COLLEGE BASEBALL RECRUITING SPECIAL EDITION Special Edition | Page 14

A RECRUITING ROAD MAP……..
You all should know the numbers and quite frankly, they are staggering. Of approximately
500,000 high school baseball players in the USA, a little over seven percent will play in college
or about 35,000 players. About 2.1 percent of players will play at the D1 level. Division II level is
at about 2.2 percent and Division III is 2.8 percent. Playing professionally is even more
overwhelming. There were 1215 picks in the last MLB draft - only 735 came from the NCAA.
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-competing-professional-
athletics
In addition to simply having an opportunity to play college baseball, earning a scholarship is also
very challenging. In NCAA Division I, which is permitted 11.7 scholarships to a maximum of 27
players. Amounts will range from a minimum of 25 percent to as high as a full scholarship -
which is highly unusual. In DII, each team receives 9 scholarships and DIII is not permitted to
award athletic scholarships to student-athletes.
With that said, the pursuit of playing baseball after high school and possibly professionally is an
incredibly challenging task. For many players and their families, this can be overwhelming and a
time filled with an enormous amount of uncertainty and anxiety. There are certainly no
guarantees and many times, some very solid players will play at a lower level than they are
capable of playing and some may become so frustrated with the process they decide not to play
at all. I hope this would never happen, but it does. I would like to take this opportunity to
analyze the recruiting process and provide some guidance to help navigate through this very
challenging time.
I believe the first step to this entire process is to receive a non-biased, honest evaluation of a
player’s skill set. This is a time to be very REAL. By REAL, I mean an unfiltered, honest
assessment. At the end of the day, anyone can talk a good game but every coach, when
evaluating a player wants to see it with their own eyes. Find a individual who is qualified to give
a REAL evaluation of your skill set. No financial commitment involved. No long-term
commitment involved. Just a pure, straightforward evaluation. This is your starting point.
Statistics and recommendations are great and will assist in the process; however, execution on
the field is the most important part of being recruited successfully.
To be direct, the top-level players do not need any assistance being recruited. Their skill set
speaks for them. How they play the game, or their current & potential ability displayed on the
field will attract schools to them. This category of players is fairly small, but nonetheless,
players in this category will most likely find an opportunity to continue their baseball careers at
the collegiate and/or the professional level. However, the vast majority of players will fall into
another category. What is the process for these f players who have a passion for the game of
baseball and have a desire to play in college? Let’s jump into that process.
In my opinion, based on the statistics above, every player that plays baseball in college should
prepare for “the day after you play your last baseball game”. If you are fortunate to play