Congrats to Wheaton North OF/RHP Jack DeAno on a verbal to Vanderbilt University....

Nice Job Jack!!!!!!!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by mcdad2:
I understand that Marmion Academy's Matt Milroy (RHP/CF) earned a scholarship to U. of Illinois. Congrats!

I saw him play - great kid.

There goes the Stevenson crew...RHP Scott Firth to Clemson. RHP Brad Sorkin to Illinois State. LHP Matt Robin to Ohio. Congratulations to all.

Mike Tauchman from Fremd to Bradley

so someone got a D1 offer without playing travel ball. Seems like they will find you somehow if your good.

Tauchman played with the Berwyn Bulldogs for a few games last year. The kid could play a smooth outfield. Congrats to Mike!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Nails:
so someone got a D1 offer without playing travel ball. Seems like they will find you somehow if your good.

Sorry, but that's simply not true and it's a bit irresponsible to advocate that position to players looking to move on, IMHO.

They MIGHT find you ...but then again ...they MIGHT not

CPLZ................What's not true?

Mike Tauchman played a little bit of legion, but no travel that I am aware of. Good player, played on varsity since freshman year. It is possible, but rare , to not play travel, but get D1 opportunity. I believe there are a couple of other kids to make it as well.

I've coached a few guys that have been granted D-I rides without playing travel ball. Heck, some have made it to the bigs. Of course, times are changing. However, in some areas of the state such as where I live, Legion ball is still big.

A very unknown kid named Brooks McDowell from Libertyville just committed to Southern Illinois- Edwardsville.

SIU- Edwardsville is a new D-1 school in the Ohio Valley Confrence. He is a kid that doesn't play travel ball and just played Legion. The NSC is just loaded with D-1 arms!

quote:

Originally posted by DiamondFan:
CPLZ................What's not true?

Nails quote that "Seems like they will find you somehow if your good." Is not true.

It is true that they may find you, not true that they will find you. Advocating a, sit back and let the offers come if you are good enough, strategy is simply foolish. I have some experience on the subject.

Like you guys like to do, you take bits and pieces of what's said and try to "create" the meaning. I see on here where people preach travel ball, preach showcases, etc etc. I read how people are saying it's not true that if your good people will find you...........I am stating an example in this case where this player didn't play big time travel ball and he got a D1 offer, I can name you about 15 more over the last few years. I am not saying travel ball is not a great idea to be seen, I am saying it's not the be all end all to being recreuted. I believe if your good and you continue to work you will get noticed............do kids fall through the cracks, sure. but if they keep at it they eventually find their way onto a college baseball team. There's many people that believe going to showcase after showcase or paying to play on the best travel team is going to guarantee you get seen and go D1. That's simply not the case, it's still all up to the kid and his talent as a baseball player. Who'd Brett Kay play for this summer? A legion team. How many big time showcases did he go to? If you have talent, there's a good chance you will be found. My point was showcases and travel ball, while being very rewarding, aren't the be all end all to getting recreuted.

OF/1B Angelo Burrage (St.Rita) has committed to play baseball at Illinois State.

The ISU Redbirds are putting together a really good class of 2009 (for spring 2010):

SS/2B Brett Kay- St.Viator
OF Blair Springfield- MacArthur
RHP Brad Sorkin- Stevenson
OF Ty Wiesenmeyer- Heartland CC
OF Burrage- St.Rita

My guess is they will get another two or three players. New associate head coach and lead recruiter, Mark Kingston, formely of Tulane, has done a great job in the 20 or so days that he has been on the job.

Here are some of my suggestions that I tell my players (Juniors) when it comes to recruiting:

1) Promote himself - I give the player a copy of a sample profile sheet and cover letter - I would have the player definitely utilize this by e-mailing college coaches to get his name out there. I would target schools the following schools - D1 (If they are able to play there), D2, NAIA, and JUCO's - (Try to target schools that have a strong academic field in the area that the player wants to study) Stay away from Division III schools right now - most of them are very expensive - No scholarships and you can use them as a last resort - They will always be there in the end)

2) I will also promote him as well once he targets the schools that he is interested in and then I will prep him up to those respective schools (Follow up e-mails/phone calls)

3) Spring season - Have another outstanding season and then get selected for the Stevenson Showcase - This will equal more exposure for him.

4) Summer season - Play summer league games during the week with the High School and then play for a travel team for exposure on the weekends - Make sure that the travel team has a good track record and they play at some prestigious events that will help him get more exposure - EXPOSURE,EXPOSURE,EXPOSURE is the name of the game - I don't want to say that it will turn into a scholarship/partial one but it will put him in a position to be seen a lot more. If it is something that your family can afford, then he will be practicing all winter long and he will be better prepared for the spring/summer.

5) Camps - This is my advice on camps - Let's say the player is interested in a school, they will send a questionnaire back and after the player has filled it out, then they will send something back about their winter/summer camp - The problem with this is that only one school is evaluating the player and no one else - The camps are generally expensive and it is a money maker for the assistant coaches. If the player is interested in attending a Showcase camp, then he should attend one where there are 40 or 50 schools there, then I think that it is a good thing since he is showcasing his talents for 40 to 50 schools - Once again EXPOSURE.

So basically it takes a lot of patience and you will have to go through this fun process but there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. All you have to do is produce on the field, promote yourself, establish a relationship with the coach/asst. coach, and then gain exposure by sending them a video, getting them to come up to watch you play, or playing with your travel team and let them know where you are playing for them to come and see.

You don't need a recruiting service - These are my two cents worth - Hopefully this helps and if anybody else has any other suggestions to add, that would be great!!!

quote:

Originally posted by fvcfan08:

The ISU Redbirds are putting together a really good class of 2009 (for spring 2010):

OF/3B Ty Wiesenmeyer- Heartland CC

Ty Wiesemeyer is one of my former players and if he's playing 3b, ... He's left handed. If some of you have not seen him play, he's a load! He is a hard charger that only knows one way to play. Good luck TY!

Good post 3-6-3.

quote:

Originally posted by Nails:
Like you guys like to do, you take bits and pieces of what's said and try to "create" the meaning.

I didn't take a bit or a piece, that's revisionist history. I used a whole sentence, it is wrong, and you got called on it.

quote:

Originally posted by Nails:
Seems like they will find you somehow if your good.

No interpretation needed, the meaning is crystal clear.

There is no reason to advocate your position. If you don't want your kid to attend showcases or play travel ball, then don't. It's not your job to come on here and show the rest of us your enlightened path.

what enlightened path is that? that you don't have to go to 100 showcases or play travel ball to be noticed? 3-6-3 made some great points, would you say he was giving us his enlightened path? Funny to me how someone can make a blanket statement and people think it's directed at them. I am a big fan of travel ball, i think it's very important in the summer and the competition is alot better than HS summer season. But I gave 2 examples of kids that worked hard, played well in HS, and some showcases that they attended and got noticed. My point originally was, if your good there's a good chance you will be found one way or another.

that's a very good class for ISU. There's still alot of big time pitchers out there, curious how it all shakes out.