Hello Forum

[JoeA1010]

It's been awhile since I've posted here, but with Facebook and Twitter becoming completely toxic and just bad, I have decided to limit my threads there to Toledo Softball related items.

I thought I'd just offer to answer any questions anyone might have. NCAA rules limit what I can discuss and even who I can respond to, so please understand. Also, everyone is free to disagree with my views (a novel concept), but I'm not interested in personal shots taken at me or any other specific college coach, or a high school or travel coach. Two areas I cannot discuss are specifics on Toledo recruiting or any particular high school/middle school players.

It's been so long since I've regularly posted here that I suppose I better state who I am. Joe Abraham, Toledo Head Coach.

 

[DLamb]

How are you doing coach? Glad to see you back here.

 

[HITTER23]

I need a Toledo hat.....lol

 

[DanMaz]

Hello again coach Joe! Great to see you hear again. We all appreciate your leadership and greatness in the softball community! For those that don't know, this man has to be one of the most, if not the most respected coach in the game!

 

[JoeA1010]

Hey thanks, guys. I'm doing well, aside from being separated from the softball community for more than a year now because of our Dead Period in Div. I. Hitter23, we've got plenty of caps, but I never see you any more!
Thanks, DanMaz, that's very kind. With this non-stop recruiting lockdown I feel like I'm growing apart from the softball community. Needless to say, I'm ready for it to be over.

 

[yocoach]

Hi Coach! I think I speak for everyone when I say that we all would agree with you. We're ready for this thing to be over and for things to return to normal in the SB community. At least this year, it looks as if most college teams will have somewhat of a season unlike last year.

 

[Passion4theGame]

Good to see you back on here @JoeA1010 !! Are you able to do another Zoom meeting like you did last Spring with coaches?


What’s some of your favorite Ohio tournaments you have missed attending? Can’t wait to get all you coaches back out to the Diamonds for these Athletes and Schools.

 

[JoeA1010]

Hey thanks. Yeah I can do another Zoom meeting. Maybe next Friday night.

Favorite tournaments I've missed... Always enjoy Stingrays. Outlaws tourney in June is always filled with good teams and at one park. I enjoy them all, but those are probably my two favorite.

 

[DanMaz]

those are 2 great tourneys for sure coach!

What would you suggest players that are juniors or seniors in HS right now - do to help get seen by potential college recruiters? maybe list the top 2 or 3 things they can do to help themselves. Seniors, might be too late but with all the shut downs going on more than a year now, I am sure there is a handful of seniors still looking for a place to land.

 

[daboss]

Hey JoeA, good to hear from you.

 

[Xrayaries]

I was curious about ways that you recruit. I understand that you pick big events to attend and make a list of players you like. What about the B level players that are getting missed? I know of many that are getting missed this year. What are your thoughts as this all unfolds? I'm talking about DI athletes that are playing for B level teams here. Most B teams have that 1 or 2 young ladys that makes the rest of the team look like they are standing still. What avenues do you have so those girls can be seen?

 

[JoeA1010]

DanMaz... The junior and senior class strategies I think would be two different scenarios. For seniors, D1 and probably D2 are going to nearly impossible unless schools are looking for walk-ons or the player maybe has been injured for a year or so and been overlooked as a result. Anybody who is good enough can always get recruited, but a senior had better be really good to go D1 or D2 at this point. I think a skills video and a note to a coach that a girl is willing to walk on might make sense. D1 coaches can't go out until at least April 15, but realistically the earliest we're all going to be able to watch anybody is June (other than a random high school game).

For juniors, I would still be e-mailing coaches like normal, asking them if they are still recruiting 2022s, and then notifying them of pool play schedules as we get to June. Also, for juniors, some D1s will be done with the class by June, but they could add to their list of targets any schools with coaching changes. Incoming freshmen will often get a release from their NLI to go with the coach to her new school, leaving some openings for the new coach to fill.

 

[JoeA1010]

