Anybody have some insights to offer on the college recruiting process?

[Grits and Shins]

So I never really considered the possibility that schools would be recruiting my daughter for their softball programs. When she started playing 14U select ball she got on a horrible team with a bad coach and refused to budge (she was friends with all the girls on that team). She was on that team 2 long years and her skills declined ... yet she refused to leave the team. FINALLY the team fell apart. It was during this time frame that she stopped catching (coaches daughter was a catcher albeit a horrible one). She started playing with an 18U select team and this coaching staff had their heads up their collective asses so she quit that team (along with 8 other girls) and decided she was done with select ball. If you don't play select ball then you don't get recruited by colleges. Then came high school softball ... and yet another horrible coach. Her freshman year she played JV and the coaching was horrible. Her sophomore year she started out on JV as the starting center fielder and lead off batter ... until the head coach decided to move her to varsity to be a RUNNER only. So she decided to quit softball altogether. Then the best thing happened ... the softball coach was fired. The new softball coach not only put her on the varsity team but started her in either center field or left field and batted her anywhere from 3rd to 5th in the lineup. Her junior year was VERY GOOD. So good that she decided to start playing select ball again. She has been playing select ball again for just a few months.

 

So it never really occurred to me that schools would be recruiting her for college ... and I never played in high school or college athletics.

 

Official campus trips start up this coming week. Presuming the school wants to make an offer is it typical that they make it on this campus trip or does that come later? If they make an offer typically what kind of time frame are they looking for on an answer? Are the offers negotiable? We have several irons in the fire and obviously want to see all options before choosing.

 

Surely somebody out there has been through this process either as a recruit or the parent of a recruit.

[tbimm]

So I never really considered the possibility that schools would be recruiting my daughter for their softball programs. When she started playing 14U select ball she got on a horrible team with a bad coach and refused to budge (she was friends with all the girls on that team). She was on that team 2 long years and her skills declined ... yet she refused to leave the team. FINALLY the team fell apart. It was during this time frame that she stopped catching (coaches daughter was a catcher albeit a horrible one). She started playing with an 18U select team and this coaching staff had their heads up their collective asses so she quit that team (along with 8 other girls) and decided she was done with select ball. If you don't play select ball then you don't get recruited by colleges. Then came high school softball ... and yet another horrible coach. Her freshman year she played JV and the coaching was horrible. Her sophomore year she started out on JV as the starting center fielder and lead off batter ... until the head coach decided to move her to varsity to be a RUNNER only. So she decided to quit softball altogether. Then the best thing happened ... the softball coach was fired. The new softball coach not only put her on the varsity team but started her in either center field or left field and batted her anywhere from 3rd to 5th in the lineup. Her junior year was VERY GOOD. So good that she decided to start playing select ball again. She has been playing select ball again for just a few months.

 

So it never really occurred to me that schools would be recruiting her for college ... and I never played in high school or college athletics.

 

Official campus trips start up this coming week. Presuming the school wants to make an offer is it typical that they make it on this campus trip or does that come later? If they make an offer typically what kind of time frame are they looking for on an answer? Are the offers negotiable? We have several irons in the fire and obviously want to see all options before choosing.

 

Surely somebody out there has been through this process either as a recruit or the parent of a recruit.

My brother as I mentioned in a previous post may be of some assistance. He has been through this process as a student athlete and a recruiting coach. PM me with some info and i will try to get the 2 of you hooked up by phone or whatever. He lives in the Dallas area so if that helps...