Latest / Dugout Dish Baseball Recruiting Podcast powered by EMD Baseball / Episode 152: Top 5 College Baseball Recruiting Tips for the 2028 Class

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Episode 152: Top 5 College Baseball Recruiting Tips for the 2028 Class · Dugout Dish Baseball Recruiting Podcast powered by EMD Baseball

• 0:02
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• 1:10
  Speaker B: Welcome to this week's edition of the Dugout Dish podcast. I am joined by my Wonderful Co host, Mr. Keith Glasser. How we doing today?
• 1:19
  Speaker C: Great. How are you?
• 1:20
  Speaker B: Good. We just caught slash released five tips for 27s. We're going to do the same thing for 2028. There will be a touch of redundancy here, but I think the conversation is slightly different. Priorities are a little bit different with the 28 class. 28 class can't get contacted by coaches until August 1st, so I think their focus is going to be a little bit different. But we're going to break down some stuff here, see if we can inform the the masses on some things to focus on for the 2028 class. You ready to roll?
• 1:56
  Speaker C: Ready.
• 1:57
  Speaker B: All right. Number one, weight room nutrition. You've heard us talk about it. Gonna hit on it again. I don't think we can talk about this enough. You want to get in the mix as a college player, you got to hit the weight room and you got to get your nutrition right. It's. It is what moves the needle the most in my opinion. You want a better swing, get stronger, you want to throw harder, get stronger, you want to run faster, get stronger, put on weight, eat right. Doing all that kind of stuff is crazy important. And as I mentioned on the previous podcast, we've been doing a size analysis across college baseball. So I'm going to throw that out for this one here real quick, too, just so everybody can get some of those numbers. If you didn't listen the first time to kind of frame up what we're talking about from a physicality perspective, but the Average weight of a player across division one baseball is 197 pounds. For a catcher it's 200 pounds. Infielder 195 left handed pitcher 198 right handed pitcher 202 outfielder 193. And that takes into account the SEC all the way down to the, you know, the lowest RPI conference in the country. So you get some, you get some variability there but the averages do capture it pretty well. For those of you who are more into the median as a, as a measure of central tendency, we'll, we'll post that stuff on Twitter here in the future and you can take a look at that as well. But I think it's pretty, it's pretty staggering to see the physicality across college baseball right now. And you know, when you start to break it down from a conference and conference perspective, you know, I gave the rundown of a couple conferences on, on the previous one and I'll do it again here real quick but SEC average catcher is 61205 infielder 61200 left handed pitcher, about 6, 2 and a half, 206 outfielder 6 foot 1, 201 right handed pitcher, almost 6 foot 3, 209 pounds. Then we'll go to the number two RPI conference which is the ACC. We'll kind of break that down real quick. So you got six foot and a half catcher, 200 pounds infielders, about six foot one, 198 left handed pitchers, a little over six two, 203 outfielders, six foot one, 196 right handed pitchers, about six, two and a half, 207 pounds. So you're talking about some, some physical human beings and this kind of goes across the board. Division one, two or three. I think for the purposes of the2028, a lot of folks are going to be focused on trying to pursue the division one thing, which they should, but I think it's important for them to understand what they're working against. So you know, if you're a 6 foot 2, 170 pound right handed pitcher, one of the best ways for you to get in the mix is find a way to put on 20 pounds. Then you get yourself in that 70% range. Right, because here's a pretty wild number. 70, 76% of right handed pitchers in division one baseball weigh at least 190 pounds. So if you want to get into that conversation, there are some physical things that you need to be able to do and they're directly correlated to the more popular metrics with, you know, spin rates and velocities and, and all that kind of stuff that, you know, we know is tangible and we know that coaches are going to play, play pay attention to. But it's not a coincidence that, you know, the size piece matches up with RPI ranking and you see the trend that you would kind of expect at the higher RPI conferences being to the top right hand of the, of the distribution or the scatter plot versus, you know, the lower RPI conferences are going to be closer down to the bottom left hand corner, you know, kind of showcasing, you know, the, the size and the players in those particular conferences. So but for me, this is number one, a clear cut. Number one for 20, 28 is, is really dialing in on the weight room, the nutrition, becoming a better athlete, moving better. I think that all kind of falls under this, this, this number one bullet for me. So.
