Softball players making college choices before their first high school games

[Bill Bollinger]

I think it was said earlier in this thread that unless your that 6ft 60 mph genetic D1 kid ...colleges are not looking at kids in middle school to offer money ...... I think that there are a lot of 2000 and 01 kids that are on some schools radars for the future but that's about as far as it goes ..... again just my opinion..... I think ohio has a lot of good teams that are going to the right places an playing at high levels more and more just since the last 5 years I have been involved with high level travel ..... every one keeps saying times are changing but I don't see it yet here in ohio ..... so I guess im one of the odd ones on ofc ......

The girl in the article is throwing 70 as a 2017. We faced her this past weekend and I gunned her and she hit 69 on 5 straight pitches in game. She is not a genetic freak either. All 5'4 of her. Legit prospect and I would say has a huge upside as well. So while a verbal means really nothing, I would have to think she is way up the list on a ton of schools.

 

[bucketime]

Bucketime ... as you can see, there is always a lot of debate around this subject ... anywhere ranging from should it be happening to whether if it really happens or not. I am pretty sure I know who your DD is and if I am not mistaken she is actually a college freshman now, correct? Are you willing to share any info about the process that your DD went through around this ... i.e., when or where your DD was seen, what the coach(es) said to her to get her to commit, what decision process your family went through before the DD verballed, etc.? Were you ever concerned that the verbal wouldn't be honored?

yes you are correct she is a freshman (college) now. I feel the best education on the process we went through was Queen of Diamonds; not so much for being seen, but information Kirt provided to get noticed. I think my Dd was noticed first at the pinnacle sports camp; this was a good camp where college coaches run the camp and was able to talk to the players. She has had a couple offers elsewhere but she really liked her ..now ..coaches. As I did with her I did with my team; I had them write to the colleges (or at least mentioned a lot of times) starting in 8th to 9th grade so that they can get in the coaches "radar" early. I was in one coaches office (about 3 years ago and I noticed on the chalk board they were recruiting 4 years out. I felt I would try to get my players noticed early so that they can get $$ for scholarship (if I am right or not I don't know) just what I was thinking as a coach.
Then you hear the story " How can your Dd verbal when colleges cant even talk to her yet";..Well, if you go "unannounced" they can tell you anything you want. Before my Dd did verbal and at the time was Cleveland State; we made sure the education was a fit first and my Dd knew what she wanted to do as far as a career in life so that helped. She loved the coaches Angie and Stephanie. Long story short, Angie and Stephanie went to Eastern Illinois and offered my DD same deal; but first we had to see if the education (classes offered) were there and the were.
My Dd wrote a lot; we treated her as a product that needed to be sold. SHE DID THIS ON HER OWN; after she was shown how and what to write it was up to her to communicate to colleges. Other avenues she followed was being a guest players for other teams as far as Florida and especially one year did a lot of driving and played a lot of D3?? and colleges as a sophomore in Highschool which helped a lot. So in a nut shell she wrote a lot, in my opinion was not only a softball player but was an athlete (worked out a lot and ran a lot 5k races and so on) She worked hard. And now it is paying off as a freshman in college because she telling me it is hard..very hard, and that she is doing very well on the training end. She was injured this entire past summer ( probably shouldn't have played highschool but did).

I hope this helped and its all my opinion and please I am not bragging or saying this is the right and only way...I can go on and I know I missed some things but gotta go to work.
My DD did get a full athletic scholarship ( at one point we were told that never happens either); so she is getting a free education while playing the sport she loves and is talking about joining the air force after college. I would love to answer any questions if needed. By the way as my team goes...the players who took my advice did or will be getting offers too. Its all about selling yourself.

 

[coachjwb]

Bucketime ... thank you so much for sharing your experience! This subject has created a lot of confusion and disagreement as to how and even if this process happens, and I personally appreciate your willingness to talk about how the process worked for you guys, and especially about what your DD did to make this happen. Congratulations to her (and you), and we look forward to hearing about how she and her team are doing in the upcoming years!

