I am involved in many conversations with parents, players, coaches and scouts from all over the country. Each conversation I have with people has similarities and differences. Scouts and coaches are very easy to understand when discussing what exactly they and other scouts and coaches are looking for. We are going to talk a little in depth here about exactly what each of these groups perceives when they look at players and Recruiting.
Players: This is one of the toughest eras we have ever been in for players and their recruiting. We all see online the kids that post verbals, yes verbals early and to Power 5 schools. While nice to get the offer, at this point it means absolutely nothing. No LOI is signed and what most kids think is that this offer secures you a spot on the team and a TRUE CHANCE to play as soon as you walk on the field for the 1st time on campus. Nothing is further from the truth. The kids that you see on social media that are like this while you may think are larger than they actually are round out to less than and up to 1% of all the kids playing HS baseball. The other 5% that go on to play put in many hours of work to get noticed, liked and offered. I deal with kids in bothy groups and yes it is the latter group who puts in far more work in their recruiting process.
Parents: Here is the tough one. I see and hear so many times from parents who give me examples of their kid's friends who have already committed and they are better than people who are committing around them. EVERYONE'S RECRUITING PROCESS IS INDIVIDUAL AND DIFFERENT. The other thing is that so many think they know what they are doing and how everything works, but in actuality they either hurt their kids prospects by doing work for them or they do not know what their kid needs to do in the process to gets exposure. I see so many people posting out about going to all thes different Showcases and paying huge sums to go to National Events. If college coaches do not know who you then you are defeating the purpose with hopefully being recognized at these events. The picture above is of me with many college coaches at an event that is one of the best out there. Every college coach has all my players and clients information way before the event and ARE THERE TO SEE AND EVALUATE THEIR SKILSS AND HOW THEY PLAY IN GAMES. As a college coach which I have been for many years I always had my list of players to see from who i was interested in and actively recruiting. Yes, there are some times when a player will catch my eye with something outstanding they do, but for 99% of the coaches that are attending they are all looking at the same 10-20 players as the other coaches.
If I can give one piece of advice, get assistance going through the recruiting process from a good source, someone or a group that really assists you and goes the distance seeing that your player gets all the opportunities they rightly deserve. My company, www.totalsportsrecruiting.com has one of the best and most unique ways of game planning each individual to "Right Fit" schools around the country for them.
Coaches and Scouts: Here is where everything gets tricky. Everyone sees the basics, work hard, be coachable, carry yourself the right way, body language, good teammate. Yes, these all play a part, but many coaches look for many things in different players. Some coaches may look at something one way and others will look at it differently. This is where the individualized game planning comes in. Power 5 teams look for finished product kids. These are kids who they think or project to be able to come in and compete at that level, right awy or in a year or two. This is where it gets Dicey. In accumulating talent, they often over recruit and then have kids hitting the portal that do not fit into their program or level of play. This is where the trickle down effect comes into play. D2 D3 NAIA or JUCO's scan the transfer portal hoping to get some of these kids.
Let's look at other things. Coaches have different philosophies on how to play the game, Some put pitching and defense ahead of everything, some look for bangers at the plate at positions, others still look at athletic players. There are so many different things that go into what coaches want and expect at every position and will look at. I have those that look at my corner outfielders because they have projectible power where as other coaches look at my more athletic, speedy outfielders who play defense and offensively can run and always pressure defenses. Pitching wise there are also different philosophies. Some look straight at velo and size, others will look for command, smarts and presence on the mound.
So much goes into the skill set, academic make up, personalities, families, behavioral and total make up up all of these in determining who goes where and why. I hope that people find this informational and useful and iI can be of service my contact information is listed on my website link posted above.
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