The college baseball recruiting process (and the college search in general), is too important to take lightly.

I recommend thinking deeply about what factors are the most important for YOU and developing a system for ranking each college for each factor.

This systematic approach gives you the best chance to find YOUR best fit.

Here are some factors to consider:

10 Important Factors for the College Baseball Recruiting Process

Academics

I was a very good student in high school. I finished with a 3.82 GPA.

Academics, however, was low on my priority list for picking a college.

Why?

Because baseball factors were more important. As long as the school I picked had my desired major, I was good.

I didn’t need a prestigious academic school with a highly ranked program for my major.

The players I work with often rank academics high because they think they’re supposed to. They’ve heard mom and dad harp on the importance of academics for years.

When I tell them about my experience, most of them drop it down on their list (and their parents agree).

Please don’t misunderstand, however.

You absolutely should take academics VERY seriously when you’re IN college, but it’s okay if it’s not your top priority for PICKING a college.

It’s also okay if academics IS your top priority.

• If you want to be a doctor and you desire a highly-ranked pre-med program, by all means seek that out.

• If you want to be a pilot, you’ll need to find a college that offers aviation.

• If you want to go to a military academy, your options are pretty limited.

Just keep in mind that you may have to live with some undesirable baseball-related factors to find the perfect academic fit.

Regardless of were academics falls on your priority list, I always recommend asking to meet with a professor in your academic interest area when you visit campuses.

If you’re not sure what you want to study, ask to meet with someone who can talk more generally about the academic programs offered at the school.

Campus Life

Here are some important questions to consider:

• What do you want to do during your free time in college?

• Do you want to get involved in anything on campus other than baseball? Music? Religious organizations? Academic clubs?

• Do you want a “party” scene nearby?

• Do you want to attend football games on Saturday afternoons in the fall and basketball games in the winter?

• Etc.

All these questions are related to “campus life.”

If campus life is a high priority, come up with questions to ask the coaches, players, etc. about their experience.

You can glimpse what campus life is like on college campuses by looking at websites, but NOTHING will replace visiting the campus and experiencing it for yourself.

If campus life is important, I recommend scheduling an overnight visit (most coaches can set this up for you). This will allow you to experience a “day in the life” of a baseball player in the program first hand.

Coaching Staff

Your connection with the coaching staff will make or break your college baseball experience.

Ask pointed questions during the recruiting process to feel this out. Here are some examples:

• What is your coaching style?

• Do you plan to stay here for a long time?

• How do you develop team culture/chemistry?

• How do you support players off the field?

• Etc.

It’s also important to feel out how badly the coaching staff wants you in the program. Here are some signals that they do:

• They contact you at least once every 7-10 days.

• They send you hand-written notes.

• They visit you at your high school and/or home.

• They “roll out the red carpet” when you visit.

• Etc.

You should also talk to current/former players, if possible, about their experience with the coaching staff.

Cost

The cost of college has skyrocketed through the years. The tuition/room/board/fees at the college I attended has more than doubled since I graduated in 2001.

Comparing the cost at different colleges can be confusing. Here’s an example using two NCAA Division 3 schools that I coached at — Wartburg College and Central College.

Here’s the tuition/room/board for the 2023-2024 school year for each college:

• Wartburg = $61,890

• Central = $33,048

Wow! Wartburg costs almost twice as much! NOT SO FAST!

Let’s take a look at the academic scholarships offered by each school:

• The top academic scholarship at Wartburg is $35,000

• The top academic scholarship at Central is $7000 (excluding a small number of full-tuition scholarships each year).

Let’s do the math for each school:

• Wartburg - $61,890-$35,000 = $26,890

• Central - $33,048 - $7000 = $25,048

Interesting! The schools are ACTUALLY very similar in price.

This is a simplistic example. Each of these schools offers other forms of scholarships and financial aid that will affect the bottom line.

BUT…My point is that you shouldn’t draw FINAL conclusions based on the “sticker price” advertised on the website.

Now this example was between two SIMILAR schools. It gets even more confusing when comparing the costs between schools are different levels.

