Circle City Summer showcase

[bucketboy]

Let me jump in here and first say Merry Christmas.

DA 60 asked a question about in state recruiting of in state players. Indiana State and Butler recruit in state kids and Notre Dame, Ball State, IU and Purdue don't for the most part. There are exceptions to all of these, but I will say this. My daughter has played with a team that has finished top ten at ASA nationals twice in the last 3 years, played in the big exposure events and either her or players on the team have sent bios, videos to these four schools and I can tell you this. Indiana State and Butler have watched us on multiple occasions and have recruited kids from the team. Ball State has watched us once and the others have never watched us play so that is why you are seeing kids leave the state to go play for D1 programs.

John I agree with all that you have said and I am glad you took the time to visit us again. I had the pleasure of meeting John, his wife and daughter at a camp at Louisville a couple of years ago and they are great people and even offered to meet up with us when we went to California that winter.

What is all this recruiting all about? It is about finding the right fit.

It has been a very difficult process for us considering all the factors and I hope the DD makes her decision in the upcoming weeks based on all the things that will make her happy and she will attend a D! school that is outside of the state of Indiana because frankly no school in state showed any interest in her or didn't need to recruit her position in her grad year.

[Blind Squirrel]

Let me jump in here and first say Merry Christmas.

DA 60 asked a question about in state recruiting of in state players. Indiana State and Butler recruit in state kids and Notre Dame, Ball State, IU and Purdue don't for the most part. There are exceptions to all of these, but I will say this. My daughter has played with a team that has finished top ten at ASA nationals twice in the last 3 years, played in the big exposure events and either her or players on the team have sent bios, videos to these four schools and I can tell you this. Indiana State and Butler have watched us on multiple occasions and have recruited kids from the team. Ball State has watched us once and the others have never watched us play so that is why you are seeing kids leave the state to go play for D1 programs.

John I agree with all that you have said and I am glad you took the time to visit us again. I had the pleasure of meeting John, his wife and daughter at a camp at Louisville a couple of years ago and they are great people and even offered to meet up with us when we went to California that winter.

What is all this recruiting all about? It is about finding the right fit.

It has been a very difficult process for us considering all the factors and I hope the DD makes her decision in the upcoming weeks based on all the things that will make her happy and she will attend a D! school that is outside of the state of Indiana because frankly no school in state showed any interest in her or didn't need to recruit her position in her grad year.

Thanx for the kind words. I sent you a PM. Please let me know if you haven't received it.

That Louisville camp was a great experience. The parents/coaches/players there could not have been nicer or more gracious. A number of parents approached us and asked if we were the folks from California. I finally asked how they knew. They very delicately and diplomatically told me, basically, that it was because of how we (me?) looked when we were outside trying (failing) to cope with the cold. Very funny. Before the trip I told my kid that Louisville would be cold in January. Her response was "Dad, I like cold weather." The first morning we were standing in front of the hotel and she says "I'm so cold my hair hurts!" Good thing she likes cold weather.

And after my spawn dazzled the coaches with her unGodly SoCal talent, I don't believe we ever heard from them again. So much for inherent SoCal superiority.

John

[coolstuff]

Indiana State and Butler recruit in state kids and Notre Dame, Ball State, IU and Purdue don't for the most part.

I think this depends a lot on the head coach's recruiting philosophy as well as the reality of their chances in recruiting blue-chip talent. If you're talking generally about all college sports, Notre Dame has national exposure and will always snag blue-chipper football players on the name alone, while Painter at Purdue has decided to focus on in-state basketball recruits- at least for now. Yet, Butler, Indiana State and even Ball State coaches know that trying to lure recruits away from either of those schools is a long shot.

My wife's nephew recently received a full-ride to play football at Ball State. He didn't begin contacting colleges until after his junior season at a Class A private HS. One thing he did was start going to an outside weight trainer, and he went to one of Ball State's football camps where the coaches noticed him and approached him. His HS went undefeated this season and won the Class A championship (so if you want to do the research and find out which HS he goes to!!!). Plus he's a 6-8 DE/TE. So he had a little going for him. Not saying you don't have to do a lot of work or that there is only one right way to go about it - just that you have to do something..... anything..... and it might turn out well for you and your DD.

