone… a bit. I would prefer not to pay $80k/yr but could do so for the right school (if ROI was reasonable). I’m hoping for a combo athletic and merit money if D1/D2 and some merit at D3.
He does play summer club ball. Not on a “National” invite team but the next level down; a top regional team. They are a top 50 team in country for age class and the club is well known.
He’ll be in AP Calc BC in senior year.
That list by Austennut is much appreciated and probably pretty good ability wise except Vandy/Wake Forest are not possible. That said, I worry about the risk of him wanting to transfer if baseball doesn’t work out at some of those D1s (40 man rosters now and all sorts of craziness).
I’ve been selling him that he should go to an academically good school which is well within or even a little beneath his ability. It’s no fun to work hard and sit on a bench. And I want him to be a one-stop college kid.
You are right that current rosters are huge, and the transfer portal was crazy when it opened last week (something like a thousand guys entered it within the first few hours).
Remember when he is looking that many D1/2 teams (in particular, but some D3s do this too) will bring in JUCO guys for their junior/senior years, so even though it may look like there will be lots of juniors and seniors graduating, more may be coming in each year. Look at roster history and ask coaches about this as he starts talking with coaches.
I still am not sure what baseball level he is at, but there is significant baseball talent crossover between D1/2/3. (Not going to add in NAIA or JUCO to complicate things, unless JUCO in particular appeals to him).
Even as a recruit, playing time won’t be guaranteed. And every year the coach is trying to get better players than what he currently has, whether thru recruiting incoming first years, or taking guys from the portal. There is also much coach turnover, which is another wild card that often is tough on the current players, especially if they find themselves not in favor with the new coach. Basically, I’m saying choose the school for the school, and not the coach/team…I know that’s not always entirely possible of course, as the best fit schools might not be offering a baseball playing opportunity.
Ah… You are clearly in the know on college baseball. I think he is too good of a student to go to a JUCO just to try to develop baseball wise and transfer to a top D1. Ability wise, I’m pretty sure he would be desired by even the top baseball D3s. (But he might really hate playing at a lower level D3).
I was curious what people thought of Patriot league schools like Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, Holy Cross. I believe they are not well funded in terms of baseball scholarships so the main money a kid might get is merit money. Those are all pretty good academic schools that have a bit of STEM focus.
My D graduated from Lafayette a few years ago and had a fantastic experience in every respect (although I can’t opine on any baseball related things). FWIW I’m a fan of all the Patriot League schools you mentioned above. Feel free to message me if you want any information on Lafayette.
Everyone has a different approach to recruiting, and what works for one family doesn’t for another.
My view is that it’s better to be an impact player on a team. One, it makes recruiting easier, and two, the player is less likely to get zero playing time, or even get cut. My son’s sport is soccer, and every year 2-4 kids leave the team, voluntarily because they see the writing on the wall, or involuntarily. The competition does not stop once you’ve made a college team.
My advice would be to read this forum thoroughly and start contacting schools. Cast a very wide net, of all levels of schools. Don’t be put off by academic reputation-- the University of Chicago most certainly recruits! (MIT is a bit iffier). You could easily have 50+ schools on this initial list. The number will go down as you continue through this process.
I know or know of several kids in my city who have gotten into Princeton based on athletic prowess – two in baseball and one in football. While their academics were not stellar (they were decent), their athletic abilities were. I don’t know how the recruiting with a school like Princeton would work – does the high school coach contact the college coach? Do you send in video highlights? – but I think that Princeton might be a place to look at more closely.
Of course – and as I’m sure you’re aware – playing a D-1 sport is essentially like having a full time job in addition to taking classes. Good luck to your son wherever he lands!
A few random thoughts: There are still players on rosters (and grad students) benefiting from the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility because of COVID, impacting recruiting. Many otherwise D1 recruitable players have gone the CC route to buy themselves a few more years and wait out the logjam. If playing time is the dealbreaker, I would recommend targeting DIII. You’ll probably find a wider mix of academic matches than DII. DI baseball scholarships are usually only 1/3, so you’d end up paying even in the best case scenario, and the fight for playing time (and cuts) are pretty ruthless at that level. Unlike the revenue sports, the talent gap in baseball is not as wide. MLB has drafted from small DIII LAC’s like Pomona-Pitzer and Haverford, and a pitcher just transferred from DIII Carleton to Univ. of Washington. I would recommend looking at Pomona-Pitzer/Claremont-Mudd/Occidental/Cal Tech, as well as the NESCAC schools, all of which are likely to be fielding players caught in the DI logjam, and who play in populated areas with a critical mass of similar institutions. If he still aspires to DI, some of the major programs start offering as early as 8th/9th grade, so you might want to look at a sleeper program (like UC San Diego, which won the Big West but couldn’t go to the CWS because they’re in the 5-year transition period to D1, and which has top-notch academics, esp. in the sciences, or an up and coming program like Grand Canyon University.)
