NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS VERY LONG AND MAY GET CLIPPED BY SOME EMAIL PROVIDERS. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ONLINE VERSION.

The recruiting process has only become more confusing in recent years.

What makes it confusing?

• Social Media

• Transfer Portal

• NIL

• Early commitments

• COVID

• Changing rules

• Etc.

And these are only systemic factors. There are more factors that make your individual process confusing:

• Numerous opinions about what you should do

• Misinformation about the process

• Receiving A LOT of camp invitations

• Seeing other players get more attention than you

• Etc.

Navigating the process effectively and efficiently requires having answers to A LOT of questions. Keep reading for GOOD answers to A LOT of those questions.

18 Questions You Need To Answer in the College Baseball Recruiting Process

1 - What information do coaches want to see?

Although different coaches value different information, here’s a general list of information to include in your messages to college coaches:

• Academic Information

• Contact Information

• Metrics

• Stats

• References

• Video

Here’s more specific information about each category:

Academic Information

Here’s a list of academic information to provide:

• GPA (update after each semester)

• ACT/SAT Scores (when available)

• Transcripts (update after each semester)

• Intended Major/Academic Interest

If you’re not sure what you want to study, at least take a look at the majors provided at your target schools and make sure they have 2-3 majors you MIGHT be interested in.

Contact Information

Make it easy for college coaches to contact you. Give them multiple options:

• Cell Phone

• Email Address

• Twitter (X) Handle

• Instagram Handle

• Parents Contact Information

Metrics

The following are metrics that college coaches look at:

• Pitching Velocity

• Throwing Velocity (from position)

• Exit Velocity

• Sprint Speed (60-yard dash and home-to-first time)

• Pop Time (catchers)

• Spin Rate (pitchers)

Some coaches value these numbers more than others, but it’s important to have them available for coaches to see.

Stats

Coaches don’t trust stats unless they know the player’s level of competition. Provide them anyway because some coaches want to see them (those that don’t can ignore them).

Here are stats to include for pitchers:

• ERA

• Innings Pitched

• Strikeouts

• Walks

• WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched)

Here are stats to include for position players:

• Slash Line (AVG/OBP/SLG)

• At-Bats

• Doubles

• Triples

• Home Runs

• Strikeouts

• Walks

• Stolen Bases

References

College coaches watch video and look at metrics/stats first. If they’re intrigued they will call references (your coaches) to learn more about you.

Provide contact information for your high school and club/travel coaches. Also include anyone who knows you that may be connected to the college coach.

Give college coaches an option to request additional references as well.

Video

College coaches don’t have the time/resources to attend every game/event they would like to. They often watch video to get a first impression/evaluation of players.

Providing both practice AND game footage is valuable. Practice video allows coaches to see a lot of reps. Game video allows coaches to see how you compete.

Here are some video tips:

• Edit video down to no more than two minutes. Eliminate as much dead time as possible.

• Provide different angles for coaches to see.

• Capture a lot of game footage so you have plenty of clips to pick from.

• Provide pitch types for pitching video.

• Provide updated video to coaches who show interest in you every month or two.

Click here for a tutorial I wrote about filming game footage.

2 - What level of college baseball is the best fit?

Every player wants to play D1 baseball.

Who wouldn't?!

D1 players get the most attention. They have the best chance to extend their careers beyond college.

The reality: A low percentage of high school players play D1 baseball.

Change your mindset to finding your best fit. Don't focus on level.

Determining which level is the best fit involves two main factors:

• Metrics

• Skills

Metrics, or "Tools," are measured at showcases:

• Sprint Speed (60-yard dash)

• Throwing Velocity

• Exit Velocity

• Pop Time

• Etc.

Skills refer to fundamentals:

• Swing Mechanics

• Throwing Mechanics

• Fielding Ground Balls

• Footwork

• Etc.

College coaches often look at metrics first. They have ranges of metrics they look for.

