I attended two showcases recently to scout players.

Most of the players weren’t ready for a showcase.

For many of them, their performance at the showcase will NOT attract attention from college coaches. For some, their peformance was detrimental (the numbers they posted weren’t close to what college coaches want to see).

One player, for example posted a 7.60 60 time, 76 throwing velocity, and 82 exit velocity. These numbers aren’t awful. I DO think this player can develop into a college player, but his numbers won’t attract attention from coaches at ANY level.

Another player posted a 8.02 60 time, 74 throwing velocity, and 77 exit velocity. These metrics are detrimental.

Both of these players will need to attend future showcases to replace these numbers if they want to get noticed by college coaches.

Still, there were plenty of players at the showcase who WILL benefit from attending.

This all begs the question:

How do you know if a showcase is worth your time and money?

Let’s dig into that question a bit.

Reasons To Attend a Showcase

If you meet any of the following criteria, attending a showcase is worth your time and money:

1) You’re an elite player.

If your metrics are well within the range of what D1 (especially Power Five) coaches look for, then attending showcases can benefit your recruiting process.

Even though D1 coaches can’t contact you until August 1, before your junior year of high school, they can still scout you at showcases and add you to their list of top prospects for your recruiting class.

The players who receive phone calls ON August 1, before their junior year were scouted well before that date.

2) Your skillset aligns with the divisions of college baseball that are currently recruiting your grad class.

The recruiting timeline varies between divisions of college baseball. Here are the general timelines (may vary from school to school):

• D1 coaches scout freshmen and sophomores, start recruiting players during their junior year, and continue recruiting players into their senior year.

• D2 coaches scout sophomores and juniors, start recruiting players during the second half of their junior year, and continue recruiting players into their senior year.

• D3/NAIA/JC coaches scout juniors, start recruiting players after their junior year, and continue recruiting players into their sophomore year.

Here’s what this means for you:

• If you’re a D1 prospect, attending showcases as early as your freshman year can help you get noticed.

• If you’re a D2 prospect, attending showcases as early as your sophomore year can help you get noticed (waiting until the fall of your junior year is NOT too late).

• If you’re a D3/NAIA/JC prospect, there’s no need to attend showcases before your junior year (waiting until late in your junior year or even until the summer between your junior and senior year is NOT too late).

• NOTE: If you’re a D1 prospect, you’re also a D2/D3/NAIA/JC prospect, and if you’re a D2 prospect, you’re also a D3/NAIA/JC prospect.

So how do you know if you’re a prospect and what division is the best fit?

Get an evaluation from an unbiased and trusted source.

At College Athlete Advantage, we have at least five of our advisors evaluate each player to provide feedback about strengths and areas for improvement and to project which divisions are most likely to express interest.

Here’s what our evaluations look like:

3) You want to gain showcase experience.

Even if you’re not a college prospect yet, attending a showcase can help you gain experience that may benefit you down the road.

The showcase environment takes some getting used to:

• There is A LOT of down time and standing around, making getting warmed up at the right time and staying warm tricky.

• Your reps are limited at a showcase, which puts pressure on you to perform well.

• There are a lot of other players at a showcase, so balancing socialization and getting ready for your reps can be challenging.

If money isn’t an issue, attending a showcase before you’re a “prospect” can help you figure these things out and give you more confidence when attending showcases later on when you ARE a prospect.

Reasons To NOT Attend a Showcase

1) You dont HAVE to go to a showcase to get recruited.

Attending showcases CAN help you gain options for playing college baseball, but they aren’t a magic bullet. You may or may not attract any new options by attending showcases.

There are other ways to get noticed:

• Email and/or social media communication

• Attending prospect camps at colleges of interest (click here for advice)

• Sending video to college coaches

• Having an advisor and/or your coaches contact coaches for you

2) You can get metrics recorded without spending money on a showcase

You don’t need to attend a showcase to record your metrics.

In fact, for the price of a one showcase, you can purchase a Pocket Radar and record your throwing velocity and exit velocity on your own whenever you want.

You can purchase a cheap stopwatch and have someone time you running the 60-yard dash (record yourself running as well so coaches can verify your time if they want).

3) Showcases offer limited reps.

Here’s what you do at most showcases:

• One or two 60-yard dash runs

• 8-12 swings off BP

• 5-8 defensive reps and throws from your position

That’s it!

If you have a bad day, those reps and metrics are still going to be available for college coaches to see.

Some showcases offer a workout AND game play, which is better. These showcases are especially beneficial for pitchers. But for position players, playing in a game setting still provides limited reps (maybe 2-3 at-bats and no guarantee of any defensive reps that will catch the eye of college coaches).

Decision Framework

Here’s the process I suggest you follow to determine whether a showcase is worth your time and money:

1) Get an evaluation from a trusted and unbiased source.

The evaluation should tell you whether you currently have the ability to play college baseball at ANY level, along with comments about your strengths and areas for improvement.

If the evaluation tells you you’re not yet a college prospect, then don’t attend any showcases unless you’re going for a reason other than exposure.

2) Determine your reason for attending the showcase.

There are two reasons to attend a showcase: exposure and experience.

Even if you’re not ready for exposure, attending a showcase for the experience has value. Experiencing how a showcase is run may help you peform better in future showcases.

If you deem the experience worth your time and money, then attend any showcase you want, whenever you want.

3) Determine whether your ability level matches the timeline of college coaches who are recruiting your grad class.

Here, I will copy my framework above as a reminder:

• If you’re a D1 prospect, attending showcases as early as your freshman year can help you get noticed.

• If you’re a D2 prospect, attending showcases as early as your sophomore year can help you get noticed (waiting until the fall of your junior year is NOT too late).

• If you’re a D3/NAIA/JC prospect, there’s no need to attend showcases before your junior year (waiting until late in your junior year or even until the summer between your junior and senior year is NOT too late).

• NOTE: If you’re a D1 prospect, you’re also a D2/D3/NAIA/JC prospect, and if you’re a D2 prospect, you’re also a D3/NAIA/JC prospect.

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 personalized advice about showcases and/or would like to schedule a free consultation with me to discuss your specific recruiting process, reply to this email or sign up for a time here.