• 6:08
  Speaker C: Sure. I mean we talk about it all the time. It, my rant might sound, not my rant but what I'm going to say might sound very similar to what I said last week. You know, it's, it's not just the lowest hanging fruit for, for kids to be able to get better at baseball to, to mad to bring their deficiencies along to make their strengths sharper. But the reality is that college baseball is more physical. And it doesn't mean that just be, you know, you have to be at those average sizes to be recruited immediately. But, but you have to look physical enough in the uniform that you're going to be able to put on the weight when you get to college to look like that. Right? Like, you know, if the average guy is 197 pounds, you know, not all of them are showing up at 197. They're going to show up a little bit lighter, put on some weight while they get there, you know, so it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be it right away, but it does also mean that it's going to be a hard mountain to climb if you're 5 foot 8, 160 pounds, you're going to have to do some elite stuff in order to make up for that lack of physicality. And oh, by the way, when you get to college, you're going to be asked to get a little bit more physical while being able to maintain those elite skill sets, you know, so, you know, if you're an infielder, you're probably going to defend at a super, super high rate at an elite level. Your, your bat ball skills are going to be good because if you're 165 pounds, the likelihood of you jumping the yard and hitting a bunch of doubles is probably not that high. You're probably going to be a singles guy, you know, so you got to be able to run, you got to be able to bunt, you got to be able to do those types of things that are going to make you a little bit more dynamic, be able to play in that offense, you know, so it doesn't necessarily preclude you from, from getting to that level or to the Division 1 level if you're, you know, not that physical yet, but, you know, understand that, you know, there, there are some limitations and there are going to be programs that are going to look at and be like, hey, he's not physical enough and it's not going to be the guy we're going to recruit. And that's just the reality of what it is right now. You know, the other side of it is that the physicality piece is not just for you to get better at baseball. It's not for you to just, you know, be able to throw harder, hit the ball harder, hit it, hit the ball further, throw it further, all of those things. It's also for you to be able to sustain what it is you're going to go through at the college level. You know, we have Division 1 firing up on, on February 13th, which is another four weeks as we record this. Division 2 fires up usually around February 1st. I think it's a Sunday this year, so I think they can actually go a little bit earlier. Division three will be in full swing by, you know, middle to the end of February and, and into definitely by the first week of March. But there's, there's a fair number of Division 3 schools that are going to play 40 games in, in eight weeks in March and April, you know, so it's a condensed season. You're playing a lot of games, there's a lot of travel. You got to be physical enough to be able to handle that, right? Like, you know, there's a lot going on there. You're playing a lot of games. There's BP, there's, you know, you're playing 56 games in a 15 week window. You know, so there's a lot going on there. The other side of it is you have to practice. And I think this gets lost on people sometimes. And you and I have talked about this and we talked on about, we talked about it on the podcast last week where, you know, you get one off day a week generally Speaking, it's going to be a Monday, so you're going to be playing baseball Tuesday through Sunday. Those first couple weeks is just straight practice six days a week. You're an infielder like you're taking ground balls six days a week. Mass fungos, drill work fungos during bp, live fungos during bp, inner squads, all of those things, you got to be in shape to do it. And oh, by the way, when, when you get into some of these inner squads and it happens in the fall, but you get them into the spring, like you catch a nice day on a Saturday where you can get outside if you're in the northeast or the mid Atlantic and you're going to go inner squad, like we're not playing a 9 inning inter squad, we're playing an 18, 20 inning inner squad because we need to get guys up and down off the mound. We get, we need to get the hitters live at bats, we need to see balls off a bat, live on the field. This is, this is a marathon that we're about to go through. And oh, by the way, you got to wake up and do it again on Sunday, you know, so you have to be in shape to do that stuff. And the physicality part I think is obviously it's, it's, it's glaringly obvious how physical college baseball has become. But the, and the obvious things are, you know, you can throw the ball harder, you can hit it further, you can do these things. But you know, it's more than just that. It's, you know, go a little bit deeper. It's, it's being able to handle what you're going to be asked to do. It's being able to get through the season, it's being able to practice, it's all of these things and your body will start to break down and you want to give your body the best chance to not break down over the course of those 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 15 weeks, 17 weeks, whatever it might be because of the schools that you're looking at at the Division 1 level and we, you know, you went through all of them as we go through Division 2 and 3 together, you know, I, I think the, it's no secret when you get to the end of the year, generally speaking, the school, the teams that are left in Omaha are the more physical ones that are able to withstand what it is that they're going to go through over the course of those 60, 70, 80 games, you know, and so it holds true when you do this. You got to start taking it seriously. You got to get in the weight room, you got to be able to fall in love with it because it's going to be a huge piece of your college athlete experience when you get to college.
