College has some

[hipnix]

My opinion. There will be same percentage per capita of "studs" in every geographic region. Some regions have a bigger pools (Hot Beds). If you take a look at the big summer tourneys, the top 5 are no longer all SoCal teams. Also, teams from areas not necessarily known as hot beds are winning and placing high. Take a look at the 3 yr US Club Rankings. Furthermore, California schools do not attend (I never saw) the big showcase Nationals outside of California. Look at their rosters. Somewhat rare to see kids outside of their state.

I have watched a lot of these mid major teams on ESPN+ and I don't see any difference in the sub prime players than I see in my own back yard. For the most part mid majors around the country recruit from their own pool in their regions. YMMV.

The top 5 isn't all SoCal teams because there are more teams in SoCal to play for and the talent is spread thin. If you lived in Nebraska and your daughter was a stud, you'd have one option on what team she would play on. In SoCal, you'd have three or four "legitimate" options and half a dozen "pretty good" options. Just like the colleges that Rolling Hard listed. Get rid of half those programs and the rest would be more competitive. But then less girls would have the opportunity to play in college.

 

[RADcatcher]

Lazy recruiting may have crept in to some of those programs. Going to the same old fishing hole to get the same variety of average. 'They play for so and so they should be good'.
Doesn't necessarily bring in standout players. Maybe it got easier to be complacent finding the same vanilla so to speak player profile to bring in kind of a don't ruffle the season thing.


(imo) more diligent recruiting across the state could look for leadership qualities. Who are standout players that can impact a program. These players are out there! (* yes, I am saying the personality of a player is just as important as their skill set!)

Now with programs that are waiting for a transfer portal to open and finalize programs obviously aren't looking to build from the graduating high school recruits. Possibly adding to the lazy.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Add~ Cal State colleges do not have the money to recruit out of state players. Which obviously doesn't limit them from in-state players. But the opportunity players have to go elsewhere and get a fancier campus program is reality.

Agree. Also aesthetically speaking of campuses there are a lot of other colleges that have much better curve appeal.

Fullerton stands out as at least a built up sb Stadium. But location and the rest of the campus is not as appealing.
While long bch is still sitting on aluminum bleachers. Less appealing campus. Kind of reminds me of DMV buildings.
Bakersfield as of 3 years ago still only had one pitching machine.

One pitching machine??? Probably in need of repair, too. That's jacked up.

 

[Rolling Hard]

I am told Cal Baptist has wonderful facilities.

 

[erniekru]

Long Beach 4-21
Santa Barbra 6-15
San Diego State 13-11 (peaked into top 25 rankings but has dropped like a rock)
UC San Diego 6-17
Bakersfield 2- 18
UC Riverside 6-13
Why aren't these so cal teams better?

If you REALLY look into the recruiting classes that they've been getting recently, I think you'd make the connection. All of those schools (besides SDSU) have players where "really??" springs to mind.

I don't know how LB, UCSB, UCSD struggle to make good recruiting decisions when there is huge demand for kids to go to those schools to play.

 

[hipnix]

If you REALLY look into the recruiting classes that they've been getting recently, I think you'd make the connection. All of those schools (besides SDSU) have players where "really??" springs to mind.

I don't know how LB, UCSB, UCSD struggle to make good recruiting decisions when there is huge demand for kids to go to those schools to play.

I’d include sdsu in your assessment….

Also there’s no real pressure on any of those coaches to actually win.

 

[Orange Socks]

The top 5 isn't all SoCal teams because there are more teams in SoCal to play for and the talent is spread thin. If you lived in Nebraska and your daughter was a stud, you'd have one option on what team she would play on. In SoCal, you'd have three or four "legitimate" options and half a dozen "pretty good" options. Just like the colleges that Rolling Hard listed. Get rid of half those programs and the rest would be more competitive. But then less girls would have the opportunity to play in college.

A couple of points. SoCal will naturally have more studs because there are Way more kids playing softball in a condensed area along with better coaching. You may have 15 stud pitchers one class in your area. Nebraska, you may have one in the entire state every 6 years.

Next point. There is a lot of great softball players and teams throughout the country NOW as opposed to 10 years ago. 2013-Look at the top 20 teams. 6 are SoCal teams. I don't know if it was happening 10 years ago, but there are lots of players that are willing to play on teams that aren't in their region. Why is that? More connectivity through social media? Twitter? Instagram?

Last point: There aren't as many P5 programs in California. The best California players will naturally have to look outside of their home area.

 

[4Martini]

Add~ Cal State colleges do not have the money to recruit out of state players. Which obviously doesn't limit them from in-state players. But the opportunity players have to go elsewhere and get a fancier campus program is reality.

Agree. Also aesthetically speaking of campuses there are a lot of other colleges that have much better curve appeal.

Fullerton stands out as at least a built up sb Stadium. But location and the rest of the campus is not as appealing.
While long bch is still sitting on aluminum bleachers. Less appealing campus. Kind of reminds me of DMV buildings.
Bakersfield as of 3 years ago still only had one pitching machine.

Got any info on cal-poly? My daughter has a friend going there who loves it (not a softball player) so it’s on her list. (She’s only in 8th grade- so just an idea at this point)

 

[Rolling Hard]

I’d include sdsu in your assessment….

Also there’s no real pressure on any of those coaches to actually win.

Why is there no real pressure to win?

 

[RADcatcher]

Got any info on cal-poly? My daughter has a friend going there who loves it (not a softball player) so it’s on her list. (She’s only in 8th grade- so just an idea at this point)

i do not.

Bump your question to see if someone else knows