Baseball: The recruiting process keeps accelerating

It's pretty amazing that UCLA Coach John Savage already has much of his pitching rotation lined up for 2013 with commitments from junior pitchers Hunter Virant (Camarillo), Max Fried (Montclair Prep) and Lucas Giolito (Harvard-Westlake), among others.

Of course, there's still time for late developers, but it's clear that recruiters are identifying prospects younger and younger, accelerating the recruiting process.

This is a tough call. Parents get upset when students don't make varsity as a freshman or sophomore, fearing it's going to hurt their college scholarship chances. But sometimes playing junior varsity or freshman ball is best for a player's development.

There's discussion in the NCAA about delaying when scholarships can be offered, which might lead to a last-minute stampede of decisions.

The key is parents and athletes need to educate themselves on the rules, get their academics in order and perform. Recruiters will find you.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Comments

[Tbrooks]

Fresh-

You have some great points. This early recruiting is absurd. You are completely wrong about the early offer. It is not against NCAA rules to offer a scholarship. Verbal offers are the norm. You can't sign until Nov of your senior year but many have already already verbally committed and signing is just a formality. There are plenty of quality players available in the spring and summer and most schools have scholarship money left. The MLB draft will normally free up money for most of the schools. It is ok to wait.

[Baseballin1]

Yes, these kids are all Juniors. Giolitto is a particularly high profile young player, Fried not far behind so I don't find it hyper-unusual or absurd for them to be recruited prior to their Senior year.

Didn't Lane Kiffen recruit and get a verbal commit from a 13 year old for football? Now that's stretching it.

[mom]

Oh, wait, I misread that first line.

You are stating that UCLA's Coach has his 2013 line up already.

Sorry about that.

[mom]

The class of 2013 are currently SOPHOMORES, not juniors. That would be the class of 2012.

Shows how much colleges are really pushing if 10th graders and getting scholarship offers and giving verbal committments.

[Baseballin1]

Had no idea this would stir up such heated posts.....I like it. However, I must challenge many of the suppositions:

Team doesn't know what it's getting: That's for the coach to decide and is entirely your opinion. Many kids recruited as seniors don't perform either. Unless you have a case study with evidence on the performance of HS Juniors in college and can back this up, it's meaningless dribble.

Elitism/less effort: not sure what level kids you may be coaching or whether they're all prima-donnas, but in May of their senior year, there's this thing called the Major League Draft. That's plenty of incentive for a kid to perform, especially if they aspire to Pro Ball. Of course not all do. Instead you have to rely on things like pride, self-respect, desire, accountability to school, coaches and teammates. I highly doubt a kid would be recruited in the first place if those characteristics didn't exist. You paint quite a broad brush with your assertion that kids have no motive if they commit early.

There's no rush. Most kids wait but many know what they want and where they want to go, early. Has it occurred to you that procuring an athletic scholarship can be a stressful and debilitating process that can take your focus off of other things like.....schoolwork? I don't hold it against a kid who's worked hard, early and shown the results necessary to procure that scholarship and the interest of Coaches. Perhaps it can take some of the pressure off and allows them to perform better.

Correct, verbals are non-binding and have no legal basis. But pity the coach who throws them around without honoring them. It's a very small community and word travels fast if a coach is pulling those types of tricks.

[Frank Harris]

This blog is right on point in one respect, but totally off on another. While it is true that college coaches are starting earlier and earlier with their recruiting efforts, the fact is that many talented kids will not be "found" by recruiters by happenstance. If you are a 6-5 junior throwing 95 mph, it's definitely true that college recruiters will find you. But if you are 5-11 and throwing 87, waiting for big time Division 1 schools to find you is a recipe for disappointment. For everyone who doesn't fall within that top 1% superstar status, you really need to be proactive and contact coaches yourself.

Both my son (baseball) and daughter (soccer) were talented high school players, but fell outside superstar status. With a little help from www.diyrecruit.com and some initiative on our part, both were able to find great scholarships (albeit not full rides) at schools that never would have found them without our efforts.

If you are serious about playing in college and aren't getting bombarded by college coaches in your sophomore and junior years, take that as a sign that you are not on anyone's radar and do something about it before it is too late.

[CityFan]

fredj,
Good Stuff! The MAJORITY of recruiters look long and hard at prospects, and see them multiple times before offering them. This includes their Junior and Senior seasons. They don't typically make a decion on what they've accomplished as 9th & 10th graders!

[fredj]

This idea of recruiting juniors is absurd.

First, the team doesn't know what it's going to get. Between their junior and senior years of high school, some players get a lot better -- and some get a lot worse. Good grief, if a high school kid is a legitimate draft prospect, how high he gets drafted is often determined by his performance during his senior season.

Second, it fosters a spirit of elitism which is killing high school sports -- and its value to athletes. Kids who sign in November of their senior years (the earliest legal date) have less incentive to give their best effort during their spring baseball seasons. They've earned scholarsips, so they've already "made it". They begin to think of their own success instead of the team's. It's amazing the petty injuries which keep early signs out of games.

What's this "last minute rush" bunk? Thousands of players sign scholarships in the spring. I coach at a junior college where every player earns a scholarship somewhere and, unlike many California CCs, 90% of them are starters at the next level. Every year, well over 90% of our athletes sign between May and July. "Last minute rush"?

Third, this "verbal commitment" business is absolutely hypocritical.

If Johnny verbally commits in his junior year to play at State University, does it mean anything? No. The verbal commitment is not binding. To what offer does Johnny "verbally commit"? State University's baseball coach cannot legally offer him a scholarship until November of his senior year. So, if Johnny "verbally commits" on the basis of a verbal offer from the State U. coach, the relationship begins with an NCAA rules violation. Be sure to take note of all the "values" coach claims he will teach Johnny at State U.

[Baseballin1]

It's no surprise these guys are committing to UCLA. Savage is terrific coach and the program is on the upswing. All these kids will get better under his guidance.