Recruiting Essentials Mailbag: Hot Button Topics for 2016's

By Sean McCann
Recruiting Essentials Editor

Below is an email we recently received from a parent of a class of 2016 prospect.  As always, we edit the email removing people's names, high schools, colleges and conferences so the focus is on the questions and responses not which player and schools are involved.  This email is loaded with a number of hot button topics that we see repeated in correspondence from prospects and parents, therefore, we have broken down the responses into sections covering each topic in detail.

Our family enjoys reading your weekly articles on college baseball recruiting.  I realize it is difficult for you to give specific answers to most of the questions you get without knowing all of the details of a particular situation but we are in a little bit of a bind right now and can use any information you can provide. 

I have a son who is a left-handed pitcher that is just entering his junior year of high school and he’s received a lot of attention in the last few months.  It seems a lot of big DI schools are interested.  We are definitely excited for September 1^st because as we have learned through reading your posts that is the first day the DI college recruiters can contact juniors directly. 

The dilemma we have is one big DI school has stepped forward.  We recently visited their school and they made a significant offer of 70% which all of it is baseball scholarship money, no academic funds or extra grants.  This school has incredible facilities and we really like the coaches.  They have also seen him pitch several times over the last year, more than any other school by far.  This school is my son’s #1 choice.  They haven’t given us a specific timeline in terms of when they need to know by but they said they operate on a “first come, first serve” basis.  They didn’t really explain this but I think I know what it means. 

Our son’s coach has advised us to wait and he thinks it’s too early for a junior to make his college choice and I tend to agree.  It seems as if a lot of the other schools interested plan on watching him in the fall.  Many have not seen him but have corresponded with his coaches and said they are looking forward to watching him play this fall.  He is going to be playing in several tournaments and other big events this fall.  Our main concern is if he commits now he will never know what might happen on September 1^st with the schools that have yet to offer him, but we also don’t want to miss out on the offer from the first school.  I know this is a lot of information for one email but can you shed light on our situation.  Anything would be appreciated.  We are confused and need help. 

Its true talent has no timetable, but..

I’m a big believer in being patient and that “talent has no timetable” – meaning that if a player is talented enough they will always have options college-wise no matter when they are ready to make a decision. I would never advise a player or his parents on what they “have” to do in terms of picking a particular college and when. However, as I re-read your email I see you have a 70% baseball scholarship offer from a major