College Recruiting. Is Softball doing it wrong?

[Long Baller]

The blame really should fall on everyone: From the D1 schools that were verballing in 7th grade, the travel ball org's that promised to have your kid committed by 9th grade, the softball media sources hyping up each age "recruiting class" and the mystique of September 1st, down to the parents feeding into all of the hysteria.

My DD is a 2021, so I am chest deep in this cesspool of college recruiting. It's funny how panicked 2021 parents acknowledge that Sept 1st was just the start of the process, but I know three people that just had to "jump on the first offer" because they had to get "locked in" asap. It's just crazy...

Some food for thought...I personally asked a top 10, power 5, D1 coach awhile back about what percentage of their early commits are "absolute busts". Without hesitation, she stated that 25% of their recruits never make it to campus. They either mutually agree, or have to downright pull their offer because they can tell the kid will not pan out. She also went on to state that they actively look at that years senior class, and that there is alway talent out there left because of so many de-commits, and kids that peak that late.

So if your 2021 is not committed today, 9/17/19, that does not mean that they are going to be left out.

 

[MNDad]

I always knew that men’s sports commit later than women’s.

I saw today that Iowa State basketball just committed its first 2020. He is a 6’5” point guard from Georgia that had offers from Georgia Tech and Mississippi State. It says in the article that the Iowa State Coach has recruited numerous point guards that went on to play in the NBA so this guy is apparently a top prospect.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Iowa State softball hasn’t been looking at 20’s for quite some time.

Are we doing it wrong?

Do the men endure what has become a 3-4 year test of endurance and financial stress?

Even with the new recruiting rules we are all falling all over ourselves to get our dd’s committed on September 1, junior year. If you are a ‘20 and haven’t yet been committed, good luck. We willingly participate in a rat race that requires us not only to take younger kids to Colorado, Huntington Beach and Atlanta at minimum every summer, but now if you don’t play 4 MAJOR exposure tournaments IN THE FALL you feel like you can’t compete. The fall is starting to look like a summer season. And we all know that the d1’s cant come on Friday and you probably won’t see them on Sunday. One game on Saturday? Thank you Mr. Tournament Director. Can I pay for an extra game and maybe play it on Saturday?

So the only way this can be done is to pay $3,000 dues or play for a org that hosts its own “exposure tournaments” to feed this beast. The orgs then agree to attend each other’s tournaments in order to make it happen. So we add another weekend of travel here and there. It snowballs. You gotta still play triple crown so you get in the power pools at the good fields in Colorado. So there are more weekends of travel and $900 tournament fees. You gotta qualify for Huntington Beach.

Are we the parents enabling this craziness? What is driving it? The college coaches sure don’t seem to care. They expect you to be there. They expect you to be at their $200 camps mid week between the weekends you are in Chattanooga one week and Kansa City the next (making those up but you get the idea). They expect you to be hitting every day, strength training, getting 4.0 grades and oh “we love multi sport athletes”. Sure thing coach! Easy Peasy!

Even after the commitment process, official or unofficial, you can’t let up. The college coaches expect you to be playing top competition.

The tournament directors don’t care. “Sorry the NCAA created a calendar that means they can’t recruit in fall anywhere but warm climates. Maybe you could get a credit card, build up points and fly. Good luck with that. That will be $900, please. Make sure you are staying in our hotels.”

The travel orgs don’t care. “Oh you can’t afford this? Don’t want to make your entire life about softball? NBD, it’s your future you are throwing away. “

I’m sure that the men’s side is far from easy but it seems like we as parents have bought into some stuff that puts everyone but the players in the drivers seat. Are we the suckers in this deal?

Im pretty sure the ISU 20’s had their official visits last weekend. While the focus now is on 21’s I know they’re still looking at 20’s that may have fell through the cracks.

Eight girls graduated last spring. Most were starters. The new 2019 class is decent, but inevitably several won’t work out so they’ll keep looking to add to the class in 2020.

Pitching is their biggest need. They’ve got several with potential, but only two have seen any action. I’ve got a pretty good idea who their #1 will be. After that it’s a complete toss up.

 

[MNDad]

King I believe was committed to Maryland... and then had a great season and changed over to Florida State after her senior season or something along those lines.

Barnhill didn't commit to anyone until after her senior season and there was a lineup of P5's with money to spare waiting for her.

Big exceptions (obviously stud pitchers) but you can find similar examples at most levels.

Do you remember who the Florida pitcher was that decommitted after Barnhill picked Florida?

 

[MNDad]

These are the kind of threads I for one joined this forum for. Information is value and I being a first daughter softball chaser needs all of it. I never went through the recruiting process and my wife says no one has VHS tape players anymore so we can't watch her basketball videos. So I'm in a mild panic for my child. I like most of you just want to provide the opportunity for my child to succeed.

