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college athletics question.... coaches, scouts, parents, athletes

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    college athletics question.... coaches, scouts, parents, athletes

    short version: i guess my questions are, for the coaches/scouts/parents/athletes out there that have been through HS sports, what are your thoughts on "college talented" players and the benefits of being at a large school vs. small school? do college programs scout the smaller schools as much/hard? do they weigh the performance of small school kids differently? i tend to lean towards the saying that the cream rises to the top, but if the kid isnt getting serious consideration because of the size of his school, what good will that do him?

    longer version: i was talking with a neighbor last night and we got onto the subject of athletes today and how (in the city we live in) all pretty much only play one sport starting in high school and even middle school in some cases. this lead us into discussing the merits of attending a large (5A-6A) school verses a smaller school and the amount of "exposure" athletes would get at each.

    i came from a 3A school where we could/did play pretty much every sport in HS, and a school that as far as i know has had (1) D1 athlete in its history. i am sure they have had many more, probably a couple every year that end up playing at a smaller school somewhere.

    being the dad of (2) young boys, both relatively athletic for their ages, i hate to think that they will have to "choose" a sport one day, but i also tend to think, maybe just because, that playing 1-2 sports at a large school would be more beneficial for someone with collegiate talent than being the "big fish in a small pond" at a smaller school.

    disclaimer: i am in no way planning my boys college careers right now, i understand that they may quit playing sports next season, however, this hits close to home because my wife and i always talk about moving to a smaller town, on some acreage, so they boys can grow up in the woods. so we are weighing this stuff out all the time and end up giving in to the convenience of living in the city, close to all the select teams and "seemingly" more talented competition, etc.

    to give an idea of where we would be looking i am talking about towns like caddo mills (4a), farmersville (3a), princeton (4a), as opposed to rockwall (6a) where we live now.

    so after all that, i guess my questions are, for the coaches/parents/athletes out there that have been through HS sports, what are your thoughts on "college talented" players and the benefits of being at a large school vs. small school? do college programs scout the smaller schools as much/hard? do they weigh the performance of small school kids differently? i keep reading stuff from college coaches stating that they look for kids that play multiple sports but then you see kids playing one sport all year and cant help but think they have a leg up when it comes down to it.


    #2
    I graduated from Rockwall High school and was fortunate to receive a scholarship in football and baseball with options to choose where and what I wanted to play. In baseball your best bet to get exposure is play select ball year round along with attending showcases from his sophomore year to his senior year. Football you will want to attend combines and showcases to get your children seen. You have to remember that when high school sports are going on college sports are as well. So summertime is really the time to get exposure as scouts travel the most at this time. In regards to exposure from different size high schools I can't comment on that. Good luck with your questions and I hope this helps.

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      #3
      I went to a 4A school in Houston, as far as I know, we had two scouts show up to football games and none to anything else. I played football and baseball, baseball was my best sport. Any offer that I got was because I went to open tryouts, scouts didn't come to our games because we weren't any good. Scouts use to come to our baseball games, when we had a former pro coaching us. The football scouts came on the request of our coaches that knew the scout. I personally don't think it is how big your school is, its more, how good is your school. What have they produced/what have they won?

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        #4
        Originally posted by txbowhunter15 View Post
        I graduated from Rockwall High school and was fortunate to receive a scholarship in football and baseball with options to choose where and what I wanted to play. In baseball your best bet to get exposure is play select ball year round along with attending showcases from his sophomore year to his senior year. Football you will want to attend combines and showcases to get your children seen. You have to remember that when high school sports are going on college sports are as well. So summertime is really the time to get exposure as scouts travel the most at this time. In regards to exposure from different size high schools I can't comment on that. Good luck with your questions and I hope this helps.
        Agree on the select ball, a few of my tryouts were through my former select ball coach hooking me up.