[da60]

Coolstuff, I believe bucketboy was only referreing to softball when in comes to lack of in state recruiting by Purdue, Indiana, Ball State and Notre Dame. The softball rosters of Indiana State, IUPUI and IPFW are the only in state DI schools with the majority of their players from IN. Evansville, IU and Butler are next in line.

[coolstuff]

Coolstuff, I believe bucketboy was only referreing to softball when in comes to lack of in state recruiting by Purdue, Indiana, Ball State and Notre Dame. The softball rosters of Indiana State, IUPUI and IPFW are the only in state DI schools with the majority of their players from IN. Evansville, IU and Butler are next in line.

Wasn't sure but I piped up anyway. One look at Purdue's softball roster and you can see they don't go in state much. But I still maintain that each head coach has his/her own recruiting philosophy based on the realities of the recruiting marketplace regionally and nationally.

[bucketboy]

Softball is what we are talking about on this board and thanks DA for chiming in on IUPUI, Evansville and IPFW as they also do quite a bit of recruiting in the state of Indiana.

It is what it is folks. The rosters don't lie go to their websites and hopefully these schools will see that the gap has closed a little and maybe spend some of their money a little closer to home in the years ahead.

As mentioned previously my DD has not received a single email from an in state D1 school as far as interest in her talents, but I find it ironic that she has now heard from all of them about their upcoming camps that they would like for her to attend. Let's see she has contacted said school four or five times with fall and summer schedules, sent a bio, video and your coaching staff has never even watched her play one inning, but yet you want me to write you a check for a couple of hundred bucks to attend a camp. No thanks.

I will spend that money on camps of schoos from out of state that have taken the time to watch games and have taken the time to express interest.

For those of you that are just beginning the recruiting process or will be in the years ahead. Do your research in advance to make sure you are not wasting your time and money on schools that won't be interested in the talents of your daughter.

[looking in]

I find it quite funny that all this talk is still about D1 schools not interested in Indiana talent! Maybe we don't have what they are looking for!! Atleast the bigger ones! How many girls from here have gone "big" D1 in the last few years? 1, maybe 2 a year! Jackie Lawerence, Alexia Clay(i think thats right), Chanda Bell. These are girls who wanted it! As i look around these days, i don't see alot of girls with that work elthic! I hear alot of parents claim there kid does,but don't see it! I urge everybody to go to outside the lines on espn and whach to video about Elana Della Donne. She was the BEST bball player in the country and walked away from a full ride at UCONN!! Why??? Burnt out!!! She didn't want to tell her parents! Now she playes vball at a small school! I see alot more parents who want this more than there kids do!! That's why we have 200 so called 16U "college exposure" teams this year! Most of them should have stayed at 14U! We had 2 teams make the jump last year (Dreams leming and shockwaves Troy) now everybody thinks they have to do it! Most of these teams are made up of dads who didn't like the fact there DD wasn't pitching or playing SS!! There is a ton of talent in this State!! Maybe not big D1 talent, what wrong in saying my DD is getting her education paid for by playing softball at Anderson, Marian, St. Francis?? If someone wants to write the check i'm all for it!

[da60]

Bucketboy, thanks for the continued responses on the topic of recruiting. Since my daughter has turned 16, as has her other teammates, I will continue asking questions to those who have been thru the process. How did she choose an out of state school? Did the school see her at a showcase? At Nationals? Jag1 makes a pretty good point about chasing the scholarship hype. At the same time, if opportunities exist, this forum is a good starting point to get the word out. Looking in, I agree there is a ton of talent in IN. Our team plays against them, as does everyone elses. I can't comment about 16u, as we play 18u. I can comment that the travelball landscape has changed alot in the last 4 years since my daughter started. There are alot more 12u teams, even 10u has started travelball(I do not remember a 10u division, 4 years ago). You are right, teams cannot wait to make the jump to 16u. Why? IMO, to try and get seen. Nothing wrong with NAIA, DII or DIII, my point in an earlier thread. It might give one pause for thought why several of the best pitchers in the state are playing out of state DI, and IMO one of the best hitters I've ever seen is headed to Northern IL.

[Canocorn]

Lets go colts.

[heybuckethead]

. . . we are not the best 16u team in the state, and yet every single kid on the team has been in contact with a college that is interested. . .

Can my DD come play for your team because you guys are definitely doing something right. I don't think there is a single 16u California/Texas/Oklahoma/Florida team I've ever heard of that can make that statement. Has the best team in Indiana already signed all of its sophmores?