• 11:30
  Speaker B: Yeah, the, everything you just hit on is so valuable. It goes just beyond the recruiting, but it's the preparation for everything that you're going to have to undertake as a, as a student athlete at the college level. It's just, it's a different level of effort, it's a different level of commitment, it's a different level of stress when you're talking about what's expected of you on a day to day basis. And I don't think that that can be understated. Number two on our list. This was on our list for the 27s as well, but a little bit farther down. But I think for 2028, not getting caught up in the recruiting stuff that can help you and being a little bit more. You should have that care down front of you. You should absolutely start to think about a plan and all that kind of stuff. And we'll get to that here at the end. But I think you got to tackle what's in front of you. Right. In 2028, your sophomores, okay, well, most of you probably didn't play varsity as a freshman. So can we check the varsity box? Can we make the varsity team? Can we go and have a good high school season? Even if you don't play varsity, can you go and have a really good JV season? Right? Can you start to build a little bit of resume? Can you start to establish yourself as a quality player in your, your local high school league, in your local high school county, maybe even your state. That's where it starts. Coaches do pay attention to performance. It's not just about metrics. It's not just about how hard you throw, how fast you run or how far you hit the ball. They do need to see that you have a certain level of capability. You got to be able to put together some stats, you got to show a certain level of dominance at the high school level. It's really, really hard to be a college baseball player without being a really good high school baseball player first. And you want to get on some coaches radars. You want people to start to pay attention to you. One of the best ways to do it is go make a little bit of noise in your high school season. So having some focus on making that varsity team, finding a way to get in the lineup every day, start to establish yourself as a good player in the Region. That's kind of the first step to all of this starting to take place for you. Whether it's in the summer or whether it's a year from now. Is it 2028 or a year and a half from now, which is when most of it will happen for 2028. But step number one is let's go have a really good high school season. And I think oftentimes in this process, we're so fixated on what the end result is, is when am I going to commit, who am I going to commit to, what type of school am I going to go to, where we lose sight of. You get a high school season coming up here in a couple weeks. You know, if you're down south, these guys are opening up in a month. If you're up in the northeast or in some of the colder weather climates in the United States, you know, you're going to open up in that late March, early April timeframe. You still got a little bit of time to prep, but at the end of the day, you got to go. Have you got to go and be a really good high school player first? And, um, I think that you, it would be advisable to make sure that that is a significant focus of your time right now. Let's, let's go be good locally first.
• 14:32
  Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's huge. You know, I, I think if you're a 28, 29, younger, it's the goal should be to make the varsity team. Right. And, and depends on where you're at, what, what it looks like. I've heard horror stories, you know, but I think that having a good JV season is, is just as valuable. You know, it's along the same lines as 27s is it gives you a three month ramp up to get ready for the summer. And I think the other side of it, especially with 28s, is that the vast majority of college baseball, I'm not going to say doesn't care about 28s, but they're, they're not actively recruiting the 28 class this summer. Right. Like, unless we're talking about a guy who's, you know, guys who are going to go play in the SEC, ACC, Big 12, your power fours. Yeah, okay, but that's 3% of college baseball. 97% of it isn't really going to be focused on the 2028 class this summer. They're going to be focused on the 27 class, but it gives you three months of playing baseball to get better at what you're doing. Day in and day out. If you want to make the varsity team and that's a goal, awesome. But if you're an underclassman, you're going to make the varsity team and not play at all. That's three months of development of you just sitting on the bench. So now you're going to start the summer and you're not in game shape. You haven't played your timings off all this stuff, right? So you have to re. Ramp back up and you probably really start hitting your stride towards the end of the summer and into the, into the fall when you know it. Sometimes it's ego, sometimes it's pride. Like, check it at the door. Go play JV and get 40, 50 at bats and get better over the course of those 20 games, right? And be able to get yourself prepped so that when you get into the summer, you feel really good about where you're at, you know, so your goal should be a. To make the varsity team. If you don't, it's. It doesn't matter. There's. There's a lot of players out there who go play college baseball who didn't play varsity as a freshman and sophomore, right? Like, everyone develops differently at this game. It doesn't really matter. No one's going to look at it and be like, who he played JV as a sophomore. We can't recruit him Even though he's 88 to 91 and has a snapdragon slider like, no, man, that stuff does not matter. The things that matter are where you're at when you get to a recruitable age. And taking three months off, not, I want to say taking it off, but playing on the varsity team. But not playing on the varsity team is a detriment in my opinion. You know, so it should be a goal, but then the goal also should be, you know, to be one of the better players on your team. Be one of the better players in the, in the league, Be one of the better players in your area. You know that you need to keep leveling up so that when you get to recruitable age, it's like, all right, hey, man, like this kid was first team all league and first team all city and first team all area, whatever it all is, right? So that like, there's some, there's some credential there of that you are one of the better players in the area. And okay, he's, he's, he's proven himself from a, from a gameplay standpoint, for at least from an offensive or from a pitching standpoint. That this kid's worth kicking the tires on to see if he's. He's a good fit for our program. So, you know, those should be the goals. And I think sometimes we, you know, parents and people get caught up in things that don't matter. And I think, you know, sometimes making the varsity team as an underclassman and not playing is. Is not what you think it is, right? Like, if you call me and tell me that you made varsity as a freshman and you had four at bats, my question is going to be like, why didn't you just play jv? You would have got a lot more at bats and probably gotten a lot better than sitting on the bench. And I think, conversely, I think there's high school coaches out there that think this way, too. Like, oh, he's going to be a good player, so I'm going to take him with me so they can learn for a year, for the season. Like, you're not doing the kid any service. He's not playing. Like, you get better by playing. So, you know, I. I think that, that, that happens as well. So, you know, don't get caught up in the varsity stuff. You know, get caught up in getting quality at bats and playing as much as you can so that you can set the stage for the summer where, again, 97 of college baseball is not focused on 2028s. So play the summer out where you can just get better and develop your skill set and play a lot of baseball.