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          #5
          I played for years school that gave me a scholarship, made the choice easy

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            #6
            I went to a small (3a) school at the time where I played 4 sports my freshman and sophomore yr of HS. Eventually that was narrowed down to just football and baseball by the time I was a senior. My senior class had roughly 200 kids graduate and somewhere around 25 went on to play college sports, pretty good percentage if you ask me. My senior year of baseball there were only 5 seniors left and all 5 went on to play college ball. I played D2, 3 went to a JUCO, 1 went to a small D1 and eventually played some Independent Ball.
            We were the smallest school in the area and were no doubt overshadowed by the larger 5a schools around us. However, I guess my point is that plenty of kids from a 3a school made it to the college level from my school regardless, many of which might have been swallowed up in a larger HS.
            Also after playing college baseball I realized just how many teams are out there that kids can play for. I would advise to contact as many coaches and play in front of as many college scouts as possible because if you are decent then you should be able to find a place to play.
            I bet Bkvill can weigh in here and give his 2 cents, he graduated with me and played baseball for 5 different colleges haha.

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              #7
              I played HS at a (2A) school in Okla. We were good during my years in HS and won State twice and went to semi's the middle year. I made the All State team as well. Anyway there were scouts at a few games and my coaches put my name out there. I ended up on the "Bluechip" list. I did attend in-state summer football camps that increased my exposure and I ended up with a Full Scholarship. I don't think large or small schools are the difference. There are a lot of factors. I chose to drop other sports and focus on football and weight training my junior year. I could have played others but decided to focus on my favorite. A little gentle guidance and direction from parents and coached helped but the decision was mine. If your child is good enough then their abilities can get them a long way. Hope that helps

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                #8
                If you are good...they will find you!!!!

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                  #9
                  Agree if they're talented they will find you...May be a little harder depending on position at small schools...Baseball if your a pitcher will be easier etc.
                  I played 4a. We had scouts at games but not alot. Alot of the guys received offers at small schools and a few D1 offers.
                  Track was a different story. We didn't have a strong team and even though the numbers don't lie on speed/distance etc. I didn't see scouts until regional (few) and state. That's the only place I actually had interest showed in me for the field part of track. Guess that's different since it's individual sport and figure if you can't make it out of district and city competition there's alot of guys better.

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                    #10
                    I played college ball, Times have significantly changed in the last 10 years in that arena.. I came from a then 4A school, and played everything, at that point it was more about how good your team was, and "did you make the papers?", media was a huge notification button to perspective college football coaches... Nowadays it's more complex, there are film uploading sites, digital highlight reels, camps, combines, 7 on 7, social media campaigns, subscription websites etc etc. In my mind, a kid almost HAS to specialize to be able to get a shot into a program. Sure, there are the kiddos that can play anything, everything, and have their pick of what they want to do. But I think for the most part, that's something that's changed in the last decade. I'm from the camp of just letting the kid be a kid, and if it happens for them, then it does, if not then there is something else for them. Obviously you want to give them the best platform, but it's my opinion that a football/baseball or whatever scholarship provides a job that pays roughly 12-15k/year, and an education that is honestly watered down, but thats an each is own kinda deal!

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                      #11
                      here is a different perspective - a 6a high school is at minimum 2100 students (much bigger if you look at katy, allen, etc.). that's over 1000 boys trying to find their niche, and trying various sports. In a 6a or even 5a school, there is such a competition just to make they team and then even start. To play at a D1 school is extremely hard to do now, so much that there are paid services to try to help parents / kids. In order to be seen and considered for D1 school, if they don't know who you are by your summer between sophomore and junior year you are at a huge disadvantage, and probably not gonna happen unless.

                      I am living this now. I have a point guard graduating this year, the best graduating senior, and no D1 school has even given him a look. We have had some juco's and D3 schools but nothing else.

                      If you are not playing AAU or select sports, and playing in regional / national tournaments, you are at a huge disadvantage trying to make a D1 team.

                      Use maxprpeps.com and look up the top 100 athletes in the various sports and see what your competition looks like.

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                        #12
                        Just my .02$

                        From power 5 schools all the way through Junior Colleges most all programs will know about 99% of players that have "college potential" in any sport at any level high school early in their high school careers. Very few fall thru the cracks anymore no matter what classification school they are at.

                        Without saying the bigger schools do promote more competition within their own programs for playing time. Also, the competition they play against in games settings is improved over smaller schools.

