A record 2404 D1 baseball players entered the NCAA Transfer Portal in 2022, according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

This number gets bigger when adding D2 and D3 players.

This makes the recruiting process more challenging for high school players.

Why?

Many college coaches prefer recruiting players from the transfer portal over high school players.

Here’s a couple Tweets I saw recently:

What is the NCAA Transfer Portal?*

The transfer portal was created in 2018 to benefit student-athletes wanting to explore transfer opportunities.

Prior to its creation, student-athletes had to:

• Ask permission to transfer from their head coach

• Appeal to the athletic director (if permission from the coach was denied)

• Appeal to a campus administrator (if permission from the AD was denied)

The transfer portal allows student-athletes to transfer by simply asking the NCAA compliance administrator at his school to enter his name into the portal.

Although the transfer portal has made transferring easier for student-athletes, they were still required to sit out a year when transferring from one D1 program to another.

This changed in 2021 when the NCAA passed a one-time transfer rule, allowing student-athletes to play right away when transferring from one D1 program to another (for the first transfer only).

This 2021 legislation opened the flood gates, making transferring an attractive option for those not fitting in at their current school.

* The information from this section comes from this article.

So now back to how all this affects the recruiting process.

Why do college coaches prefer recruiting out of the portal?

Because they like players who have already proven they can play well at the college level.

Imagine a coach looking at two prospects:

• Player A started last season for a D1 program and hit .350/.425/.510.

• Player B hit .550/.650/.850 for his high school team (crazy good stats), but played against below average competition.

It’s possible Player B ends up being the better player, but Player A is a safer bet for the college coach. He KNOWS what he’s getting.

I’ve seen players who put up video game numbers in high school who really struggle at the college level and never end up breaking into the starting lineup.

The one-time transfer rule has created another problem for college coaches: The rule makes it easy for freshmen to jump ship if they don’t play right away.

When coaches invest time recruiting a high school player, they want to feel confident the player will stick around.

It’s not common to break into the starting lineup as a college freshman (at ANY level).

A colleague recently talked to a D1 head coach who hesitates to recruit high school players for this very reason.

He doesn’t want to waste time recruiting a high school player if they’re going to leave after a year anyway. He’d rather focus on recruiting from the transfer portal and junior colleges.

So, as a high school player, how should you handle all this?

Keep reading..

6 Tips to Make Sure the NCAA Transfer Portal Doesn’t Derail Your Recruiting Process

The transfer portal WILL affect your recruiting process.

You can’t control that.

You can take steps, however, to ensure your recruiting process will be successful.

Focus on Development

Here’s a surefire way to beat the transfer portal as a high school player:

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” - Steve Martin

The “they,” in this case, refers to college coaches.

If you can prove you’re better than their options in the transfer portal, then they WON’T ignore you.

Certainly this is easier said than done, but what can you control? YOUR DEVELOPMENT!

Pour your energy and resources into becoming the best player you can be.

• Improve your metrics

• Ball out in games

• Play with passion

You can control ALL these factors!

Play Excel Against High-Level Competition

Since college coaches prefer proven commodities, playing well against high-level competition can only help your cause.

Hitting .500 against pitchers throwing 78-82 won’t mean much to D1 coaches, but hitting .500 against pitchers throwing 88-92 WILL mean something.

The obvious caveat here is that you need to play WELL. Struggling against high-level competition won’t get you anywhere.

Where can you find high-level competition?

• Large high schools

• Exclusive club programs

• Certain PBR/PG/Etc. events/tournaments

• Certain college camps

• Etc.

Be Open to Opportunities at ALL Levels

D1/D2/NAIA schools are more focused on transfers than every before.

To counter, I suggest exploring opportunities at ALL levels.

Pick at least 10-20 schools from every level that COULD be a good fit, then pare down until you have a top 2-3 options at each level.

You don’t have to give up on D1, but it’s not smart to put all your eggs in the D1 basket.

Cast a Wide Net

Casting a wide net is a natural extension of being open to opportunities at all levels.

Casting a wide net = More options = More leverage = The best possible chance to find your best fit.

At College Athlete Advantage, we like to use the popular TV show “Shark Tank” to illustrate this point.

Focus on Fit

My mission is to help players find their best fit for playing college baseball.

My process works best when I work with players/parents who are on the same page.

Fit is about so much more than baseball.

Fit =

• Academics

• Location

• Cost

• Coaching Staff

• Professors

• Facilities

• Size

• Intuition

• Athletics

• Etc.

Focusing exclusively on baseball is a recipe for disaster.

I know players/parents are on the right track when they tell me:

“I want to pick a school I would want to stay at even if I suffered a career-ending injury during the first baseball practice.”

Don’t Give Up a Good Offer

I saw this Tweet recently:

In general, this is good advice.

Coach Hill is correct. We’re in a coaches market. The coaches get to pick the players they want.

If they want you and extend a good offer, take it!

HOWEVER, don’t take an offer if the college in ONLY a good baseball fit. It needs to check more boxes than that.

There you have it!

The transfer portal has made the recruiting process more confusing and more difficult for high school players, but this is out of your control.

What in your control?

Implement my six tips and you’ll find your best fit!

Please comment or reply if you have questions and/or want more depth about certain topics.

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 send me a text at 319-883-0242.