• 19:04
  Speaker B: Well said. Number three on our list was number one on our list for 2027. And the reason that it's number 20, number three for the 2028s is because I think there's a little bit more of a future projection in kind of a development aspect to this portion of it. But the honest assessment, like, this is a great time of year to sit down with somebody who has experience, who understands college baseball, who understands the different levels of play, the different type of programs that exist, your current state of where you're at and where you might be tracking to. I think this is an incredibly important time for people to set the baseline of where they're at, to plot their development moving forward to your point. And it's a. I think we'll continue to reiterate this, and it's something we'll definitely reiterate at the end. But for most 2028, your recruiting process going to be 12 to 16 months away. Just the reality of it, to your point, you know, most 2028s are going to get recruited next Spring, next summer. But it's important to have a baseline assessment of where you're at. Where are you at physically, how much do you weigh, how hard are you throwing, what are your exit velocities, what are you running the 60 in, what's your arm speed? If you're in a category where you might line up to be one of the smaller percentage of guys who end up getting phone calls, doing visits and all that fun stuff in August and September. All right, well that's great because it'll, it'll lead into kind of what we talk about at the back end of this. But for most guys it's, it's a point of. All right, well, you're 78 to 81 and you're a right handed pitcher right now and we need to continue to put together a plan for your long term development so we can get you up into those velocity ranges and allow you to be able to do some of the stuff physically that's going to put you on a path to be a college player. You might not be a college player right now, and that's okay. This, this process unfolds at different rates at different times for everybody. But getting that honest assessment right now is, it's just a nice checkpoint in the process for you to go, all right, end of January, going into my sophomore year, here is where I was at. Okay, well, here's where I want to go. Well, now you have an idea of where you're at and where you want to go and you can start to plot a path forward and do some of that development stuff. And I think the guys who do this and the families should do this and do it honestly are able to one, save time and money and put that money in time into things that are going to be beneficial for them. There's going to be some 28 who are 80 mile an hour right handed pitchers who are going to go to a bunch of showcases and camps this summer that are not going to prove fruitful for them because they're not recruitable right now. I know that sounds a little bit harsh, but it's the truth. But the families who look at in the players who look at it and go, you know what, I got to get better, are going to put their time and money into the weight room, they're going to put it into nutrition, they're going to put it into getting with somebody who can help them get better in addition to playing their summer. And when it's time for them to be recruited, they're going to be there quicker and they're going to be in a better position and they're not going to be wasting time traveling with hotels and all kinds of stuff when it's really not going to be a fruitful event for them. So. But for me, this piece for 2028 is largely focused on identifying where you're at and identifying where you need to go and the pieces of the puzzle and the steps you need to take to get there. Sure.
• 22:36
  Speaker C: I think the summer for 2028's is probably going to be even slower than what the2026 is. Yeah. Experienced. You know, we've talked about it a lot on this with the rule changes and the transfer portal and contact and blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, one you need to understand is 2028 that no one can reach out to you until. With recruiting talks until August of this year. Right. Yeah. So math is hard. Well, it was a rhetorical. I think it was a rhetorical. Right. I'm doing the math in my head.
• 23:16
  Speaker D: I was a history major.
• 23:17
  Speaker C: I'm not the, you know, I'm not the best at it. But you know, the college coaches at the Division 1 level can't reach out to you until August 1st of this year because that's when you know you're going into your junior year of high school. So you know, anything before that can only be camp stuff. And obviously you can have conversations if you're out there on their on campus camp, but you know, they can't have any recruiting talks with you beforehand. So understand that first and foremost. But I think, you know, we talked about it on here and I think we saw it with what we do that the 2027 class last year was uber slow because of all of the things I just mentioned. I think this year is going to be even slower because coaches have kind of gotten a feel for. We can kind of let guys develop. You know, these kids are getting, you know, they're developing. We don't really need to go see them because we don't really have to waste our time going and seeing them. We can really lock in on the 2027s that we need to see to make sure that we have a really good evaluation on them before we offer them and bring them into our campus and invite these 28s to camp and hopefully we get a little bit of a feel for where they're at in their development. What we think we might, our projections might be for them and kind of do it that way. That's not to say that if they, they see you at a tournament or they see you, you know, at a showcase, things like that, that they're not going to take notes and circular name and write things down and, and come, you know, recruiting time, that they reach out. Right. That, that still is a possibility. But just understand that it's going to be a lot slower. Really. Don't hit the panic button. If you're at a tournament and it's like, wow, there's no coaches here. Like, yeah, man, you're a 2028 and it's June and they're not like, they're more focused on the transfer portal in 2027s right now. They're not even worried about the 2028 class. Like, so just go develop and get better at playing baseball and sharpen your game and be really good there. So that next summer when you come of age to be recruited in that cycle, you're further along than where you should have been. Don't worry about being recruited right now. It's not something that needs to be at the forefront of your mind. And I know that's hard for a lot of people to kind of wrap their minds around, but the reality is that, you know, 90, I would argue 87% plus of 2027s