2024 and I know there are so many worries about baseball recruiting. How are all the changes in rules, transfer portal, NIL and paying of college athletes going to implement the game as we know it. First, let's address the elephant in the room. With the recent change to the rules and the allowing of unlimited transfers, the Transfer Portal has opened up college athletics to free agency every year. Imagine if this was allowed to be done in MLB. The nighmare you imagine that to be is the nightmare that college baseball will be going through until stopped. Pre 2020 about 7% of all the players participating in HS and Travel Baseball in the US had the opportunity to play college ball at NCAA, NAIA, JUCO and USCAA levels. 4 years later it is now about 5.3%. That is excluding a couple thousand HS kids each year from having the same opportunity. All levels actively scour the Portal looking for 21 and 22 year old kids who have played and developed already in college ball and are not projects for a couple years down the road. The reason there is much more parity in college baseball now is that the playing fields have been leveled out throught D1 and you have older kids playing against older kids. Gone is the kid who may throw 88 and needs some physical development and then may be a star. This kid now starts out at D2 D3 NAIA JUCO or USCAA schools, develop, then opt out from the people who worked to make them. This is just part of the problem. Schools now over recruit and set up off season tryouts during the fall with many kids getting cut or put on the burner. This causes a backlog in the portal. Here is a kid who was brought in and now told they are no longer part of the roster. They enter the portal with no resume' and many times are over looked and never play ball again. There is just so much wrong with college athletics, baseball included.
Let's talk about recruiting and how www.totalsportsrecruiting.com goes about consulting and guiding their clients and how I as a coach instruct my players in looking to play at the next level. After 35 years in coaching collegiate, HS, travel and national teams I would say that my coaches, contacts and myself are able to really see and evaluate talent and the "Right Fit" schools we always address with our clients and players.
Parents and Players I know this is hard to hear when talking about your son or daughter but there is a level they should play at, be happy, productive and get a great education. If you are a complete stud you probably do not need me or my services, but I get these kids sometimes and they are usually the easiest because we just go through the many aspects of the schools and programs that are TOP TIER that are looking at them. Talking a kid through Lower D1 D2 D3.
Navigating these kids is so fortifying and my true happy place. Seeing them succeed in the schools they pick is the exciting part of my job. They go in and play, do well in school and love the environment, socially that they have picked. Many times these schools were not even on the list of schools they started out and envisioned. But, after researching and allowing me to open their recruiting on a national level, they find that there are so many more opportunities than the 2 or 3 they looked at in their general area.
If you have questions concerning your son or daughter and would love a FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION with me, please feel free to reach out to me. tom@totalsportsrecruiting.com or 412-508-9351. I wanna hear from Texas, my base as well as athletes from across the country and looking to do their recruiting process the right way.
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