We front the money to go to the tournaments, but then are we going to right ones? We go to the camps, but are they the right one? (I have already found some camps that I realized we wasted our time and money at). My DD is starting her sophomore season and I'm being told this is the season she needs to shine. But we can't go to some of the fall tournaments because some start on Friday at 8 am and we are supposed to have a high school district volleyball game that night (nice call TD) these are students first and most are multi-sport athletes. Don't forget basketball season is fast approaching.

It's a lot to take in and a lot to do. We aren't wealthy. I can't fly my daughter to California this weekend and Florida next weekend. She has the desire, ability, mindset and I just want the information to put her in the best spot for her without starting a second mortgage. We do this for her because she loves it and its what she wants to do. I happily pay because I want to watch her enjoy the game she loves. My dilemma is at the end of this rat race, I know that I'm still going to be paying for the larger share of college anyways and I want her to be where she needs to be and want her in front of the people she needs to be in front of.

Sorry for the rant but thank you all for the information you provide keep it coming I'm soaking it up.

No need to panic. Even the P5’s are looking at kids and making offers the summer after they graduate HS. .

DD received an offer to an ACC school two weeks before she got on campus in August of 2015. I wanted her to take it because it was double what she was getting. She loved ISU and wasn’t your interested though.

 

[diamond14]

Great information, thanks to all have been through the grind, good questions from those, like us entering the fray.

 

[GoRight]

My daughter is a 2021 and I’m not panicking. One of her top picks is a D3 and they are in right now recruiting 2020’s. She got some showcases coming up and we are booking camps. I’m being really selective of camps. Staying away from the expensive camps with 300 kids. Her grades are really good. Getting ready to take the SAT. She’s not the best test taker and her PSAT was ok, high on the average scale.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mommajo7]

I always knew that men’s sports commit later than women’s.

I saw today that Iowa State basketball just committed its first 2020. He is a 6’5” point guard from Georgia that had offers from Georgia Tech and Mississippi State. It says in the article that the Iowa State Coach has recruited numerous point guards that went on to play in the NBA so this guy is apparently a top prospect.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Iowa State softball hasn’t been looking at 20’s for quite some time.

Are we doing it wrong?

Do the men endure what has become a 3-4 year test of endurance and financial stress?

Even with the new recruiting rules we are all falling all over ourselves to get our dd’s committed on September 1, junior year. If you are a ‘20 and haven’t yet been committed, good luck. We willingly participate in a rat race that requires us not only to take younger kids to Colorado, Huntington Beach and Atlanta at minimum every summer, but now if you don’t play 4 MAJOR exposure tournaments IN THE FALL you feel like you can’t compete. The fall is starting to look like a summer season. And we all know that the d1’s cant come on Friday and you probably won’t see them on Sunday. One game on Saturday? Thank you Mr. Tournament Director. Can I pay for an extra game and maybe play it on Saturday?

So the only way this can be done is to pay $3,000 dues or play for a org that hosts its own “exposure tournaments” to feed this beast. The orgs then agree to attend each other’s tournaments in order to make it happen. So we add another weekend of travel here and there. It snowballs. You gotta still play triple crown so you get in the power pools at the good fields in Colorado. So there are more weekends of travel and $900 tournament fees. You gotta qualify for Huntington Beach.

Are we the parents enabling this craziness? What is driving it? The college coaches sure don’t seem to care. They expect you to be there. They expect you to be at their $200 camps mid week between the weekends you are in Chattanooga one week and Kansa City the next (making those up but you get the idea). They expect you to be hitting every day, strength training, getting 4.0 grades and oh “we love multi sport athletes”. Sure thing coach! Easy Peasy!

Even after the commitment process, official or unofficial, you can’t let up. The college coaches expect you to be playing top competition.

The tournament directors don’t care. “Sorry the NCAA created a calendar that means they can’t recruit in fall anywhere but warm climates. Maybe you could get a credit card, build up points and fly. Good luck with that. That will be $900, please. Make sure you are staying in our hotels.”

The travel orgs don’t care. “Oh you can’t afford this? Don’t want to make your entire life about softball? NBD, it’s your future you are throwing away. “

I’m sure that the men’s side is far from easy but it seems like we as parents have bought into some stuff that puts everyone but the players in the drivers seat. Are we the suckers in this deal?

Very well stated. We are living this right now. DD is a Junior and lives in Midwest. She wants to play in the south somewhere and getting coaches to see her is near impossible. It’s true they all want her to come to their prospect camps. Which would be great if we could afford it. Not mentioning the many, many people that keep telling her it’s too late to go anywhere! Way to crush a kids dream. I know she will play somewhere, but I do wish this process was a little better.