Jeff Baker

 

[SoCal_Dad]

So while a verbal means really nothing, ....

I suppose verbal commitments to get married (i.e. engagements) also mean nothing. After all, they're not legally binding and either side can back out at any time.

Verbals are a necessary step in both processes because the parties have to first agree to get hitched before they will proceed to having it formalized. A verbal in both can last from a few days to multiple years before it is replaced by a formal agreement (e.g. NLI).

 

[bucketime]

Im back from work...long day... I had more time to read other concerns. Was I ever concerned that her verbal wouldn't be honored??... at times, but one thing the coach made clear was that she was a woman of her word and she ment what she offered. But on the other hand They did watch her for four years and noticed growth...improvement..on the other hand I've seen coaches loose interest in a player when the player wasn't exceling like the coaches thought they would be, weather or not if they verbaled; Im not sure. As a player I also feel that your summer coach should allow you to go as a guest player on other teams...I mean seriously what are they afraid of; that you may leave; I feel if they have that concern then there is a reason. I never told my players they couldn't go play a weekend somewhere if we were off...sorry getting off the subject...

 

[Joker2]

How about this..

http://m.columbiatribune.com/sports...cle_4283eaaa-fa86-5cda-b1b3-fc716c3e1f4a.html

 

[SoCal_Dad]

How about this..

http://m.columbiatribune.com/sports...cle_4283eaaa-fa86-5cda-b1b3-fc716c3e1f4a.html

That's the same article as the one that started this thread. What about it?

 

[oiler_pride]

I suppose verbal commitments to get married (i.e. engagements) also mean nothing. After all, they're not legally binding and either side can back out at any time.

Verbals are a necessary step in both processes because the parties have to first agree to get hitched before they will proceed to having it formalized. A verbal in both can last from a few days to multiple years before it is replaced by a formal agreement (e.g. NLI).

And they put engagements in the Sunday newspaper with a picture too!! Ever hear anyone say " Man there is no way Julie and Tim are getting married.. I dont believe it. She is just trying to get noticed by other Guys. Her mom is just bragging bout her dd finding a good guy. "
For those who dont think Verbals are happening in 8th and 9th grade are really just not informed or plugged in to the right people/coaches/organizations.

 

[Joker2]

Heard GoldFastpitch now lists a 2019 committ to Penn State!

 

[WWolff]

And they put engagements in the Sunday newspaper with a picture too!! Ever hear anyone say " Man there is no way Julie and Tim are getting married.. I dont believe it. She is just trying to get noticed by other Guys. Her mom is just bragging bout her dd finding a good guy. "
For those who dont think Verbals are happening in 8th and 9th grade are really just not informed or plugged in to the right people/coaches/organizations.

Jeff
Great post. I wish I would have taken a picture of all the coaches at the 14U games when we were in Indiana last weekend. I think it was about 4 to 1 over the 16U games. Now granted these were big schools at this event. SEC, PAC12, Big10, ACC, etc.
From talking to a lot of these schools most of them were there recruiting 2018 and 2019 graduates, and some had 2017 money but a lot were wrapping up that class.

Now not to say these schools would or were not looking at a 2016 grads. Always a way to find money for the right kid. (Example: Kelly Barnhill a 2015 Pitcher throwing 70 plus mph. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ZWpLfre2k Is still being recruited by Florida and Stanford when those schools have been done with that class for two years.)

 

[G3automotive]

And they put engagements in the Sunday newspaper with a picture too!! Ever hear anyone say " Man there is no way Julie and Tim are getting married.. I dont believe it. She is just trying to get noticed by other Guys. Her mom is just bragging bout her dd finding a good guy. "
For those who dont think Verbals are happening in 8th and 9th grade are really just not informed or plugged in to the right people/coaches/organizations.