are going to be recruited this summer. So, you know, it's probably going to be even less than the 20 or even more in the 28. Like, you know, probably 90 plus will be recruited the following summer in 2027. So, you know, it's. Have the patience. Understand that, you know, you just need to make sure that you're continuing to develop, you're getting your at bats, you're getting your innings, you're getting better defensively, you're doing all the things it is that you need to do in order to make sure that you're upping your game, getting in the weight room, being more physical, because we just talked about it, all of those things. So that next summer when, you know, everyone's eyes are on, you're giving yourself the best opportunity to be recruited when the time comes. But the. The patience, I think, is one of the hard things, you know, because. And I get it, you're going to. You're going to showcase, you're going to tournaments, you want, you know, college coaches to be there. The reality is it's probably going to be few and far between, depending on where you are. Right. You know, Georgia, sure. Probably going to be some coaches there, but even then, it depends on where you're at. Some of the bigger ones, yeah, there's going to Be some coaches. But you know, if you're just going to the Memorial Day Classic at Connecticut Sports Complex, I don't even know if that still exists. The likelihood of there being a lot of coaches there to lock in on 2028 is, is low. And it's not because they don't care. It's just because they're, they're, their focus needs to be towards the transfer portal. Slash the 2027 class, not the 28 class. 100, not throw it, not. I didn't want Connecticut Sports Complex to catch a stray there. I wasn't saying anything negative. It was just one of the things that popped into my mind of somewhere where I went that isn't, you know, a staple.
• 27:15
  Speaker B: If you will probably, probably get canceled because of that comment.
• 27:19
  Speaker C: Yeah, no, I like Connecticut. Like the people there, you know, don't catch astray.
• 27:27
  Speaker D: If you're the parent of a high school baseball player with college aspirations, you already know the recruiting process can feel overwhelming. Endless showcases, non stop emails and big promises with very little clarity. That's why we recommend Diamond College Showcase Camps, the nation's premier academic baseball showcase. At Diamond College Showcases, every college coach in attendance is there with a purpose to coach, instruct, evaluate and recruit. Every player is seen, every player is engaged, and every family leaves with a clear understanding of where they truly stand. This is not a mass camp. College coaches run the drills, evaluate every athlete and provide honest professional feedback that you can trust. Diamond College Showcase Camps are built for serious student athletes who value both baseball and academics. If you're looking for transparency, clarity and a recruiting experience that respects your time and your players future, Diamond College Showcase.
• 28:21
  Speaker C: Is the place to be.
• 28:23
  Speaker D: To learn more, Visit Diamond College showcase.com.
• 28:29
  Speaker B: Number four on my list. And it might not be an obvious one, it's one that I think is important to me and you with our backgrounds and some of the schools that we coach, that is that you got to nail your academics right? You're a sophomore, you're going in the second semester, the, the, the fifth or sixth trimester, depending on how you know how your school works. But basically you're going into the second half of your sophomore year. You don't get a redo on your grades, on your transcript. If you get a C in algebra as a sophomore, that never leaves your transcript, you get a C. I implore the players, specifically mom and dad, I'm sure this isn't a hard conversation for us to have with you, but for the players, you got to continue and you got to make sure that you have your foot on the gas, not just on the baseball stuff, but you need to do well in the classroom. It doesn't mean that you have to set yourself up to go be an Ivy League student. But what I can tell you, you can, you can nail this down too, because you experienced at a heads coach at an elite academic school, you don't want doors to close because of something that you did that was controllable for you, and that is putting some effort in, in the classroom and finding the time to make sure that you're doing well right when you get to college, you know, you know, people say, well, Cs get degrees, but yeah, you know, like in high school, too many Cs is going to close a lot of doors for you academically. And as much poll as some of these schools may have perceived, perceived poll they have with admissions, there's a lot of schools that it's just as simple as, hey, your transcript's not good enough, we can't get you in, and I like you as a player, but now I can't recruit you. Right. If you were at rpi, when you were at rpi, if you had a guy who had three season math classes throughout his career, like, that's going to be a much harder admit for you. And I think a lot of times for high school students, it's not a matter of intelligence, it's a matter of effort. And you have a chance to make sure that you lay the groundwork here. Right. If you're a 2027, you're a little bit farther down the road. It's a little bit of a different conversation. It's more about, let's make sure we do what we can here in the next, you know, two semesters. But for 2028, you've got time to continue to build your academic resume. You got time to put together a schedule for next fall that's going to potentially get you on track to get into some of those high academic schools. Like, if you are somebody who has your eyes on the Ivy League or high academic institutions, you know, your, your strength of schedule, balancing out APs and honors courses, like these are all really important things. And I think that for the 2028 class, and, you know, definitely for the 2029 class, if we end up cutting a podcast for them, the academic portion can't get overlooked. And I think it's something that people need to take serious and you need to take advantage of the time that you have in order to do well, because doors will stay open. There's more money available at the back end of this. You know, not everybody gets to be a full scholarship division one player. A lot of guys are going to play Division 3 baseball. And one of the best ways to get money at that level is to be a really good student. And with the cost of tuition, you know, the cost of education these days, you want to make sure that you give yourself a chance to have access to some of those funds. And one of the best ways to do it is be a really good student.