 

[Westwind]

2020 I know just committed to one of the better Big 10 schools.

 

[DGoggin]

I always knew that men’s sports commit later than women’s.

I saw today that Iowa State basketball just committed its first 2020. He is a 6’5” point guard from Georgia that had offers from Georgia Tech and Mississippi State. It says in the article that the Iowa State Coach has recruited numerous point guards that went on to play in the NBA so this guy is apparently a top prospect.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Iowa State softball hasn’t been looking at 20’s for quite some time.

Are we doing it wrong?

Do the men endure what has become a 3-4 year test of endurance and financial stress?

Even with the new recruiting rules we are all falling all over ourselves to get our dd’s committed on September 1, junior year. If you are a ‘20 and haven’t yet been committed, good luck. We willingly participate in a rat race that requires us not only to take younger kids to Colorado, Huntington Beach and Atlanta at minimum every summer, but now if you don’t play 4 MAJOR exposure tournaments IN THE FALL you feel like you can’t compete. The fall is starting to look like a summer season. And we all know that the d1’s cant come on Friday and you probably won’t see them on Sunday. One game on Saturday? Thank you Mr. Tournament Director. Can I pay for an extra game and maybe play it on Saturday?

So the only way this can be done is to pay $3,000 dues or play for a org that hosts its own “exposure tournaments” to feed this beast. The orgs then agree to attend each other’s tournaments in order to make it happen. So we add another weekend of travel here and there. It snowballs. You gotta still play triple crown so you get in the power pools at the good fields in Colorado. So there are more weekends of travel and $900 tournament fees. You gotta qualify for Huntington Beach.

Are we the parents enabling this craziness? What is driving it? The college coaches sure don’t seem to care. They expect you to be there. They expect you to be at their $200 camps mid week between the weekends you are in Chattanooga one week and Kansa City the next (making those up but you get the idea). They expect you to be hitting every day, strength training, getting 4.0 grades and oh “we love multi sport athletes”. Sure thing coach! Easy Peasy!

Even after the commitment process, official or unofficial, you can’t let up. The college coaches expect you to be playing top competition.

The tournament directors don’t care. “Sorry the NCAA created a calendar that means they can’t recruit in fall anywhere but warm climates. Maybe you could get a credit card, build up points and fly. Good luck with that. That will be $900, please. Make sure you are staying in our hotels.”

The travel orgs don’t care. “Oh you can’t afford this? Don’t want to make your entire life about softball? NBD, it’s your future you are throwing away. “

I’m sure that the men’s side is far from easy but it seems like we as parents have bought into some stuff that puts everyone but the players in the drivers seat. Are we the suckers in this deal?

Great post, westwind. Let me add - the whole showcase process is a disservice to the kids too. The showcase game process is not same as the competitive playing to win, lose then play your way back through the losers bracket that our girls loved in 10U-14U. Kids can lose their competitive edge.

And what does this teach our girls about commitments ? We had a stud freshman commit to a big school and just a few months ago (Senior year) was told the school no longer wants her. Great hitter and great pitcher who apparently had a so so summer on the mound. Coach didn’t even talk to her.

 

[BT3100]

I'll share a little that we learned during the last few years. DD is a 2021 pitcher and plays on the top team in a top travel org that does all the big ones. She was a first team all state pitcher and led the state in strikeouts at the highest level (or largest school level I should say).
All that said she doesn't throw 65 and is not 6' tall. We started to go to camps when she was in 8th grade and developed some great relationships with schools due to consistent communication and attendance at camps. We also spent good money on both camp fees and travel to some schools that (in hindsight) were a waste of time. Knowing what I know now if we were to take DD to a camp and she showed well we would send her schedule for the next tournament to the coach with a thank you. If that coach attended that tournament and didn't come to see DD we would not go back to that camp. A lot of the money we wasted we could have saved if we understood that when schools are interested they do come out to see your DD. There are so many factors and many that you may never even consider. DD fell in love with a good program 3 states over from us when she was 13. We religiously attended their camps and during one camp at around 14 they invited us to a weekly pitching camp that was to take place on Friday evenings from 6PM to 9:30PM for 12 weeks. The school is 6 hours from our home. There was no way we could have made that work, so we thanked them for that offer but respectfully declined. Fast forward to last week and that school committed one of the pitchers who attended that workshop. She lived 20 minutes from the school. Now I will respectfully say that DD is significantly better IMO than the girl they committed but... she put the work in to build the relationship.. etc.
All of this is assuming that your DD is not a 6' 5" stud that throws 68. If she is than yes all schools will love her but if your kid is on the smaller side you have to be realistic and work the process. DD had more contacts on 9/1 then we ever expected so they are out there looking. Good Luck