A D1 coach, for example, might look for a pitcher who throws at least 87 mph. Or for a centerfielder who runs the 60-yard dash in under 6.70 seconds. Or for a catcher who throws under 2.00 seconds to second base.

They identify players within their desired ranges and THEN look at skills.

To determine the level that fits best, have a coach/scout evaluate your metrics and skillset. (Someone who knows what they're doing and will tell you the truth).

3 - What specifically do you need to improve to increase your recruiting stock?

If you get an objective evaluation and you’re not satisfied with your projected level, seek out feedback about what you need to improve to increase your recruiting stock.

Here are some common areas for improvement for high school players:

• Get bigger/stronger/faster (this is the most common limiting factor for high school players)

• Add pitching velocity

• Add arm strength

• Improve fundamentals (offense and/or defense)

• Cut down on strikeouts (hitters)

• Cut down on walks (pitchers)

This information will help you focus your training on the areas that are most important.

4 - What factors are the most important to YOU?

Imagine two players who have equal metrics and skills coming out of high school. Both players want to play college baseball.

Player A wants to be a brain surgeon. The quality of the pre-med program is his top priority.

Player B wants to play professional baseball. Athletic development is his top priority.

Although they have equal ability, different colleges will be the best fit for each player.

The next step in YOUR process: think about what factors are the most important to you.

• Academics

• Coaching Staff

• Location

• Cost

• Winning

• Etc.

List as many factors as you can think of, then rank order them.

Use the list to further narrow your list of colleges.

5 - How can you use your evaluation and important factors to create a list of favorite colleges?

Using the information from your evaluation and important factors, start performing research.

Website research gives you a first impression.

What should you look for on websites?

• Academic Programs (Does the school offer yours?)

• Campus Life (Dorms, Cafeterias, Etc.)

• Athletic Facilities

• Coaches Bios

• Roster Construction

• Etc.

Casting a wide net is the best strategy.

There are approximately 1700 college baseball programs in the United States (includes all levels: D1/D2/D3/NAIA/JC).

How many could you name off the top of your head? 100? 200? 300?

Even if you could name 500 college baseball programs, that leaves 1200 you can't name.

Some of these 1200 would be a good fit.

You won't know which ones unless you cast a wide net.

Too many players create a "Top 10 List" when they're a freshman, sophomore, or junior in high school.

Ten is not enough.

Start with AT LEAST 20 schools from each division at which you have the ability to play (more than 20 is better). The more the merrier!

6 - What are the best strategies to introduce yourself to college coaches?

Here are several ways to introduced yourself to college coaches:

• Personal Emails

• Social Media

• Camps

Here’s more details for each strategy:

Personal Emails

College coaches receive A LOT of recruiting emails. Some coaches have better systems for processing emails than others.

Writing personalized (not generic) emails to each school gives you the best chance to receive a response.

Here’s an example:

Coaches,

My name is John Smith. I’m a 2025 RHP from XYZ in Iowa.

I’m starting to search for my best fit for playing college baseball. I’m interested in <NAME OF COLLEGE> for a few reasons:

• REASON 1

• REASON 2

• REASON 3

Will you look at the short video on my recruiting profile (linked below) and let me know if my skillset and metrics match what you’re looking for?

<PROFILE LINK>

Here is a snapshot of my credentials:

• Height/Weight = 6’1”/185

• Experience = 18 varsity innings as a sophomore at Pleasant Valley (largest classification in Iowa)

• Velocity = 82-87

• Pitches = FB/CB/CH

• Stats = 25 strikeouts in 18 innings as a sophomore

If you have some initial interest, can we schedule a phone call so I can learn more about your program?

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Sincerely,

John Smith
<CELL NUMBER>
<TWITTER HANDLE>

Social Media

X (formerly Twitter) has become a popular recruiting tool for college coaches in recent years.

Click here for a tutorial with best practices for using X for your recruiting process.

Camps

Coaches often watch video for a first impression/evaluation on prospects, but they want to see players in person before making a final decision about extending an offer.

