I'm a junior in school and I'm pretty used to getting the typical college camp invitation that doesn't mean a whole lot. Recently I got a letter from a very prestigous school in the ACC that is in-state. It was a personalized letter, asking for all my scores, my transcript, my schedule, all of that. As far as I know this school has never seen me play. I have recieved many camp invitations from them and never attended so I do not see how I could be on their radar. Is it possible that in their letter they were being genuine when they said that they consider me a prospect when they haven't seen me? If so, what is my next step? This is a school I'm very interested in going to.

They could have seen you with a travel team over the summer. You never know when they are there! Respond to the questionairre and they will take you step by step. They wouldn't waste their time sending this letter if you weren't a prospect. They do send these to a large number of prospects. However, only a few are truly interested in the certain school. So if you are interested, and continue working hard, there is a chance! Best of luck. Now you should also possibly consider attending a camp. They can talk with you more extensively on campus about the next step.

Ok, wow, thanks. This is a pretty nice shock. Anyone have experience with UVA that could tell me some things about their recruiting process or school. I know they're program is always ranking up there, and I've heard nothing but good things about Coach and their facilities. Anything else I should know?

Edit: Also, there is a spot for SAT scores on the sheet to fill out, I'm a junior this year and have yet to take the SAT's. Should I leave it blank or put down a PSAT score or what?

For the SAT or ACT scores, you could put down the date you expect to take them.

Congrats on getting on a personalized letter. It's pretty exciting.

Riot, you wouldn't have received your letter if you weren't a very good student and ballplayer. But keep in mind the colleges do this and many send out mass mailings. My son as a junior also received a letter from a head coach of large PAC 10 school. It said all the usual good things, heard he was a good student/ballplayer. Now here is where you can get to the bottom of this letter. Send the coach an email asking where they found out about you, and what position they are looking to use you for. Now that might seem like a dumb question, but it will start a dialogue and confirm how much if any they really have observed you. Now as everyone knows, my son squandered his grades in his junior year and after sending his transcripts it was "Adios".

So I cannot stress enough that your grades are the "Most" important part of going on to the next level and playing in a big conference school against top competition. Please keep us posted on your progress, others student athletes will take your experiences with more credibility then us parents.

Best wishes Riot.

Coaches see players in many places and without you as the player knowing it

Get the info back to them ASAP--you never know what can happen

Pop Up Hitter Dad,

You know what has really surprised me.I have several baseball friends that are going through this process and I have TOLD them repeatedly they have to have grades. Just the other day one of my good friends who I have been tellng this too, she was told by someone(Wont mention) that her son was D1. So she called me to ask what I thought, we are pretty close and I said I dont know what coaches are looking for , trully I know some but there are kids wh have gone to D1s that I havent thought were that strong and ones that got missed that are really good. But I told her your sons grades (2.8) last year were not going to be good enough for most schools. It was like she had never heard it before I have been saying it for the last 2 years.
She said well these people think he can play D1 and he has the skills, I said ok good luck to your son. Now we are very good friends but she did not want to hear the truth. And that is what the problem is with most parents. Grades, talent, what coaches tell them they think htere kid is going to be the exception and some coach is going to take their kid with bad grades.It baffles me and I hope he gets his grades up, but below a 3.0 is pretty tough for a lot ofschools. Just thought i would share, you are correct GRADES GRADES GRADES. even at a JC GRADES GRADES GRADES if you want ta school to lok at you. I heard of several kids who were D1 prospects out of JC no grades they had to go NAIA and some arent playing at all. STUDENT ATHLETE not athletic student.

The_Riot, this brings up a good point.

quote:

Originally posted by Pop Up Hitter dad:
Send the coach an email asking where they found out about you, and what position they are looking to use you for. Now that might seem like a dumb question, but it will start a dialogue and confirm how much if any they really have observed you.

I would not make the only topic of conversation asking where they found you, but it is a good opening line.

I asked one school once where he saw the kid, the school was a PAC 10 school who fairly recently won two CWS' in a row, it turned out that he saw him at a showcase after his freshman year almost a year and a half before. I had no idea that they were there, amatter of fact, my son had gone to the showcase just after they won the Junior Olympics and he did not do really well in the showcase after playing all week in 100+ degree weather but he was still working hard, and they took note and had followed him to a point of making contact.

Bottom line as others have said, you never know who is watching, you should always hussle and work hard.

And do get back to them ASAP with what ever information they are asking for.

Good Luck!

Thank you for all the incredible information. I am in the process of emailing him now and filling out the rest of the application. I have been working extremely hard on my grades this year to make up for an average sophmore year. So again, thanks for all the usefull information, it is starting me off on the right foot

The_Riot,
The letter that you received is the letter allowed by the NCAA that most coaches send out to players all over the country in september of their junior year.
Where or if they saw you doesn't really matter. They may have seen you, they may have had someone else see you, they may have gotten your name from another prospect, or gotten info anywhere.
This is the beginning of the recruiting process for them, to narrow down prospects and who they will go after. This is where I don't agree in emailing and asking them questions at this time that they may not be able to answer right now. Just send back what they are asking for, if you are a serious prospect you will continue to get letters from them. In the meantime, do your homework on some of the players that play there, and whether you feel that you would be a player that could compete in their program. And make sure that you pay attention in the classroom.

JMO and best of luck.

Riot, What TPM said is correct, they may have heard about you or saw your name on a top 100 list. I'm sure that is where that a certain school who won two CWS got my son's name. Yes they sent him flyers right up until the day they got their deal with a better student athlete. Once the letter/flyers stop that means they got their man.

One thing my son never did, other than send back prospect form was contact recruiting coach for questions, etc. To me that had a big part in this school dropping him, besides the grades. You can ask questions, and they can respond as long as you call/write them first.

I glad to hear of your desire to bring up those grades, you only get one shot at High School. And you'll never regret it.

Colleges get your info from tournaments etc. They get a list of names from the organizers and put you on a mailing list. Most have never seen you play but they know that you may be looking to go to the next level. We were getting letters a year after my son had played college ball.

Riot, My oldest son was recruited by UVA, and he did attend camp there. The facilities were great, as were the assistant coaches, but he didn't feel he would get along well with the head coach, and he wasn't being offered any money.

My youngest son recently received a letter similar to yours, but with an emphasis on his academic status ("Identified as an excellent student"), and I am pretty sure it was somehow generated by his participation in PG. He is going to send it in, and see what happens. Good luck to you both!

quote:

Originally posted by rocketmom:
Riot, My oldest son was recruited by UVA, and he did attend camp there. ..... but he didn't feel he would get along well with the head coach, and he wasn't being offered any money.

Good luck to you both!

Sounds like the rumors and perception has become a reality. No bucks, look elsewhere.