Xrayaries... You are right that we mostly go to the better showcases tournaments to watch recruits. We don't really think of it in terms of A or B teams or tournaments. But for girls or teams that don't play those bigger showcases, the girls need to do a little extra to be seen. They need to constantly e-mail coaches their schedules, they need to make sure they get to camps of any schools in which they are interested, skills videos would be really helpful, recommendations from coaches who we can trust, etc. When I think of our roster and girls we have coming in in the next couple of years, we have a bunch of girls from teams that aren't Turnin' 2 or Finesse or the Outlaws, Lasers, Hawks, etc. I count 10 girls on our current roster that played on teams that didn't normally attend the big showcases or maybe couldn't get in them. The teams they played on were typically good, though. If a girl is a really good player on a team that is well below her level of play, we need something or other to pique our interest. The things I mentioned above could do it (skills video, good recommendation, maybe a 1st team all-state honor, just some nugget). If we are going to go watch that girl play on a given weekend, we are likely pulling a coach from one of those showcases where we probably have a list of 15 or more girls we really want to watch, so there is a cost to us to detour to a lesser-skilled tournament. However, if that player is really good, we can get absolute steals because we might be the only school recruiting that player. Our top pitcher and top hitter right now both played on good travel teams, but ones that usually weren't at the very top tournaments in the Midwest. Both of those girls could easily be playing at just about any college in the country, short of maybe a top 5 or 10 school, but maybe even those, and neither of them played a single game as far as I know in PGF Nationals, Demarini, or even the top Ohio tournaments like Stingrays, Outlaws, etc.

 

[DynastyFastpitch]

Joe,
You forgot to put "legend" after Toledo Head Coach!
Joe is awesome! ALWAYS takes time to talk with people. A great coach and human being. His players are lucky to have him.
-Brett

 

[24GahannaLadyLions7]

I haven't posted a Coach Joe story in a while, even though I am still really green in the softball world this being my 8th year or so, I really appreciate how open and down to Earth, Joe has been helping the softball community in and around Ohio understand "the process." I believe there are a few coaches who go over and beyond the job title like Joe does, but I have yet to meet them. I have told this story before and if you have heard me state it before, then I apologize, but it really made an impression on our family. This is only 1 of the many stories that I have heard about Joe and how he goes about his business. 7/8 years ago my oldest daughter was a "baby Stingray" her 9U year, so after her games were over at Coffey Park at Stingrays Showcase, I took her over to Beekman. She loved watching the older girls, watching there every move and we followed some of the Gahanna girls, but she being naive, would go up and sit right behind the backstop trying to scooch over the college coaches intently watching potential recruits. I swear she was one time sitting on the lap of the Pitt head coach. We also loved seeing Coach Leedy. But one of the days, I think we were watching there watching Woodward and McMenemy and there again, from the outfield fence, I see Kirnan little rear-end scooching in the already crowded college coach bleacher. Wide eyes and jaw dropping I start to head up toward the backstop to discreetly tell her to move, but as I approached her, Joe starts talking to her or maybe she initiated it, I am not sure, but talked to her a good 45 minutes about softball. My wife remembers it well, I remember it well, and my daughter still talks about the Hillsdale Coach who talked to her all game that day at Beekman. AWESOME!!! Coach Joe probably gets tired of hearing that story, but this is just 1 of the many that are out there. I have heard tons throughout the years and the zooms that he and his staff do are amazing and the amount of information he and his staff provide is top notch.

 

[DanMaz]

Joe, how much Athletesgolive are you and other coaches able to watch and what value does it have to you and value to the players still looking?

 

[eddienite]

Joe - I was also wondering if you look at numbers from On-deck Measurements or some other similar type of organization? I have been noticing on Twitter or other social media outlets, girls posting their numbers for bat speed, Exit Velocity and distance from Rapsodo. Even some D1 schools are showing their players hitting off a similar device.

You mentioned you were looking for some nugget to get your attention, does a high bat speed or Exit Velocity over 70 mph get your attention or are you looking for general stats that are posted on Max Preps for example ( Batting average, HR, etc.)?

 

[JoeA1010]

Hey, forgot about this thread for a couple of weeks! Thanks, Matt, I never get tired of hearing a favorable story! I was probably trying to teach her something about music, as today's generation certainly needs it.

With athletes go live, I use it, but I've just found that trying to watch games online is difficult. It's a lot better than not having it, but I didn't watch much in the fall and practically none of any winter tournaments. It's exhausting trying to watch online and it's tough to take much from it. The D1 Dead Period had better end on April 15 when it is scheduled to expire.

Eddienite - I look at the numbers from On-Deck, and someone who is high in everything gets my attention, but I don't put too much stock in them. If we could rely on statistics from games, I would put quite a bit of stock in those. We still look at what is made available. The exit velocity and all of that are fine, but I figure we are basically seeing that over and over when we watch them play. It is possible to have high exit velocity, but not be able to hit. Mainly we just recruit by watching girls play as much as possible.

 

[SonicMojo]

Other than P/C and maybe SS, are you ever really recruiting for specific defensive positions?

 

[JoeA1010]

Just saw this, sorry! Yes, to some degree, but mostly not. Mostly recruiting the best players outside of pitcher/catcher.