Provey's Pen: Modern Day Recruiting

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Welcome back to the third edition of Provey’s Pen! If you’ve made it this far, then I greatly appreciate your support and would love to hear feedback plus input on other topics you’d like for me to discuss. Feel free to reach out via email ([email protected]) or twitter DMs (@coltonprovey; @pbrtennessee). Also if you haven’t done so already, we recently launched our PBR Tennessee facebook page, so please give that a follow/like!

Today, we’ll dive into modern day recruiting, and I’ll share some of my views to help manage this process. There will be some basic principles to help guide players/parents, touching on some basic 101 then we can expand some more into other views more in depth for later articles (Please reach out as instructed above). This is a very complex topic, and it can go a lot of different directions, so we’ll see plenty of side-topics to come out of this. 

As I mentioned in our first article, my recruitment phase was from 2010-2017 (spanning from high school through college). I probably pitched 400-500 innings in that span between Fall/Spring/Summers, but there is a very limited number of videos floating around of my abilities on the mound. I probably had one “prospect video” in high school with a behind the mound view, which probably has less than 250 views in a decade, and I can’t recall another video that I could share until my sophomore year in college from the Juco World Series. Spin rate technology was coming in at the tail end of my playing days, but even then I didn’t have access to that information, let alone be able to dissect and evaluate. As far as familiarity with other players that I was competing against, I can vividly recall reading newspaper sites in the preseason as they’d highlight their “names to know/players to watch this Spring,” then I’d go check our high school schedule to see if we played them. I’d watch them closely for the 1-2 games we played, and now a good chunk of those guys are big leaguers. 

We could go even further back into the days of home/pay phones and an occasional home video (Rest in Peace), but that’s for your coaches and parents to share with you. The fact of the matter is coaches have a nearly endless supply of videos, metrics, and resources to locate + evaluate talent nationwide. They are trained how to take the provided data, make the best assessment, and build better baseball players. With the covid limitations of off-campus recruiting, they’re becoming more skilled in scouting players remotely from home. They’re looking for particular sets of skills and a foundation to build upon once the player steps on campus. There is an old saying that still gets floated out there: “If you’re good enough, they’ll find you.” That may hold true in some cases, but what if they found five other players before you even popped up on the radar. Then you might be late to the party so to speak, and you’ll have to weigh out some different options. I’m gonna touch on some key aspects and insights to help put yourself in the best position. 

"It's a Numbers Game"

There are probably a countless number of players in our state that have a strong desire and will to go D1, or more extreme the “D1 or bust mentality.” It’s great to have high expectations, but players need to be realistic where they are in their abilities and their recruiting clock. There are just over 300 high school programs in the state of Tennessee, which lets say 20 varsity players per program, then we’re looking at over 6,000 varsity baseball players in the state. On any given grad class the number of D1 commits usually falls between 60-80 for our state. That’s been the trend for the last few grad classes in our database, with 2021 having the most at 80 players committed D1. Realistically though you don’t have to be a top eighty ranked player to go D1, usually if you’re in the top 125-150 of our rankings (depending on class depth), then you got a chance or we just haven’t seen you enough. Simply put for college recruiters, it’s a numbers game. They’re trying to acquire as much talent to get to campus to further develop and plug in their long term plans. The catch is they can’t take everyone, we’ll go further to evaluate D1 models. 

D1 colleges are permitted to carry 35 guys on their Spring roster, and only 27 can be on athletic scholarship. It’s often discussed how in the world D1 coaches manage 11.7 scholarships between 27 players, and here is a hint: sometimes it ain’t pretty. It’s a very strict budget system that programs have to abide by NCAA rules. Due to covid, the NCAA granted extended rosters to help with the influx of players (Basically having 5 grad classes in a 4-year system), which has been a huge boost for high schools players in recent classes, but will further impact the ones coming through the ranks (f you're wanting more info check out Recruiting Essentials with Brandon Hall). This can be most obvious in just our last two classes: 2021 saw an all time high in D1 commits (80 or so), but this 2022 class currently sits between 50-60 (some will fall off and MAYBE have 1-2 more that find a spot). The covid roster extensions are being tapered back and it will directly impact the high school players the most. Given the surplus of college experienced players, coaches are more likely to take a 21-23 year old prospect rather than a 17-18 year old “project” piece, so there is a real need to show your value as a prospect if you’re trying to go that route out of high school. 

NCAA athletics can be a parallel for the MLB draft system. All the programs have bonus pools (scholarships) to bring in the best players for their system. Some guys are willing to pay high dollar for top level prospects, but the most consistent programs find value elsewhere in between the cracks. Ex: Getting in early on a player and bringing him on board swiftly, finding a player that has the means to walk on and pay full tuition outside of complimentary scholarships (Hope, academics, etc.), finding a player that is undervalued ability wise, but can develop into a piece for their roster. It’s never as clear cut as a ranking may seem, but the main thing is college baseball recruiting is a business. Advice to players and parents, you have to treat these opportunities as business decisions, and weigh all the options. That may mean your son won’t go D1, but the reality is if he proves his value then he can still get that opportunity. 

