Recruiting mistakes

[Rolling Hard]

Do coaches make mistakes when recruiting? How often? What happens to the players? Does it happen at P5 schools too?
Example: Coach recruits big strong player after watching her play well in TB. But when she get to college she simply cant hit 65 mph pitching. Or coach recruits pitcher throwing 65 mph but when she gets to college she gets lit up like a Christmas tree. Any stories?

 

[Vertigo]

Do coaches make mistakes when recruiting? How often? What happens to the players? Does it happen at P5 schools too?
Example: Coach recruits big strong player after watching her play well in TB. But when she get to college she simply cant hit 65 mph pitching. Or coach recruits pitcher throwing 65 mph but when she gets to college she gets lit up like a Christmas tree. Any stories?

I think they do - and that’s one of the reasons you see so many players in the transfer portal.

 

[hipnix]

This past year watching pitchers get lit up between when they verbaled and when they signed had me shaking my head. During the Fall my daughter's travel team laid waste to some Power 5 recruits. They were throwing fast but couldn't throw a strike to save their life. It's like some college coaches never bothered to do any research and just based their decisions on a girl's Extra Innings ranking.

 

[Lance Steckler]

see it all the time. all levels of travel ball as well as into college. must remember that at all levels the talent level continues to increase. Do all players continue to work to improve???

 

[RADcatcher]

Do coaches make mistakes when recruiting? How often? What happens to the players? Does it happen at P5 schools too?
Example: Coach recruits big strong player after watching her play well in TB. But when she get to college she simply cant hit 65 mph pitching. Or coach recruits pitcher throwing 65 mph but when she gets to college she gets lit up like a Christmas tree. Any stories?

Coaches have to make a decision based on what information they have. Then have to make a selection based on what they think will happen in the future.
With all the different categories that could hope can come into alignment, simply hard to check every box with every player. What we see on the field has to do with a lot more than just the title softball player.

Attitude
Effort
Skills sets (Fielding throwing hitting Etc)
Personality (Spirited, Hard nosed, cryer Ect)
Ability to handle academics
Ability to handle full schedule
Ability to follow Coaching Direction/standards
& More ___________________

And this
After players make a commitment there is usually a chunk of months before they even arrive at the college. During that period, different things seem to happen with players.
Some keep working hard at it and some take their foot off the gas.
Then once at College can be a completely different living experience than they can imagine. Freedom of being out of the parental nest and big responsibility at the same time.

 

[ArmWhip]

It's probably not a lot different from the Pro sports drafts, like the NFL. There are plenty of first round picks that end up as busts. When it comes to moving up to the next level, physically and mentally, you're never sure who can handle it and who can't.

 

[Rolling Hard]

This past year watching pitchers get lit up between when they verbaled and when they signed had me shaking my head. During the Fall my daughter's travel team laid waste to some Power 5 recruits. They were throwing fast but couldn't throw a strike to save their life. It's like some college coaches never bothered to do any research and just based their decisions on a girl's Extra Innings ranking.
"laid waste"
Love this terminology!

 

[Rolling Hard]

How important is good recruiting vs. Developing?
I would think recruiting valued players is more important than developing.
Think some coaches like players that pass the eye test. 5'8", 150 lbs athletic looking, thinking that they can fix any shortcomings with their coaching. Same goes with pitchers speed. 65mph is golden.
At P5 schools, where i believe school is on the hook for 4 years, recruiting poorly could lead to loss of job I would think. A few poor choices could hurt the program.

 

[Vertigo]

How important is good recruiting vs. Developing?
I would think recruiting valued players is more important than developing.
Think some coaches like players that pass the eye test. 5'8", 150 lbs athletic looking, thinking that they can fix any shortcomings with their coaching. Same goes with pitchers speed. 65mph is golden.
At P5 schools, where i believe school is on the hook for 4 years, recruiting poorly could lead to loss of job I would think. A few poor choices could hurt the program.

I believe most P5 programs (at least the really good ones) would want a “finished” product, especially when it comes to pitchers. Sure they might tweak or fine tune things here or there but they want the ones who they know can get the job done from Day 1. They’ll take other pitchers who they might work with, but those are the ones who might get an inning here or there or pitch against the weaker teams. Do they sometimes make a mistake with taking a pitcher who they thought was a stud and turned out they weren’t? Absolutely! Or sometimes they’ll have a great freshman season and then burn out.

 

[benjey]

I think in softball and other equivalency sports it's not always easy to tell if a coach made a mistake because we don't know how much athletic money they invested in the player. Sometimes players are given a roster spot with little to no athletic money committed so a coach can take a flyer on a kid like this with no real downside.