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College  | Recruiting | 3/11/2005

Junior Days

Perfect Game Staff
One of the most exciting times in a baseball player's junior year is when they receive an invitation to a Junior Day. This is an event where colleges invite high school juniors to their campus for some type of tour and information sessions; in addition to watching a game.

Not all colleges have Junior Days. Colleges that recruit nationally generally do not have a Junior Day because of the expense to the parents of flying into their city.

"We do not have a Junior Day because of the geographic makeup of our roster," said a Top 20 college coach. "We recruit nationally and because of the timing of high school baseball, along with our location, it is not in our best interest to do this event. Many programs try to get kids to commit as early as possible. We would rather have kids visit our campus during the school year, stay with the team, and make an educated decision."

The schools that do have Junior Days usually invite the top local players.

"We will concentrate more on local prospects, but will invite any recruits that we plan to recruit for [our school]," said one Atlantic Coast Conference coach. "It will be prospects that we plan on offering scholarships."

Most schools invite anywhere from 15 to 60 players to Junior Day. The reality is that most will not be offered scholarships.

"We try to target players that in our mind are 'can't miss' prospects in their junior years," one Conference USA coach said. "We know that they have the physical ability to play at our level, now we have to find out if the other factors fit as well."

A Junior Day is an unofficial visit that brings top players to the campuses of the individual schools.

"It is a great opportunity to introduce some talented players to our program," one Atlantic Sun coach said. "Half the battle of recruiting is getting a recruit to visit your campus so we can demonstrate what our program is all about."

The recruiting process seems to be moving earlier and earlier each year, so Junior Days will become more popular in the coming years.

"If you wait until they are eligible to take official visits (after the start of their senior year in high school) you may not be one of the five visits they chose to take," the C-USA coach said. "Kids are educating themselves better about the recruiting process and making decisions earlier in the process than ever before. So getting them on campus as early and often as possible is the key."

What happens when a potential recruit goes to a Junior Day?

"Once he is on campus things become more personal," the A-Sun coach said. "The recruit can get a feel for the campus, get to know the coaches, see the facilities, the field, the locker room, the weight room, etc. Hopefully, the recruit can envision himself being a part of our program."

Recently, a Perfect Game reporter went to several Junior Days. The following is a summary of three of them.

Campus #1
When we met the coaches at one of the cafeterias on campus they collected seven dollars to pay for the breakfast and lunch they were serving. The coaches explained that if they allowed us to eat for free it would constitute an official visit; which juniors can not take anyway.

From there we toured the dorms, drove to the academic building to meet with the team's academic advisor, went to the locker rooms, and watched the baseball game and ate with the team after the game was over.

This school told the players that they like all of them and will see them play during the summer. The coaches made it a point to try and talk with each player individually as they were leaving.

Campus #2
This time we met the coaches at the field. After touring the baseball facilities, including a great weight room, we sat down and listened to presentations by the coaches, academic advisor, and the athletic director. We then took a tour of the entire athletic facilities.

This school did not serve food at all, but did not charge the recruits anything either. One negative was that we did not see the school buildings or the dorms. The coach of this school said he would rather leave that for the official visit. We did stay to watch the game.

This school told the players that they will not be recruiting all of them due to NCAA scholarship limits. The coach explained to the recruits that they can call and email him, but he cannot return a call. He also vowed that he would not email recruits every day to make them happy, as he wants players who want to go to his school.

Campus #3
This last visit the coaches had to deal with rain that had already cancelled that day's game. They rebounded fantastically to put on a good show for the recruits.

After a tour of the stadium the recruits and parents boarded buses for a short trip to the college campus. The head coach led the tour and described many of the venues and classrooms on the campus.

When the rain slowed down we were able to tour the school's cafeteria and student store. We then went into the gym to hear presentations from the coaches, admissions officer, academic advisor and associate athletic director.

This school touched on the importance of not only signing up for the NCAA Clearinghouse, but also checking that your core courses are acceptable to the NCAA. That was a point that was not brought up by the other academic advisors. All three schools did discuss academic tutoring available to the student-athletes.

The coach of the third school was refreshingly honest in how they handle their scholarships. He told the players and parents that they bring their top recruits in as early in September as they can to give scholarship offers. If they don't take that offer it will be offered to another player the next week or until a player accepts the offer. At that point the scholarship is pulled off the table for the ones who have not yet decided.

The coach also discussed NCAA rules involving phone and personal contact with recruits. He made sure to tell the players that his school would not cheat to get them in a uniform.

Like the first school, this program fed the potential recruits. Money was collected when we walked into the stadium.

At least one Top 20 ACC program does not have Junior Days. The coach said they like to invite juniors to come to games on an individual basis.

One A-Sun school that recruits locally doesn't have a Junior Day, but does invite players to games. The coach said he sends out a letter to prospective players that he will leave their name on a pass list to attend games. He added that he asks them to come by the dugout to say hello when they do get to the games. He noted that most of the kids his school signed were players who attended their games.

The above A-Sun coach said one negative of Junior Days is the pressure it puts on the families. Parents wonder if they really have to go to the Junior Day to be recruited. In some cases it costs a plane ticket, rental car and hotel room to go on a Junior Day.

"I believe that Junior Days can create many problems for families," said the A-Sun coach who doesn't host Junior Days. "And in many cases it's still too early for the coaches to know who they will recruit. So you can be spending $1000 to go to a Junior Day and the coach ends up not recruiting your son."

Most college coaches said whether a prospective baseball player gets invited to a Junior Day or not should not affect his recruitment, particularly since many schools do not even hold Junior Days.
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