• 31:55
  Speaker C: Yeah, I think the, the student piece gets lost sometimes in high school. You have to put forth the effort to have the grades that are going to leave as many doors open to you as possible. Right. You know, you could be a great student and go to a school that isn't considered a super high end academics school to play baseball and you're going to command a lot of academic money which is going to offset the cost. But it leaves the most doors open to you. You know, it's really hard to sit there and you know, look at a transcript and be like, gosh, I, I'm not going to be able to get this in and you know, or this is super borderline and I don't know if this kid's going to be able to be admissible at our school. And it stinks because you really like the kid, you really like how he played, you really think he'd be good in your program. But you know, the grades are holding it up. Or you know, the flip side to it is, you know, you mentioned two Cs in math and you know, if it's a school like an RPI where you're looking to get into the STEM field, it's going to be really hard to get into a school like that with those types of grades on your transcript. Doesn't matter what your SAT score is, doesn't matter that they're going to look at the rigor and be like, oh, he took a regular physics class and got a C minus. I don't know how he's going to be able to handle physics here because he's probably going to fail out. And they don't want to bring in students who, not to say they don't want to bring in students that are going to fail, but they don't want to bring in students that are, that they're setting up for failure. Right. They have a proven track record of being able to get these types of kids through college with these grades. Right. So it gets pretty difficult for coaches to be able to get guys in when the transcript isn't as strong as it could be. That doesn't mean they have to take all the APs in the world or all the honors courses, you know, but if you have some, take some. If you're looking to get into the high academic world, the likelihood of you needing AP's or honors on your transcript are kind of high, you know, so it's, it's something that you want to do to be able to give yourself the best opportunity to open as many doors as you can to play at the next level. The flip side to it, again, is that you can. You. The better your grades are, the more merit scholarship money it is that you're going to command. When you have schools that can stack, if you're a scholarship guy, they can throw money on top of it and you're of your merit scholarship package and make that. That package even better, you know, So I, I think in a day and age where, you know, trying hard is, is not, is not cool anymore, you know, it's. It baffles me because those are people that, you know, if you want to go to a really good school or, you know, you want to get in and be the best that you can, then, you know, you're gonna have to do well in the classroom. And I think it clues you into some other things, right? Like, if he's going to work hard in the classroom, the likelihood of him working hard on the field is pretty high. You know, they're, they generally go hand in hand, you know, so it's, you know, it. And when things get tough, what do they do? Do they. Do they not want to try in that class? Do they. Are they just gonna roll though? You know, fold or, you know, do they really try to study hard? And listen, man, if it sees the best you can get in pre calc and you, you studied your butt off and, you know, you got a tutor and you do all this, good on you, man. There's effort there. You know, no one's going to hold that against you. But, you know, if you're, you're not just not going to try and you're just going to knock down a C because, well, I just don't really care. Like, it's going to clue me into the fact of, like, I don't know if I want this kid in my program because he, when it gets tough, he's going to quit and he's going to face adversity here, you know, so it's just parallels that coaches will draw in the recruiting process. On some of this stuff and it's worth at least having in your mind that that stuff can happen.