Here are my take home points:

• Go through the entire admissions/financial aid process for EACH school at the top of your list BEFORE comparing the costs.

• The MOST important figure is the final OUT-OF-POCKET cost at each school (after all scholarships and other financial aid has been calculated).

Development

When I talk about important factors with players and parent, “development” is commonly high on the list.

Most players are attracted to programs they think will help them improve, as they should be.

What’s important for ALL players to remember, however, is that development depends more on THE PLAYER than the program.

You simply WILL NOT reach your potential without A LOT of work on your own, regardless of what program you’re in.

Don’t RELY on others (your coaches, trainers etc.). Take control of your own development.

There are programs, however, that provide better ENVIRONMENTS for development than others. THIS is what you should look for. Ask yourself:

“Does this program provide the environment I will need to fulfill my potential as a baseball player?”

Here are some examples of questions you can ask the coaches to feel this out:

• What does your strength and conditioning program look like?

• How do you organize your practices?

• Will I receive individualized coaching?

• Do your players get work in outside of team practices?

• What does a typical practice look like for players at my position?

Come up with more questions on your own.

Facilities

It’s easy to fall in love with programs that have new/nice facilities.

More important, however, is how those facilities are used and how functional they are for what you need to do:

• Are there batting cages available year round?

• Is there time/space to long toss indoors (more important for northern programs)?

• Is the weight room accessible at all times?

• Is the field on campus?

• Etc.

Obviously you will be able to see the facilities first hand when you visit campuses, but it’s also important to ask the coaches how the facilities are used.

Level

I saw an interesting Tweet recently by a D1 baseball coach about the levels of college baseball:

I’ve found Coach Noto’s theory that most players believe they are a level better than they actually are to be very true. I often tell players and parents:

Even if you CAN play D1 baseball, it still may not be your BEST FIT!

Focusing on fit over level is critical.

I wrote a previous article about the hierarchy of levels in college baseball. I suggest reading it before deciding how to prioritize “level” for your college search.

Location

I always ask the following question to the players I work with:

How many hours away from home are you willing to go for college?

The farther you’re willing to go, the more potential options you’ll have.

I’ve found that many players say they’re willing to go anywhere when they start the recruiting process, but eventually realize they prefer to stay close to home.

Where you live in the country makes a difference as well.

There are MANY more colleges in the eastern half of the United States than in the western half.

If you live in the western part of the country, you may be forced to go away from home if you don’t find good options nearby.

MOST college coaches recruit regionally versus nationally, so you’re more likely to be seen by schools in your region.

If moving AWAY from home is a priority, you need to be aggressive about getting in front of coaches outside your region.

Most coaches won’t recruit you without seeing you in person first, so going to camps/showcases outside your region can help.

Playing Time

Every player wants to start in every game, but this isn’t realistic.

No college coach will (or should) guarantee you playing time. You have to EARN playing time.

However, there are situations at which earning playing time early in your career is more likely than others.

Here are some questions to ask the coaching staff:

• How many players at my position are you recruiting?

• How many players at my position will be returning?

• Do freshman typically play very often in your program?

• Etc.

You can also look at rosters online to get a sense for how many players are at your position and what years they are.

At every level, earning a starting role as a freshman is uncommon.

Coming in with the following attitudes will serve you well:

• I’m going to work as hard as I can to earn a starting role right away.

• If I don’t earn a starting role, I’m going to support the player in front of me, but I’m going to keep working hard to overtake him on the depth chart.

Winning

Certainly every player wants to play in a winning program.

It’s easy to search for win-loss records online and find the programs that have winning traditions.

There’s something to be said, however, about going to a program that hasn’t won very much and being part of the solution to turn the program around.

Considering programs that DON’T have a winning tradition will affect some of the other factors on this list as well:

• Playing time

• Level

• How badly the coaching staff wants you

• Etc.

Thank you for reading!

Feel free to reply/comment with any questions and/or insights.

All the best!

- Matt

P.S. If you'd like to schedule a free consultation with me to discuss your specific recruiting process, reply to this email or sent me a text at 319-883-0242.