Hey Jeff just to let all the people in ohio know how many girls from the state of ohio with a 2018 2019 grad year have a verbal commitment to play softball for a college ? warren jump in and add to the list if jeff misses any one thanks .... I am not in the know ....

 

[coachjwb]

Here's a website link ... http://www.goldfastpitch.com/verbals/verbals-by-year/

Looks like there's about 20 2018's and 1 2019 in the country that have verballed per this site. I see one from Indy Magic Gold verballed to Ohio State. I couldn't tell you if any of the girls are actually from Ohio. Definitely some '17's though ...

It is happening, but as we talked about on the radio show last night, it often gets exaggerated ... e.g., stories of 14-U teams where every girl has verballed ...

 

[G3automotive]

Here's a website link ... http://www.goldfastpitch.com/verbals/verbals-by-year/

Looks like there's about 20 2018's and 1 2019 in the country that have verballed per this site. I see one from Indy Magic Gold verballed to Ohio State. I couldn't tell you if any of the girls are actually from Ohio. Definitely some '17's though ...

It is happening, but as we talked about on the radio show last night, it often gets exaggerated ... e.g., stories of 14-U teams where every girl has verballed ...

so now we are saying (20) 2018-2019 in the hole country ........ not sure how many12u-14u kids play softball in the hole country but wood it be fair to say that (20)verbals for the hole country is less then 1% ........
????? help me out !

 

[DougA10]

Jeff
Great post. I wish I would have taken a picture of all the coaches at the 14U games when we were in Indiana last weekend. I think it was about 4 to 1 over the 16U games. Now granted these were big schools at this event. SEC, PAC12, Big10, ACC, etc.
From talking to a lot of these schools most of them were there recruiting 2018 and 2019 graduates, and some had 2017 money but a lot were wrapping up that class.

Now not to say these schools would or were not looking at a 2016 grads. Always a way to find money for the right kid. (Example: Kelly Barnhill a 2015 Pitcher throwing 70 plus mph. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ZWpLfre2k Is still being recruited by Florida and Stanford when those schools have been done with that class for two years.)

The Barnhill kids offers have been on the table for years, she is good enough to where the schools will wait longer for her and the family to make a decision. Pretty sure she is going to AZ State now.

 

[coachjwb]

G3 ... I am guessing that percent would be more like .001% ... and just '14-U's ... doubt there have been any 12-U's ...

 

[WWolff]

The Barnhill kids offers have been on the table for years, she is good enough to where the schools will wait longer for her and the family to make a decision. Pretty sure she is going to AZ State now.

Yes the offers came years ago. I was just stating how there is always money for the right player.

 

[DougA10]

Yes the offers came years ago. I was just stating how there is always money for the right player.

Correct, unfortunatley that is when the coach has to decide who's scholarship gets reduced,

 

[WWolff]

Correct, unfortunatley that is when the coach has to decide who's scholarship gets reduced,

So true rob Peter to pay Paul

 

[brownsfan]

so now we are saying (20) 2018-2019 in the hole country ........ not sure how many12u-14u kids play softball in the hole country but wood it be fair to say that (20)verbals for the hole country is less then 1% ........
????? help me out !

Where's this hole in the country? The only holes in the country I know about are gopher holes, snakes holes, etc. Now, if you're talking Whole country, before you go off correcting people; better check your spelling .

Last year at around this time, that site had 5 2018's and possibly 40 2017's. Over the course of fall and winter, the 2017 class blew up much like the class of 2016 did at the same time a couple years ago. During the fall and winter, colleges are reaching out to either coaches or pres of orgs to have their prospective recruit to come along for an unofficial which so happens to be football and basketball season. That's when the magic happens most of the time. So between now and early spring, expect the 2018 class to blow up that site listed.

 

[G3automotive]

lol ....feel free to correct my spelling any time its realy bad !!!! and from a cell phone typing some times it get worse !!!! lol

l