At this point, you are starting to become more familiar with college baseball and how you can use the KPB website to help you get there. Keep putting in the time and effort, you are closer to your goal than when you started! In Step 2, we build on your
✅Take time each day to learn about the college baseball recruiting process (15 minutes a day can go a long way)
✅Meet with your parents to let them know you want to play college baseball and discuss the best ways for them to support you and be involved in your recruiting process (share the KPB Parents Page with them!)
✅Decide what are needed and what are unnecessary expenses during the recruiting process and where you would like to focus the resources you do have (academics and development are a great place to start!)
✅Browse Recruiting 101 Steps 3-10 to understand what is in front of you and what you will need to do to have a successful recruiting process moving forward
✅Learn about the steps you will have to go through to make playing in college a reality. Click HERE for a birds-eye view for the steps of the entire recruiting process.
✅Learn about the athletic, academic, and personal qualities college coaches look for in recruits and will evaluate when considering you for their program
✅Learn about the importance of timing in the recruiting process and when different stepping stones are likely to occur for a recruit like you
✅Learn about the benefits and drawbacks of different kinds of exposure and how to determine when you should contact college coaches and seek exposure
✅Learn about the recruiting rules for the different levels of college baseball and when the important recruiting periods take place during the year
✅Learn about ways to save money during the recruiting process
✅Learn about the role parents have during the recruiting process
✅Learn about the importance of getting informed on all aspects of the recruiting process
This may start to sound a bit redundant, but since you are starting to learn a lot about the recruiting process, you have probably realized just how important academics are for playing college baseball. As you move through the steps to finding a college program, you’ll want to make sure your academic plan is a big part of your recruiting plan. There’s a reason why academics and development have their own section for every single step- They are what will get you recruited!
An interested college coach will likely ask you about your academics before anything else. When they do, will you be prepared to give coaches the academic information they need? Many coaches will also want their recruits to take standardized tests by the end of junior year. Do you know when will you take the SAT or ACT?
How are your NCAA core course requirements and core GPA looking? You’ll want to meet with a counselor at your school to make sure the courses you are in now and are signed up for in the future are NCAA approved and you are on track to meet eligibility requirements.
Now would also be a great time for you to follow the official SAT and ACT social media accounts. They send out great study materials and test prep for free. The point is, you need to take academics seriously and prepare for the big test, just like you would the big game. When you do well, all the hard work will be worth it and college coaches will take note. Start preparing for academic success now by following these 4 Twitter accounts and take advantage of their great resources!
@OfficialSAT
@CollegeBoard
@ACTStudent
@FAFSA
This step in the college baseball recruiting process never ends. There is always more to learn about the recruiting process and how you can succeed at it. Luckily, development starts and stops with learning. You should always be searching for a better way. Learning about what physical skills and character traits college coaches want in their players (and from recruits) is one of the best things you can do. Read our entire series about Alex, a recruit like you whose recruitment provides insight into how college coaches are evaluating you and comparing you to others. Cultivating the skills and character traits that will make you a successful player is what development is all about and it’s also what will get you recruited. In order to get recruited, you must develop into a desirable player.
But developing into a recruitable player is anything but easy and there will be plenty of setbacks and distractions along the way. With the right info and lots of hard work, you can overcome all obstacles. As you learn more about the college baseball recruiting process, you will hear about exposure, showcases, travel ball teams, and big tournaments. When considering participation in these things, ask yourself how they fit in with your development. This one question can help guide your decision-making: Will participating help make you a better player? If the answer to this question is no, you should reconsider your plans to do it. Development comes before meaningful exposure and unless you are about to graduate with nowhere to play in college, it’s not time to panic.
As you look at what lies ahead in the recruiting process, make sure that your development always remains a priority. During Step 3, we will help you come up with a development plan that will help you improve as a player and get recruited. For now, it’s time to study up on what college coaches want from a player like you and what will make them want to bring you to campus to play in their program.