• 35:51
  Speaker B: Yeah. And I think that given our backgrounds, this is something that's important to us and we know how impactful it can be in the long run for families when, you know, doors are open for folks. It makes the, the process, you got more options. And I think the process goes smoother if you don't have to cross off a bunch of schools because academically you didn't do your part. And anybody who's a sophomore in high school right now, like you have a chance to make sure that that's not the case for you. So put in the effort, put in the time and, and go and do as well as you can. To your point, like if a B is the best you can do, don't get a C, get a B. That simple. Don't be afraid to ask for help either. You know, tutors, extra time with teachers, whatever it takes. You know, that's, that's the type of stuff that you need to do when you get to college anyway. So both on and off the field, you know, you got to do some extra work, you got to do some stuff that might be uncomfortable, you got to do some stuff that might be hard. So put in the time and the effort to get it done there. Number five. This is kind of a two parter in, in my head, but it's, it, it's the planning for summer, right? And I think that there's, there's two tiers to this, right? I think there is. For the vast majority of 2028, the summer is going to be about your travel, ball schedule, making sure you're on a team that's going to get a bats, making sure that a place you're going to go and compete and you're going to get a bunch of playing time and you're going to get a bun. And for most guys, it shouldn't be focused on how do we supplement our exposure. Because I think that for most guys or a lot of guys, it's not the right time to go get exposure. And I think that that's part of the honest assessment piece that we talked about is, you know, understanding where you fit in the grand scheme of things. Right. And if you're not a, if you're not in that Division 1 baseball conversation at the moment, then, you know, going to a bunch of showcases and a bunch of camps might, might not be the best use of your time. And you know, spending money to get exposure doesn't guarantee you that good that you're going to get recruited at that moment? You need to be recruitable given the time frame. And if you're a 20, 28 this summer, you kind of, kind of firmly have to be in that Division 1 category in order to really warrant, you know, going to somebody's on campus camp or spending, you know, a bunch of money to go to a big showcase where you're in front of a bunch of schools. And it's a. It's a conversation that I think is family level. I think that each individual case is. Needs to be handled tactfully and kind of understand where you fit. But I think for a lot of guys, it's planning out the summer in terms of how do we make sure that we're in the weight room, how do we make sure that we're get some time with, you know, maybe our hitting coach or maybe our pitching coach, and we make sure that we're continuing to develop. And you look at this summer as steps in your development process, not just a recruiting piece. And then there's the other side of it where there is going to be a subset of individuals who are in that category where it's like, all right, you're a 20, 28, you're 87 to 90, you're six foot two, you're 190 pounds. Well, the conversation with that player is a little bit different than the righty who's 80 to 82. And you may need to start to think about, all right, well, where do I fit in the grand scheme of things? And do I need to get in front of some of these coaches? And how do I get in front of these coaches? Is it on campus camps? Is it. Do I need to go to a workout so that I can qualify, potentially get picked for the Futures Games or something like that. So for me, there's two very distinct conversations that can happen here. Your honest assessment and understanding where you fit is really going to dictate what that conversation looks like.
• 39:36
  Speaker C: Yeah, no, I think you are 100% right. You know, I don't think with the 28th, and I guess I talked about it at length earlier in this podcast of how slow I think the summer is going to go just based off of what last year looked like. The need to go to supplement your summer schedule with a ton of showcases, camps and clinics, really isn't that necessary. You know, you want to go to, you know, one or two, you know, I can see the argument, see where your metrics are at, things like that. If you don't really have any. Okay. Yeah. You know, and I think, you know, maybe towards the end of the, the summer and into the fall, depending on where you're at and the conversations you've had with your coaches and if you've had any contact with college coaches, you know, maybe sign up for a, an on campus camp in the, in the late summer, early fall to kind of see where you're at. But I would, you know, I would suggest a camp where you're, you know, a Division one camp where, you know there's going to be a bunch of schools that are going to be in attendance, right, where you know, you can get a little bit more bang for your buck there. Instead of going to, you know, some uber expensive one, go to one that cost 120 bucks and there's going to be seven other schools there and six of them are Division 3 just to kind of see where you stack up. And I think that it's, you know, just understanding that what this landscape looks like, you know, if you're not really being recruited, you're a middle of the road guy, but you, you have college aspirations. And I say middle of the road of like, you know, hey, I think that you have some, some ability to be able to play college baseball, have that conversation and see where you might fit and go from there. The other would be, you know, to your point, if you're, you know, trending in the Division one direction of, yeah, maybe you do have to go to some events to go to the, to see if you can qualify for the Futures Games and things like that where, you know, it's, it's worth it. It's one of the, the highest, if not the highest recruited event for underclassmen in the country. Right. So, you know, there's, there's two different conversations and I think the vast majority of people fall into the first one of like, you know, have an honest conversation with somebody about where you fit in midway through the summer and start to kind of figure out what types of camps and showcases are going to get you in front of the coaches, that you just want to get on the radar. And I think that that's an important, an important distinction to make of getting on coaches radar at, you know, when you're, when not necessarily when you feel you're ready, but when you have conversations with people, I can say, hey man, like this is, this is where I, you know, I think that you're, you could potentially slot in and kind of go from there. Because if you're just going to do it blindly you know, you might end up at Vanderbilt camp and you can't play in the sdc and it's going to be a giant waste of money for you. So, you know, and I shouldn't say it's giant waste money. They're going to have a ton of coaches there that are going to teach you things about the game. So it's not going to be a giant waste. But if you're going there solely because you want to play a Vanderbilt, it's. And you can't play at that level, that's likely going to be a more of a loss than it is a gain, you know, so being able to have those conversations with, you know, coaches, your high school coach, your travel coach, you know, people that, you know, maybe you get lessons from people like us, things like that, where, you know, you can get a feel for where it is, you fit in and kind of start to plot a path forward for what the fall, the off season and then next year looks like. So that you put yourself in the best shot, the best chance to be. To be recruitable next year. Yeah.