Attending camps can be an effective way to get in front of coaches who have expressed previous interest. Avoid going to camps, however, unless certain requirements are met.

Use the flowchart below to decide whether going to a specific camp makes sense. Click here for more detail about this decision tree.

7 - How should you communicate with college coaches?

Here’s an overview of the communication cycle for college baseball recruits:

Effective communication is critical during EVERY phase of this cycle.

Here are some tips:

• Respond to EVERY coach. Even if he says he isn’t interested, respond by thanking him for letting you know.

• Respond to EVERY message within 24-48 hours.

• Ask a question to put the ball back in the coach’s court to respond back to you (usually ask to set up a phone call).

Click here for more specific details about responding to messages from college coaches.

8 - How can you determine how interested a coach is?

I like estimating how interested a coach is using the following 1-5 scale:

• 1 = Low Interest (no response or generic responses to communication).

• 2 = Medium-Low Interest (personal response to communication with positive feedback)

• 3 = Medium Interest (consistent text/phone conversations with coaches)

• 4 = Medium-High Interest (invitation to official campus visit)

• 5 = High Interest (scholarship offer)

Determining high interest from a D3 program can be more difficult because they can’t offer athletic money. You’ll need to ask pointed questions and read into how D3 coaches are communicating with you to determine the true interest level.

9 - What camps/showcases are worth your time and money?

I’ve wrote extensively about this topic in the past. Check out the decision tree below and follow it closely. Click here for more details about the decision tree.

10 - What questions should you ask on phone calls/campus visits?

You should have 2-3 questions prepared for each of your most important factors. The coaches may answer some of these question without you having to ask, but likely not all of them.

Click here for a database of potential questions for a variety of important factors.

11 - How should you narrow your list of schools?

I suggest casting a wide net initially, but narrowing the list fairly quickly. Here’s an example:

• Send introductory messages to 100 colleges that COULD be a good fit.

• Respond to the coaches that reply.

• Wait a week, then send a second message to the coaches that DIDN’T reply to the first email.

• Respond to the coaches that reply.

• Wait a week for any late responses, then cross off the schools that didn’t reply. This should leave you with 10-20 schools.

• Continue communication with the 10-20 schools that showed initial interest.

• Narrow the list to the 10 schools that are showing the MOST interest.

• Continue communication with your top 10 schools.

• Narrow the list to the five schools that YOU’RE most interested in (based on your top values/priorities).

• Take a deep dive into your top five schools (campus visits, continued research, talking to players/alumni, etc.).

• Cross off one school at at time until you land on your best overall fit.

NOTE: If you don’t have 10-20 schools on the list after two contact attempts, you’re likely targeting schools at too high a level.

12 - How should you compare schools against each other?

Use a systematic process for comparing and contrasting schools.

First, keep a file for each school and write down notes as you’re going through the process. This is especially important after visiting campus. Refer back to these notes when you’re trying to compare and contrast schools.

Start a spreadsheet with your schools of interest listed in the first column and your top priorities listed in order in the first row.

Give each college a 1-10 ranking for each priority, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

Working through this process and seeing the rankings in this manner will give you great insights about which school is your best overall fit.

If you want to take this exercise a step further, assign weights to each priority (10 for your top priority, 9 for your second priority, 8 for your third priority, as so one). Multiply each ranking by the weight, then add all the numbers to see which one comes out on top mathematically.

Don’t discount your gut feeling/instincts as well. If a school seems like the best fit based on your rankings, but your gut is telling you another school is a better fit, trust your gut!

13 - What is a good scholarship offer?

