The Perfect Game office
receives calls and emails daily from colleges across the country asking about
potential players to fill needs within their programs. During some of these
conversations it became obvious that one way that Perfect Game could fill a
void for our friends in the coaching community would be to hold an early
summer showcase for players who had not signed with a four year school during
the November or April signing periods.
The Unsigned Senior Showcase
was started in 2004 to fill that need. College coaches can be left with
roster vacancies due to the draft, unexpected transfers or injury or academic
problems. Early summer was determined to be the best fit on the calendar and
the first showcase was held June 15-16, 2004 at the Boston Red Sox spring
training complex in Fort Myers, Florida.
The 2005 event will be held
at the same location on June 13-14. The Unsigned Senior Showcase is held
simultaneously on the same fields with the National Academic Showcase, which
maximizes the benefit for the college coaches.
There are a significant
number of reasons why an otherwise talented player might have been overlooked
in the recruiting process. A player coming off an injury could have missed
games at just the wrong time. Multi-sport athletes are easy to overlook
sometimes and players moving from one high school to another can be
disadvantaged. Some talented players go to small schools or do not play
summer ball.
There were many talented
players at the 2004 Unsigned Senior Showcase and many were able to sign with
four year schools after being seen in Fort Myers. There was one young
prospect who really stood out, though: OF Jose Cueto, His story is a good
lesson in perseverance and just a little bit of good luck.
Story:
Jose
Cueto: AN UNSIGNED SENIOR GEM
