“I’m every bit as good as he is… If he can play Division I then I know I can!”
Many parents and players make this statement quite often, and in doing so leaves them not looking good to the rest of the world! Division I baseball is the apex for many amateur baseball players. Division I baseball is the focus of many players when they consider playing at the college level. Parents and players see these cathedrals that many of the elite colleges are now building. Case in point, Carolina Stadium, the incredible new facility recently built by defending National Champion University of South Carolina was a 38 million dollar project. The attitudes that drive things like the building these mega-stadiums is a reflection of the “super conference” school win-loss philosophy and has changed the approach to recruiting. The harsh reality is that Division I college baseball is big business and not everyone is good enough.
Lets play with some simple numbers.
In Georgia there are 7 Division I colleges with baseball programs. With the new NCAA recruiting rules including the minimum allowable scholarship offer of 25%, colleges are now only (or should be) recruiting for need. Meaning if they over sign and those players drop out after entering school, it can and will affect the number of overall scholarships. In an average recruiting year, if one even exists, most programs would need in the neighborhood of 7 players to complete a team roster. That’s 7 players for 7 Division I schools in Georgia which equals 49 total players. (Assuming the impossible, of course, that they all sign high school seniors and no JUCO transfers).
On the other side of the coin there are roughly 600 schools in the state of Georgia that have a high school baseball team. Each team carries approximately 20 players with ¼, or 5 of those players being seniors. That’s 5 players per high school and 600 high schools which equals 3000 potential college baseball players
Even if all Gerogia college coaches are recruiting players only from Georgia high schools, that means 3000 high school playrs are competing for 49 spots. This means the chances of a Georgia senior landing a baseball scholarship in a Gerogia Divisiion I program is roughly 1.63% The numbers speak for themselves. It is extremely difficult to be ones of these few. However there are 1500+ collegiate baseball programs in the United States. Do you know how to find these other schools? You better have a plan. www.baseballbusinessplan.com