It’s first important to understand the number of scholarship allowed at each level of college baseball:

• NCAA D1

  • Allowed a maximum of 11.7 baseball scholarships

  • Scholarships can be divided among up to 27 players

  • The minimum scholarship amount is 25%

• NCAA D2

  • Allowed a maximum of 9 scholarships

• NCAA D3

  • Do NOT allow baseball scholarships

• NAIA

  • Allowed a maximum of 12 baseball scholarships

• NJCAA D1

  • Allowed a maximum of 24 baseball scholarships (tuition/room/board)

• NJCAA D2

  • Allowed a maximum of 24 baseball scholarships (tuition only)

• NJCAA D3

  • Do NOT allow baseball scholarships

• Notes

  • Not all schools are fully funded, which means that the school may not allow the maximum number of scholarships allowed by the NCAA, NAIA, or NJCAA.

  • Junior colleges in California DO NOT offer baseball scholarships (or athletic scholarships for any sport)

The note I bolded above is important to understand. It’s possible for a smaller offer to be “better” than a bigger offer if it’s coming from a program that’s not fully funded.

Here’s my advice:

Don’t get hung up on baseball scholarship amounts. Instead, wait until you see COMPLETE financial aid offers (including academic/athletic/other aid) from each school, then compare the bottom line (out-of-pocket cost) for each school.

It’s possible that the out-of-pocket cost is less at schools that can’t/don’t offer athletic money than those than do.

14 - Can you use scholarship offers as leverage?

It IS possible to use a scholarship offer as leverage to get a better deal from other schools. This is one reason why casting a wide net and creating as many options as possible is so beneficial.

This works best when you have offers from multiple schools that are all pretty even in your mind. Consider the following scenario, for example:

• You like College A a lot better than College B

• College B’s offer is better than College A’s offer

If you would choose College A even if it doesn’t increase it’s offer, then you can only use College B’s offer as a bluff.

If, however, you would choose College B if College A doesn’t improve its offer, you have significant leverage.

These can be tricky conversations. I suggest getting advice from an expert (like a CAA advisor). If you’re using an offer as leverage, it’s important to do so with honesty and integrity.

15 - How should you pick your best fit?

To pick your best fit, continue working through the process I outlined above to compare and contrast schools.

Once you get down to your final two schools, I think it’s a good idea to visit each campus again (and maybe spend the night in the dorms with some players). This will give you some final information to weigh before you make a final decision.

Remember, if it’s close, trust your gut!

16 - How should you commit?

Once you’re ready to commit, simply call the coach and offer your verbal commitment. Be sure to ask about next steps on the call.

17 - How should you communicate with coaches at the schools you didn’t choose?

Calling the coaches who were recruiting you to let them know you’re committing somewhere else is a difficult, but necessary part of the process.

These coaches have invested time and energy recruiting you and deserve communication to let them know you’re choosing a different school.

If you’ve had phone calls/campus visits at a school, the coach deserves a phone call. If you’ve only had text/email communication with a school, letting them know via text or email is fine.

Here’s a phone call script you can use:

Hello Coach. John Smith here. I’m calling to let you know that I’ve decided to commit to XYX University. I seriously considered your program and sincerely appreciate your time and effort recruiting me.

Next, simply be quiet and wait for the coach to respond. Some coaches may simply thank you for letting them know. Others may ask why you chose the other school instead. Have 2-3 honest reasons ready. For example:

• I felt a better connection with the coaching staff.

• I like the facilities better.

• The academic program was more in line with what I’m looking for.

• Etc.

Don’t worry about hurting his feelings. If he asks for reasons, be honest.

Even if they seem upset at first, they will respect you for letting them know personally. They will be even more upset if they find out on social media or in some other manner.

These conversations also provide great practice for having difficult conversations, which you will have to do many times in your life.

18 - What should you do after you commit?

After you commit, the process will look different for different schools. This is why it’s important to ask each coach about next steps when you call him to commit.

The MOST important thing you need to do, however, is KEEP GETTING BETTER! Your commitment is worth celebrating, but it’s just the starting line.

When you go to college, you will be competing against the best of the best (and against some players who are 3-5 years older than you. If you don’t double down on your development after you commit, you won’t have the type of college experience you desire.

I hope this helps!

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.