COLLEGE - Tips and Facts for the College Selection/Recruitment Process

Selecting the right college is a difficult process for every high school student. When the prospect of playing a collegiate sport is thrown into the mix, it becomes even more complex. Here are some tips to consider when you have aspirations of continuing your baseball career at an institution of higher education.

Note: Parents of and baseball players should first be aware that baseball is not a revenue generating sport. Football and basketball bring in money to the college/university, where as baseball is an expense, with the exception of a handful of schools. What this means is scholarship money is limited and there is very little (if any) flexibility from the admissions department.

The School

Determine the geographic location you desire. Do you want to be within one hour of home, two hours, four hours? Or are you looking to go far from home? Attending a college that is great distance from home sounds intriguing to kids, but the reality is that the majority of students would rather be close enough to a car-ride away from home.

Consider what type of environment you would like to live in for the next four years. Do you want to be in an urban or suburban setting? Would you like to go to a large school with big numbers and anonymity, or a smaller school with conservative class sizes and a community feel?

Eliminate schools whose academic standards are far above your record. If you don’t have the grades or SAT scores to gain admittance, it is likely you won’t be admitted or could handle the academic workload.

Try to select a major study of interest and identify schools that offer that major study. If you’re going to college, you should have an idea of why you’re continuing your education. What interests you? What are your strengths? A student should select their major within the first year of college or it is extremely difficult to graduate in four years.

Draw up a list of three safety schools (schools you’re certain to be admitted), three match schools (schools that you should gain admittance), and three stretch schools (schools where you hope to be admitted).

Talk to a friend, family member, or acquaintance who has attended the college. Find out as much as possible about their experience and if they recommend it.

Consider community college, especially if you’re uncertain of a major field of study or if you question whether or not you can handle college academia. The introductory courses are similar to four-year schools and will likely be transferable to a four-year institution, but at a much lesser cost for those first two years.

Ask yourself, if I go to this school and baseball doesn’t work out, would I stay? The answer should be, “Yes.”

Baseball

Are you receiving interest from local colleges? If so, are they Division I, II, III or JUCO schools? This should give you some measure of what college coaches think of your ability.

Go to college baseball games to witness with your own eyes the level of talent on the field. This should give you a sense of where you fit in.

Does the baseball program you have interest in (or shows interest in you) offer the field of study that you want to pursue? Your studies should be the primary reason you select a college, not the baseball program.

Peruse the current roster of players at your school(s) of interest. Identify whether there are underclassmen at your position or if that school will be in need of your position in the next two years. Even though you may have the ability to play at a school, timing is a factor. Who the coaches recruit is largely based on their immediate need.

Check the rosters to recognize where the majority of players reside. This will give you a good idea of their recruiting areas. Most college baseball rosters consist of players that live in-state or in neighboring states.

For players from the northeast, it is extremely difficult to secure a roster spot down south. The simplest reason is that they don’t need players from the north. With that, it’s very rare for a player from the south to come up and play north. As a result, college coaches have plenty of talent to choose from down south whom they have much greater familiarity with. Hard-throwing pitchers from the north have the best chance of playing in the southern states.

There are exceptional Division II and III baseball programs. Don’t assume that the only college baseball that is good occurs in Division I. In fact, there are several successful Division III programs that would regularly defeat lower level Division I baseball teams.

When visiting a school, talk to players on the team and ask them about the coaching staff. Ask them about the personality of the coaches, if they provide opportunity for players, what type of atmosphere they create, etc. There are a lot of great college coaches out there who are great people, but there are also coaches who have a different face and personality that you won’t see during a recruiting visit.

Be careful of custom camp invitations. College programs acquire mailing lists from showcases, high schools, legion programs, tournament rosters, etc. Receiving an invitation is not a guarantee that the school is recruiting you. Camps are a form of recruiting, but they also provide a forum to eliminate prospective players as well as a tool for generating income for the program.

Be wary of being invited to attend walk-on tryouts, especially in Division I baseball. This is not an invitation to be a member on the team. Walk-on tryouts are typically a formality. Coaches are searching for a diamond in the rough that was somehow missed. In most cases, rosters are already set with returning players and recruited freshman.

Find out if you’re NCAA Clearinghouse eligible to play Division I baseball. If not, it’s not a viable option.

Money/Scholarship

In NCAA Division I CollegeBaseball, the maximum amount of athletic scholarships a school has for its program is 11.7. The 11.7 scholarships are spread out amongst the team at the discretion of the head baseball coach. Most college baseball teams carry an average of 30 players on their roster. Many Division I schools have less than the maximum amount of 11.7 scholarships. Depending on what is allocated to their program by their individual institution, a Division I baseball program could have 9.2 scholarships, 7.6 scholarships, or 3.8 scholarships available for its entire team.

As a result … it is extremely, extremely rare for a baseball player to be offered a full athletic scholarship. Most of these stories are tales. An offer of a half-scholarship for baseball, for example, is a very good offer. Because the amounts are often embellished by scholarship recipients, parents or players are sometimes insulted by what is in reality a healthy offer. Any partial offer of a scholarship is positive for two reasons. First, it defers some cost of your education. Second, it verifies that the coach (and program) wants you to come to his school and that you’ll have a spot on the roster the fall of your freshman year.

scholarships can go up and down throughout college. Money can be given or taken away. Players can receive more money in their second, third or fourth year if money opens up. Players can also receive less money throughout their tenure if they don’t perform up to par or become academic or disciplinary risks.

Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships in any sport.

Other Monies

Make sure you investigate your eligibility for academic grants or financial aid. Whether money comes from athletic scholarship, academic scholarships, or grants, it helps defray the cost of tuition.