Feeling stressed already!

DD is a freshman which I would consider early into the recruiting process but some may consider this a late start. Anyway she has only attended a few showcase tournaments with her team and been to one invite only camp. In the last couple of weeks she has received some serious interest from some colleges and already I find myself and my wife are feeling stressed out about the process. She has a few schools that are pushing hard for to visit their campus. Recently she had a few phone conversations with some of the coaches and on those calls the coaches are telling her that their isn't any pressure and would want her to visit their campus, which DD replied with I love to visit your campus, but in the same breath they are telling her that if she has no interest in their school let them know now and please do not lead them on which is understandable. DD was very upfront with them and said that she isn't ready to make a decision in the near future and the coaches reply was that they probably wouldn't have any money for her if she waited to long. After talking to her TB coaches about her phone calls they told us that the coaches made it clear that they want her to visit the campus so that they can make an offer to her.

Is this normal? I feel like they are going to try and pressure her into committing, which I understand isn't worth anything but if she gives her word to a school she will honor it unless something drastic happens. I have no idea how to go about this we don't want to close any doors for her but she has NO idea want she wants to do with her life yet all she knows right now is that she wants to continue to play ball. If anyone has a similar story about their child I would love to hear about it and how it worked or is working out.

Relax. Success in the recruiting process is not about doing everything right but rather not screwing it up. It is a process of elimination not selection. If you eliminate a school let them know. If you are sure, then they are still on the list until you cross them off.

riseball said:

Relax. Success in the recruiting process is not about doing everything right but rather not screwing it up. It is a process of elimination not selection. If you eliminate a school let them know. If you are sure, then they are still on the list until you cross them off.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the little nugget in bold.

I tell that to anyone who will listen. Start with the easy stuff like geographic region, cost, grades, etc. and work your way down to what is left.

DRDRODD said:

and said that she isn't ready to make a decision in the near future and the coaches reply was that they probably wouldn't have any money for her if she waited to long. After talking to her TB coaches about her phone calls they told us that the coaches made it clear that they want her to visit the campus so that they can make an offer to her.

Is this normal? I feel like they are going to try and pressure her into committing, which I understand isn't worth anything but if she gives her word to a school she will honor it unless something drastic happens.

Click to expand...

The money thing is a load of BS. If one college is willing to offer your DD a scholarship, there is many more who will also be happy to do so. Unless it is a dream school, it may sound stressful, but turning them down or saying you are not making a decision this year or this month or right now can be the right thing to do. Don't fall in love with the first offer or the first college to show you attention.

Verbal commitments are great for the college but not so much for the player. Some - and I mean some - coaches are 100% above the board and absolutely will honor their verbal commitments. Others have five times the # of players verballed than they could possibly provide scholarships to. Nothing like finding out 30 days before you are expecting to sign an NLI thata the college commitment to you pays for books only or is 10% or just a roster spot or the not so subtle "you can come here, but you aren't going to play if you come here, you should look somewhere else". Or the coach leaves or someone awesome turns up and they decommit some players they no longer need or the current SS injures or knees or transfers and the money they wanted to use on the next catcher now needs to be used on a SS or a transfer or...

So yeah, the colleges want to pressure a commitment - it is to their advantage. They get to lock up a potential talent at zero risk to them. Your DD is a freshman - if you verballed say today, that is over TWO years they get at zero risk.


--->> Unless your DD is a POWER 5, WCWS type player already. Like 'could play tomorrow for Florida' type player even though she is a freshman. Then do whatever you want. Commit, don't commit. It is all in your court.

riseball said:

I tell that to anyone who will listen. Start with the easy stuff like geographic region, cost, grades, etc. and work your way down to what is left.

Click to expand...

In addition to geographic region, the absolute first question I would ask is "do you want a metropolitan city or college town environment". IMHO this is the biggest differentiator between universities... after this, a lot of them are pretty similar.