Recruiting Clock

If you’re on social media, you’ll see tons in the baseball community be baffled regarding early recruiting. I think the majority of us can agree it’s hard to wrap our heads around kids committing pre-high school, but that is the reality for high-level kids entering the high school ranks. In the grand scheme of things, this is not the normal recruiting path, so you don’t have to be rolling with offers before you play any varsity games. However, note that some kids find the perfect/dream fit and they take advantage. If you look at our 2024-25 classes (Soph/Fresh.), we have 21 kids that have committed D1, so hypothetically that means there are still a minimum of 100 players that will go D1 out of those classes. In this age, kids get so caught up in getting an offer and trying to commit, but the reality is most of them are fully developed or evaluated until they’re coming out of their sophomore season. Jordan Chiero, our Ohio Scouting Director, said it best recently at a preseason showcase: “A lot of guys underestimate how much time they have to get recruited, and overestimate how much time they have to be ready to play at the next level.” He further elaborates on the current junior class having the first time this preseason/Spring that every division of college baseball is watching intently. 

There is so much truth to that statement. Underclass recruiting is solely division one driven at that stage. Do D2/D3/NAIA/JUCO coaches keep tabs on guys that they see and like? Absolutely, but the reality is that if there is a player they like that early then it’s slim for them to get a real crack at that player as he continues to develop. Players/parents don’t feel rushed in the recruiting process because realistically you’ll understand when the right time is to make a decision. I’ve tried to explain it to guys, have a list of ten schools at various levels, and work from there. Going into my senior year, I probably had two D1 schools on my list then the rest were schools I’d be very pleased to be a part of their program. Players/parents have to do their homework on programs and build a circle of trusted colleagues to help guide them in this process. One last note: don’t blow off coaches that reach out to you regardless if you’d consider playing for their program. It’s a bad look and doesn’t maintain the business-like approach needed to meet your goals in recruitment. Don’t lead them on for nothing but realistically that coach may move to a “bigger” program, or frankly that may be your only option at that point in time. 

Collecting Offers

Something that gets overlooked in recruitment is the ability to collect offers from prospective schools. Back to the business approach, players/parents have much less leverage when they only have one option sitting on the table. Take a step further and look at MLB free agents: the players who dominate free agency are guys that are a. Well represented b. Understand their value c. numerous options to better their families. For example: If a player has offers to a school in the same conference, then the coach that’s been holding out on the offer is most likely gonna take a second look or face the facts where a. They don’t mind competing against you or b. They don’t have the resources to trump the offer to get you on board. I see this the most with fringe D1 players, where someone tells them they’re a D1 talent, so they shoo away other suitors of different classifications then end up in a slim picking situation. 

To make this clear, I’m not advising players to shop offers to other schools. The conversation you have with college coaches should be sacred and kept professional. However, coaches that are interested are gonna do their homework and try to determine where they fit in the recruiting process. This can fall into the football vs baseball recruiting conversation, where it’s totally normal for football players to tweet out any new offers, but those that have been in it are aware they’re two very different landscapes. If you ever consider tweeting an offer to the public, please be advised it will rub some coaches the wrong way, whether they are involved in the offer or not. My best advice is what do the big leaguers do? Sure some free agency negotiations are leaked by the media, some have “mysterious teams” jump into the mix, but I can’t recall a MLB player ever tweeting “blessed and honored to receive an offer from the (fill in the blank MLB team)”. Be cautious and keep it professional.

Video + Metrics

I referenced this early in this article discussing the lack of video and metrics in my recruitment process. As I mentioned, today’s recruiting is much more open, players/parents have to be able to provide resources for college coaches to compete for the limited spots available. Quality video and metrics play a key role in that for today’s age. If you’re looking for a trusted source, that’s what we do at PBR. We provide great video and the most in depth analysis of players through advanced metrics such as Trackman, Blast Motion, PitchAI, Vizual Edge, etc. Our information is reliable and college coaches appreciate the information we share on players, plus it’s easily accessible in player profiles as they can track their progression as they develop. This is the grassroots at what we do, plus our extensive coverage throughout the high school season as we trek all across the state to gather data on players for their online profiles. 

I previously shared my story about velocity in the intro article, and how terrified I was to share my gains with my teammates and coaches before it was “officially” confirmed (If you haven’t read, then give it a scan). I firmly believe this should be the most reliable way to share information when considering any metrics. Listen, I get that pocket radars/older radar guns models are a great tool that brought a lot of accessibility to smaller budget programs and provide a way to track your players. The reality is though when we’re talking about thousands to tens of thousands dollar decisions in college recruitment, in my eyes, they just aren’t at that level at this point, especially given the amount of fluctuation and improper setups that I’ve seen over the past few years. Just beware, don’t oversell and underdeliver because it can be detrimental in some cases. 

I’ll surely do an article on obtaining quality video as the Spring season approaches because that is something I’m extremely proud of our ability to capture stuff with our phones while maintaining quality for college coaches to evaluate remotely. I’ll leave you with a quick tidbit from my recruiting during junior college. As I mentioned, I had very little video of pitch shape and my arsenal that I could share during that time. UNC had scouted me at the World Series, and I was on my visit with the legend, now retired Mike Fox. They had just watched me in my final few appearances, so they had my data and scout notes on where I was at as a prospect. He had mentioned another juco hitter they were considering recruiting, and it just so happened the few video clips that I had in possession were against this particular hitter. He was a good hitter, and I had three clips (CF cam from the broadcast) of each pitch in my arsenal from the one at bat. I knew that he didn’t watch me in person, but I mentioned it and shared the clips during the visit. I have no idea if there was a correlation between the two, but he enjoyed them and I left Chapel Hill with a pretty solid offer in hand. *Insert Jordan shrug gif*

Nonetheless, players/parents always keep it professional, understand the numbers, do your research, and always have quality video/reliable metrics on hand. Readers please circle back and provide input on future topics or feedback regarding topics we covered. Thanks and see you at the ballfields soon!

Check out the latest articles from Provey's Pen HERE.

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