You’re interested in playing college baseball, but what are your chances of making it to the next level? While many tout national probability as gospel, it turns out your odds of playing at the next level vary greatly depending on where you live.
If you live in New Jersey and are wondering what percentage of high school graduates from your state play at each college level and where they are playing, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we team up with our friends at College Baseball Insights to provide you with state-level overview of your chances to play at the next level.
You can see an overview of our resources, methodology, and limitations on our College Baseball Participation Overview Main Page, as well find overviews on other states and regions.
New Jersey by the Numbers
In the table below, you’ll see how many high school players from New Jersey are playing at each level of college baseball, the probability of playing at each college level, and how New Jersey compares nationally and to other states in the Mid-Atlantic Region. You can see the complete Mid-Atlantic breakdown HERE.
Where Are They Playing?
New Jersey Players by Division (2,265)
Image and data credit: College Baseball Insights
The Breakdown
New Jersey plays host to the biggest high school baseball population in the Mid-Atlantic region with 13,895 participants. That’s roughly 5,000 more high school players than Virginia, who has the second most participants in the region. New Jersey’s overall college baseball participation of 16.28% is well above the national average of 12.58% and just a tick below the regional average of 16.38%.
With 8 D1’s and 15 D3’s in-state, it’s no surprise that this is where the garden state thrives at sending players to the next level. New Jersey has 3.69% D1 and 7.68% D3 participation rates, better than both respective regional (3.56% and 6.95%) and national averages (2.32% and 3.10%). The D3 rate is tops among all states in the region. At the D2 (1.96%), NAIA (0.10%), and JUCO (2.73%) levels, New Jersey is below both regional and national averages. For those respective levels, New Jersey ranks last, second to last, and 3rd to last when compared to other states in the region. With no in-state NAIA options and only 3 D2’s, the low participation for those levels make sense. With 14 in-state JUCO options, it would seem like the JUCO participation would be better, but 14 simply isn’t enough to support a relatively large playing population. Maryland, for example, has nearly a 3rd of the high school participation but the same number of JUCO programs in-state. Even with strained pipelines to certain levels, New Jersey excels at getting players to the next level and would be the leading state for many other regions!
Want to see additional states and regional breakdowns? Find them HERE.
Limitations
This article was written with data and insights from 3rd party sources, College Baseball Insights and NFHS High School Participation Data. Data and insights are subject to revision and/or change. We’ve attempted to display as accurate a picture as possible with the information that is available. Readers should be aware that college baseball roster data is fluid and changes throughout the year. Every attempt is made to reconcile data and keep up with changes, but this article may not reflect the changes or updates from 3rd parties. Insights cannot account for gap year programs, misreported roster information, or other inaccuracies which may slightly alter the numbers and percentages used in this article. Insights are subject to change and are based on best available information.