                        The finding of players is created by word of mouth from coach to coach, coaching circles, coaching friends, coaching connections, seeing kids play on video your watching on other teams and the list goes on.

                        Coaches do like it when athletes play other sports. This can only help with their competitiveness.

                        I will tell you that the variables in each sport are different to determine if a kid is a "player". Many are out of people's control due to genetics.

                        I would put them in this order.
                        Without saying or putting this on the list. Making sure their academics and test scores meet NCAA standards.
                        1. 1A. 1B Speed- Can't coach it!
                        1. Motor- how do they play every play from start to finish.
                        1A Quickness/Agility- changing directions, moving in close quarters.
                        1B Running speed- straight line 40 that kind of thing
                        2. Height- has become more and more important in multiple sports now a days.- Can't coach It!
                        3. Weight- is determined by the sport being played. This can and will be manipulated.
                        4. Attitude- is he a team player, energy giver or energy sucker. Does he really enjoy playing the game. Does he make others around him better or worse?
                        5. Strength -This can and will be drastically changed during a college athletes career.



                        The more of these things a "player" possesses will determine what level he is recruited to.

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                          #13
                          As always, it depends on the athlete.

                          I played baseball and helped pay for college with a scholarship. I was not scouted by my chosen school, but sent in highlight videos and went on a tryout at the school.

                          I went to a 5a high school where most varsity athletes chose one sport to play by their Jr. year. Same story for me. The decision came when I saw a highly sought after pitcher at our school get hurt in another sport. The kid was our starting QB and had several offers to play football at the college level, but loved baseball. He threw 95+ and ended up taking a scholarship at a local Junior College. He played two years at the juco and did get drafted to play for several years in the Royals program until Tommy John's surgery ended his career. His senior year of highschool, he was injured (back injury) during football season, though not horribly. He finished out the FB season, but because he was so involved in football, he continued with the lifting program for the football team. Being that football was in their offseason, they started the very heavy weight program that re-aggravated his back injury right when baseball was starting. He ended up missing very valuable baseball games beginning his senior year, and could have missed the whole season.

                          I have heard that scouts like to recruit athletes that play multiple sports, but what I saw in college is that the athlete is chosen solely on the sport that they are being recruited for. The only advantage in playing multiple sports is that they could get attention by multiple scouts, instead of having to hope that a scout sees you during your chosen sport. For example, if you play basketball and a basketball scout sees your athleticism, he could give the baseball scout a heads up that you could be worth their time.

                          Just what I saw in my experience.

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                            #14
                            I've been coaching high school ball for almost 25 years. About the only team sport that college coaches pay much attention to high school ball is football. Larger school kids get more looks than small school kids. most small school coaches have to do more selling for their kids to get looked at. However, these days, they will find the really talented kids no matter how small of a school they play in. In all the others sports, players get much more exposure in club / select sports. My wife has coached volleyball at the collegiate level for 17 years. Its basically a numbers game for her. Why go watch 1 high school game and see 1 or 2 decent kids when you can go to a club tournament and see 50 good kids playing against each other.

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                              #15
                              Lots of good advice and info so far, except for "if you are good they will find you". This just isnt true any more. There are a lot of things that need to be in place to help find a place to play at the next level. We just went through it all with my daughter (she just committed to play volleyball at a JUCO in Texas and received a full athletic scholarship). She is coming out of a small school, but plays club ball with girls from big schools so I have seen both sides. The MOST IMPORTANT thing, regardless of big school or little school is exposure...getting his/her name out there and getting seen. This can be done by going to summer camps, playing select/club ball, help from summer coaches, school coaches, your neighbor that knows someone the knows someone, etc.... It doesnt matter how, but you have to get his/her name out. If s/he is just an extreme talent and is the best of the best, then yes they will find him/her otherwise they may not. Hopefully your HS coach will do a lot to help with the exposure. Most of them do and that is a great help. Playing on really good teams or playing on a team that has other really good players that may be getting looks is always helpful, but not always the case. Exposure, regardless of how you get it, is the key whether you are in a small school or a big school.

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