Likelihood of getting recruited by Major D1?

[SoCal_Dad]

... Sister's dd, Jen, is a junior in HS and plays for one of the big name teams in CA. Team is a big name but coach is not a big name. Of the 16 girls on Jen's U18 team, only 4 have been committed. 2 of the 4 are to D1 schools. One a major D1 and the other mid to low major D1. The other 2 kids are committed to D3s. ...

My sis and her dh, don't want Jen committing to this mid-major because they are convinced that a major D1 (schools ranked in the top 20) will come knocking in the new year. Jen, my sis and her dh are adamant that Jen will only go where she can be a starter her freshman year (at a major D1 school to boot!). ...

... Are their expectations realistic?

Sounds like she's playing on one of the lesser teams within a big name org. Is she the undisputed #1 pitcher on it?

Reality check: If she really has the goods to play at the top level in college, the top TB teams would be after her to play for them.

 

[JAD]

My sis and her dh, don't want Jen committing to this mid-major because they are convinced that a major D1 (schools ranked in the top 20) will come knocking in the new year. Jen, my sis and her dh are adamant that Jen will only go where she can be a starter her freshman year (at a major D1 school to boot!). In order to get Jen more exposure, my sis and her dh have also now resorted to contacting college coaches themselves and asking if they've seen Jen and if they can send Jen's skills video to them.

Since I watched "Christmas Vacation" last night, for the 50+ time in my life, this statement reminds me of cousin Eddie being out of work for 7-years because he was holding out for a management position...

 

[girliesmom]

Not only do they want her to play for one of the top D1 teams in the country, they want her to START as a freshman....
View attachment 11324

Love the rose colored glasses!

 

[girliesmom]

Since I watched "Christmas Vacation" last night, for the 50+ time in my life, this statement reminds me of cousin Eddie being out of work for 7-years because he was holding out for a management position...

That made me laugh. Thanks, I needed that!

 

[djcarter1966]

That's so sad that she does it for her parents and not herself.

My good friend's dd pitched at a P5 D1 and graduated 5+ years ago. She hasn't picked up a ball since (Mom says that she was turned off by how much ball she played in college). She chose D1 because that's what she wanted, not because of her parents. She graduated and has been waitressing since. Her mom says that she did have a ball (sorry for the pun) in college though!

and this is why they need to broaden their horizons...life AFTER softball

 

[YOCOACH]

Several marquee organizations has expanded the number of teams in the organization in order to line the pockets of the owner of the organization. College coaches are not idiots...they realize this is happening and it is watering down the talent within the organizations and being on that marquee team no longer guarantees the "looks" from college coaches that is used to.



If this pitcher is 6'4" and is not getting a lot of looks from major D1 programs there is something wrong. Not sure what the problem is ....

Parents? Maybe? "Okay Coach, thanks for calling. Call back when you're willing to cough up a 50% AS..." Really?

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Several marquee organizations has expanded the number of teams in the organization in order to line the pockets of the owner of the organization. College coaches are not idiots...they realize this is happening and it is watering down the talent within the organizations and being on that marquee team no longer guarantees the "looks" from college coaches that is used to.

Early recruiting is a bigger factor. The marquee teams in those orgs are predominantly composed of committed players, so they're not for exposure. The heads of those orgs know about most of their best uncommitted players, so colleges contact them for their guidance and assistance.

FWIW, I've come to suspect early recruiting and the proliferation of teams in marquee orgs has made it more difficult for those orgs to keep top committed players at younger age groups to contend at Nats.

 

[JAD]

Early recruiting is a bigger factor. The marquee teams in those orgs are predominantly composed of committed players, so they're not for exposure. The heads of those orgs know about most of their best uncommitted players, so colleges contact them for their guidance and assistance.

FWIW, I've come to suspect early recruiting and the proliferation of teams in marquee orgs has made it more difficult for those orgs to keep top committed players at younger age groups to contend at Nats.

Now you are talking about the marquee team WITHIN the marquee organization, which as you mentioned, is full of committed players. The problem is there are a lot of parents still spending a lot of their hard earned money to get their DD on a team in a marquee organization thinking that is their "golden ticket" to their DD being recruiting and signed by her dream school, and that is no longer a reality because half of the teams within the marquee organization are A-/B+ teams.

 

[let it be fun]

I can see the draw to the P5 schools. Look at the facilities around the SEC. These girls have everything they need and could want. I would think that the SEC's success on the football field over the past 10 years or so helped the schools financially and encouraged the investment. The successful Power 5 football schools that invest in their other programs can have solid top 25 softball teams. Alabama made that investment years ago. Auburn finally realized they needed to step it up and went out and spent the money to hire the best coach they could. Of course his son's connection to a certain travel org headed by an AU alum didn't hurt.

My DD was enamored with P5 schools just last year when she was told to come up a list of dream schools and then expand from there. Her top 5 were AU, UA, LSU, UGA, and Samford. Samford snuck in because she went to basketball camp there and liked the campus. I am glad she opened her eyes over the summer after meeting different coaches at a clinic and realized there are many other schools that can put solid teams on the field.

I can't remember where I read it, but apparently the B1G is mandating a certain standard for softball stadiums because they want everything to look good on Big Ten Network.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Now you are talking about the marquee team WITHIN the marquee organization, which as you mentioned, is full of committed players. The problem is there are a lot of parents still spending a lot of their hard earned money to get their DD on a team in a marquee organization thinking that is their "golden ticket" to their DD being recruiting and signed by her dream school, and that is no longer a reality because half of the teams within the marquee organization are A-/B+ teams.

I responded to YOUR comment about marquee teams. We agree only a few teams in those orgs are marquee.

College coaches are not idiots...they realize this is happening and it is watering down the talent within the organizations and being on that marquee team no longer guarantees the "looks" from college coaches that is used to.