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GeorgiaBaseball
21 Posts |
 Posted - 08/11/2013 : 20:33:29
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| Does anyone have firsthand experience with good fall showcases? Can you suggest one or two that offer the most bang for the buck? Thanks. |
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nastycurve
244 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2013 : 08:16:47
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| Our first one is the Perfect Game Showcase this August. From the research I've done, it seems that if you show very well at the perfect game, it can pave your way into college/draft status. In addition to the perfect game, we are doing college showcases at local colleges. |
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in_the_know
985 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2013 : 09:05:00
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It depends on what you want out of the showcase. I assume your son is interested in playing college ball and the showcase is a means for getting on the radar and meeting schools.
So choosing showcases should be tailored around what your needs/desires are. Is he focused on D1, D2, JUCO, etc.? Local or out of state? What year high school is your son?
Picking a showcase is like choosing a restaurant. What are you in the mood for? Fast food or fine dining. Pick restaurant accordingly.
Once you define what your college goals are, you should seek out showcases that best fit that need. Any worth their salt will let you know which colleges are going to be in attendance, so you'll know ahead of time if it meets your needs.
If you attend one that has a couple of colleges you're interested in, then I highly recommend that you contact the staff of the schools in advance, let them know you're interested in them and that you'll be attending the showcase. Then make it a point to introduce yourself to them when you're there. A showcase is like a job interview. You're putting your best foot forward and you want to do so in front of the people that have job openings to companies for which you want to work.
If you just sign up for a couple of showcases looking for bang for your buck without doing some advance homework to define what it is you want, you may very well attend some great showcases that don't fit your need at all and end up being a complete waste of your money.
If you're interested in local small college/JUCO's, Young Harris' showcase has a great reputation for being well run and heavily attended by schools. |
Edited by - in_the_know on 08/12/2013 09:20:10 |
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bball_735
4 Posts |
Posted - 08/13/2013 : 07:29:31
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one of the best showcases around the south is the Southeast Underclassman Perfect Game Showcase.
http://www.perfectgame.org/events/Default.aspx?event=1364
i would recommend going to it as a rising HS JR or a very good rising Sophomore. as far as rankings go they evaluate your son and rank him as a baseball prospect. most fathers are surprised on where their son ranks after the event. i like the perfect game showcases and tournaments. what i really like about them is that they publish the results. if you say that your son throws 90mph+ he will have a chance to showcase that skill. i think it keeps folks honest.
I agree with I_T_K above about picking a showcase is like choosing a restaurant. know where your player's strengths are and target schools that are in need of that skill set.
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agent21
97 Posts |
Posted - 08/13/2013 : 09:47:16
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| how long after the showcase does PG take to post/publish the rankings? |
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bballman
1432 Posts |
Posted - 08/13/2013 : 11:56:32
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quote:
Originally posted by agent21
how long after the showcase does PG take to post/publish the rankings?
Usually takes 4-6 weeks to get the full profile up. They will enter the basics ie. velocity and 60 times, quicker but the full profile takes a while longer.
And not to nitpick, but the rankings are different than a grade. Participating in a showcase event will earn you a grade from 1-10 including half points. The profile will also include a write up on the skills of the player. Rankings will involve ranking all players nationally. You will have 1-1000, then High Follow and Follow. Being ranked is totally independent of the Showcase Rating or Grade. A player does not have to attend a PG Showcase to be ranked, but you will not get a rating/grade and profile without attending a showcase.
Hope that makes sense.
The good thing about attending a showcase is PG publicly posts the profile so any college or pro scout can reference the profile to verify what he is seeing. I think it is a good thing to attend at least one PG showcase event. Just make sure your son is well rested and at the top of his game when he goes. |
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Dr. Old School
314 Posts |
Posted - 08/14/2013 : 10:09:00
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I think it is very important for you to first assess where your son fits in the recruiting process (Pro Prospect, Upper D1 prospect, Mid D1 Prospect, D2/D3 prospect, etc). This is where it becomes very important to take off the parent glasses and realistically look at where his talents lie.
The PG Showcases are good for 2 things, in my opinion:
1) Gives you a unbiased assessment of where your son falls. (Besides speeds and velocities, they give verbiage on the players abilities.)
2) Gives visibility for the players that are in the Pro/Upper D1 category. (If you are lower in the pack, I am not sure the $595 to attend is worth it.)
Most colleges hold their own fall showcases on campus (and many group together with other colleges in their area for larger showcases.) and prefer to have you come on campus where they can talk to you all they want. Not to mention it shows that you have at least enough interest in their program to actually visit the campus. These range from approx $80 - $300 depending on the number of days and the number of other schools attending. For $595 you can attend several of these and potentially get more visibility to the schools you are interested in.
As In_The_Know said above, Young Harris holds a really good one and has a lot of other colleges that annually attend. They usually hold two (one in Aug and one in Oct) but are only holding the Aug one this year.
I would venture to bet that most parents reading this have kids that fall in the mid-tier recruiting level. For those, I think there are some important questions to answer first:
1) How much money and time do I have to spend on Showcases this fall?
2) Does my son have a particular curriculum they want to study in college?
3) What are the schools my son has interest in? (From a baseball perspective it is advised to make a list of schools in all the categories (Upper D1, Mid D1, D2, D3, Juco.)
4) How important is playing baseball in college? (Are they looking to play in college no matter what or just if an offer comes up from one of the schools they are interested in? If playing no matter what, then their net of schools to contact will need to be much wider. Northern Schools may have to be reviewed as well. They also need to assess any school with "What if baseball went away, would I still enjoy going to school there?" Scholarships are dropped all the time, so there is always that risk. Jumping to another school has it's rules and sometimes is hard to work the timing out on without losing years of eligibility.)
Once you have the answers to these questions, you can then look at the cost to attend showcases where these schools will be present. It also takes contacting those schools to let them know of your interest in the school and the baseball program.
There is not one right process for everyone. Every player has different circumstances they have to take into account when determining their future.
Many considering playing baseball in college fall into the "I want to study ?????? in college and if I can play baseball at a school that has a good program in that curriculum, then great, otherwise I am just going to school to be a student."
Others feel "I want to go to schools in ???? conference. If I can get a scholarship there, then great, otherwise I will attend one just as a student.
For Sophomores, find an inexpensive showcase camp to send them to so they can learn the process before they really need to present well. If they do well, they can get on the school's radar. If they don't do well, then they now have an idea of what to work on before the next one.
The above info is worth what you paid for it. :-) |
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bballman
1432 Posts |
Posted - 08/14/2013 : 11:05:04
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Good synopsis Doc.
The only thing I would say is that there are a lot of good D2, D3, JUCO and NAIA schools that may use PG as a reference to look at a player they are interested in. These schools are not really looking for the Pro Prospect/Top D1 type of recruits. They already know they can't get those guys. They have an idea about the type of player they are looking for and PG evaluations are still a good resource for them. That's why many coaches other than Top D1 attend PG tournaments and events.
Also, if you are not aware, if a coach has a certain level of subscription to PG, there is all kinds of "back office" information on every player that is not available to the public. Coaches can look this stuff up as well to get a good read on a player and often do. I have heard stories about coaches calling PG to get additional info on players.
So, PG can be a good thing to do even if you are not a Pro/Top D1 prospect.
Hope that makes sense. Everything else you said, I do agree with and think is great stuff. |
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Individual Fall Showcase Events - Your thoughts?