• 43:18
  Speaker B: I don't have much to add to that. I think I have a bonus tip of the same sentiments, but bonus tip here is everybody's timeline is going to be different. And I think that for 2028, this is a very true statement is that there's going to be some guys who get some calls on August 1st. Most guys are not. Right. I've had some calls with talks with some college coaches that we were kind of joking, you know, like on August 2nd last year, like we just been hammering the phones. And he's like, dude, I remember calling guys last year and calling a hundred guys over the course of two or three days. He's like, I have 11 guys I'm reaching out to this year because everything is slowed down.
• 44:03
  Speaker C: Yep.
• 44:03
  Speaker B: And, you know, the most guys in the 28, 28 class, and I'm talking a large majority of guys are not getting a call on August 1st. And that is okay because things have changed. The these coaches are taking more time. You have to stick out like a sore thumb in the recruiting process to be one of those early 2028s. And I think that social media can be very beneficial for a lot of reasons, specifically in the recruiting process. But I also think at times it can be really negative. It can have a really negative impact on kind of the mental stability of high school kids who are going through this process. When you see guys who are going to commit and it's it and it, it Seems like everybody's committing because you scroll through and you see 10 guys committed. And it's like, well, you know, there's, there's 10,000 plus college baseball players. You know, that's a really small sample size to, to kind of make that distinction. But it can be, you know, it can, it can kind of get to you. And I would, I would implore people to not worry about what other people are doing and what other people are committing. Or, you know, you talk to your buddy and he's going to this and that camp and this and that camp and this and that camp, and you feel like, well, should I be doing this? That his process one, they might not be doing the right thing. They might be, you know, the folks that are just throwing a bunch of money at the problem and thinking that, you know, getting a ton of exposure is, is what needs to be done versus making kind of an informed decision on when and where and how. But don't get caught up in what other people are doing. Focus on the things that you can control. Focus on trying to become the best version of yourself on and off the field. And don't worry about your timeline in the grand scheme of things. Nobody cares about when you commit. It doesn't matter, right? And you can track these kind of stories all the way up to professional baseball, to professional sports. I heard Nick Saban say something the other day about Damien Harris was a five star recruit. Josh Jacobs was a no star recruit. And he was talking about the people that give stars and the people who do rankings. They're not the coaches who make these decisions. Well, Josh Jacobs was a first rounder and is one of the best running backs in the NFL. Damien Harris is no longer in the NFL. Like if, if Josh Jacobs story was written based on the number of stars he had in high school, he wouldn't be where he is. You're not judged by how good you are when you're 15 or 16 years old. And I think that for 20, 28, focus on the things that are important to you. Focus on the things that are valuable. Getting stronger, competing, enjoying it. Making sure that you're having fun playing baseball. And you know, if you're doing the right things and you're focused on the right things, if you're focused on the academics, if you're focused on the weight room and you're focused on being a really good teammate, it tends to work out for those guys. And the timeline just, it's, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. It's about trying to find the right place and the right fit. So, you know, if you're one of those guys who you may not get recruited this summer, don't worry about it. Keep plugging away, keep getting after it, you know, and if you need help trying to navigate this stuff, this is, this is something that's near and dear to our hearts. It's the reason that we do it is trying to help families get this right. And, you know, this is a complex process. It can be stressful, but focus on what you can control.
• 47:36
  Speaker C: Yeah, I think, you know, comparison is a thief of joy. Yeah, everyone's process can be different. You know, I've read a handful of books on Saban and I think that, I mean, it's very evident in the books that he gives no credence to what other people think in the recruiting process. Like he's going to trust his eyes. I think one of the books I read, the Jacob Hester, was actually someone that he, he referenced. For those of you young bucks out there who don't remember, he was a running back at LSU who was a zero star recruit and ended up being a really good player, I think played a couple of years in the league, you know, so. And I think a lot of coaches, you know, to his point, a lot of coaches kind of feel that way. They don't, you know, it's not to say that the, they don't dismiss the rankings and things of that nature, but they're going to go with their eyes and what they know and what matters to them when recruiting. It's not just going to be like, well, we're just going to recruit this guy because these other people say that he's the number two shortstop in the state. I want to see it for myself and I want to see if this kid fits in my program, things like that. So, you know, it's. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing, worry about what you're doing.
• 48:57
  Speaker B: Nailed it. Thief of joy sound like Marcus Aurelius.
• 49:04
  Speaker C: Ah, well, you know, history major. I can hit you with some quotes every now and then.
• 49:09
  Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, I think that's all we got for this week. Hopefully that was informative, thought provoking and hope you found it valuable. So thank you for listening everybody. Tune in next week, we'll have more then. Thank you. Thank you for listening this week. If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead and hit that subscribe button and smash that like button for us. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts as well as Spotify. You can Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. MD Baseball if you want to find out what me and Keith do to help families and players navigate the recruiting process, go ahead and check us out on emdbaseball.com take a few minutes to check out our new online academy. I promise you'll get some good information out of that. Thanks again for listening. Check in with you next week.