If your son is a pitcher, please post velo and spin rates!
My DS24 is a high academic D1 baseball recruit who has (verbally) committed to T10 school.
Your son’s SAT and GPA are fine if he is indeed a recruitable D1 athlete, at least for high level D1 schools. It seemed to me that schools like Pomona, Johns Hopkins, (D2/D3 high academics) were more interested in his grades and test scores than the D1s.
Make sure he is taking max rigor available in most subjects. Schools have only asked for my son’s transcripts and test scores, never inquired about any other activities.
I would suggest 1: sign him up for an academic showcase ASAP (headfirst honor roll, PG, any regional ones). That is how my son initially got noticed. If he wants to go Ivy ( and HE should want to, not just you - big commitment) he should get involved soon as they do recruiting for the next year’s class very early - ex: They have finished recruiting by now for 2024s.
We found that the Ivy League ( and I would assume other high academic schools) have several pros to them: they are not really affected by the transfer portal, as people are not transferring in and out of them they way they can in larger schools. They are a bit constrained by what kids they take because of academics, and if it’s Ivy, you need to be a family that can/ is willing to pay full price or have enough need to make it financially palatable. There aren’t too many high level baseball players in that situation, was my observation. Also, because they take so few players (7 or 8 max per year), my DS24 will most likely be playing freshman year (this is dependent upon your DS’s skill level of course). You have a core group of players the coaches have committed to the team for 4 years, without people coming in & out as transfers. Also, Ivies don’t allow the 5th year grad student situation, so those kids are not around - they go to another school to play the 5th year.
This is all baseball-specific, to the schools I have dealt with this year. And it also can change - schools that said they were not requiring SAT minimums did start requiring them. But I can say that your son’s is well within the range we were quoted by multiple schools. (Range of 1280 to 1440).
They won’t say it, but being a recruited athlete often boosts your merit money (if there is a range rather than a stated auto merit). Many people prefer this. Use the broken leg test. If there is an injury and your student can no longer play 1) would they still want to go there? and 2) can they still afford it? Increased merit (rather than sports specific) makes #2 possible.
Just great info. We’re planning for Showball this year then Headfirst next year if he doesn’t get D1 interest this summer/fall.
hmm. Interesting observations on the Ivy league. No athletic scholarships and baseball is an expensive sport. Locally I don’t know any kids who play at high level, get really good grades, AND also clearly qualify for financial need. So a family has to be willing to pony up the full tab to go to an Ivy…
Even with a D1 scholarship, you will likely only get a quarter to a third. I would not underestimate the generosity of Ivy FA. Have you run an NPC at a couple of them?
As a sophomore lefty sitting at 83-85, he will get some D1 interest this summer, but I don’t think anyone will bite hard until they see him summer between junior/senior and he can get his sitting velo up to at least mid to high 80’s. He also shouldn’t pooh pooh D3’s where he will be a top recruit and likely be a 4 year starter. Unless he has pro aspirations, a D3 might give him the best combination of a top level education and competitive baseball which is not a full time job. Both of my kids were at the lower D1 upper D3 level as we went through the recruiting process, and for the most part the difference between D1 and D3 players for baseball was physicality, not necessarily skill.
Agreed. He is a D1 bubble kid for sure. Crazy. 10 years ago, he would have been easy D1. I ran the calculators and it’s a no for money. lol, I’ve saved too much; particularly in 529.
This Forbes article from several years ago on colleges worth their expense includes examples such as the University of Chicago and some from the NESCAC and Ivy League, and may be worth a view:
Very nice. There are certainly players around here throwing in DI with similar measurables in their senior year.
The concerns about COVID-related roster glut should be lessened by the time a 2025 grad enrolls. Coaches like to go deep on pitchers too. Even if he’s not a starter or high-leverage reliever right away, there’s always a place for someone to eat innings during mid-week, non-league games.
4.2 weighted GPA, high rigor (honors and 8 APs) private college prep school.
SAT 1400, just retook this past weekend to try to get as high as possible, as “the higher the better” we were told for his application and the first time he had no prep at all. He does still have to be admitted, but will have full support of the coach.
From what I gathered (and note that this is baseball specific) from many of these top schools, the minimum they are looking for is a 3.7 UW, and a 3.9 UW if your SAT is under 1300. When my son was first noticed by an Ivy League school, they keyed in on the fact that he went to a college prep school .
And his twin sister has a higher GPA, a 35 ACT and a 1570 SAT and we know it would be a lottery ticket situation if she got into the school he is going to. Athletics is definitely a hook.