Recruiting is about to Explode in August

Hey, how you doing, Alex here. Thanks for joining me. Today's episode, we're going to be talking about the new recruiting model in August 1st and what that means. I got a lot of emails and comments about, hey, what should we expect? What does this really mean these new rule changes mean? So I'm going to be talking a little bit about that and what to expect August 1st in particular, my sophomores going into junior year. This is going to impact those guys the most as we go and again beyond. And if you're new to my channel, my name is Alex Swenson. I'm a former Division I college coach, scout and recruiter. And now what I do is help high school baseball players and their parents navigate this college recruiting process. If you're interested in that, you can always comment down below or reach out to me if you want to learn more or share it with another family that's looking for some help going through this college recruiting process. But let's dive into the the new rule change that happened back in April of 2023 and why this has changed really the landscape of recruiting. And I think it's actually been a really good thing for high school baseball and college coaches and the high school player and parent because it's leveled the playing field. Before this rule change, there is going to there was commitments in 8th grade, some cases 7th grade, and then definitely freshman year and sophomore year. Well, they can't commit that early anymore. And the earliest that you can really commit or you're supposed to commit is August 1st after your sophomore year. Really going from sophomore year into your junior year. That is when college coaches can offer you and start communication. In the past, there is some gray area to all of that where the player could initiate the contact and the college coach could offer and they could accept and commit there as well. But that cannot happen. Okay, so what to expect? August 1, there are going to be players that get phone calls and that get offers. August 1st, okay? Or in August as you go. And guys, if you are one of those players that's going to get some communication and some offers there, be patient through this process, especially if you have not seen the campus, if you haven't really interacted with the college coaching, be patient, okay? Be patient. Make sure you go see the school, make sure you're interacting, asking the right questions and make sure it's a good fit on your end. Do not be rushed into this decision. This is obviously a big decision, so do not rush this. Now another thing that you can't do is take an unofficial or official visit until September 1st. So if you haven't again visited the university and the school, then don't just accept it, all right? Make sure you get a feel for the campus. Make sure you get a feel for the college coaches. So again, 8, 1 is when college coaches can initiate contact with high school baseball athletes and even offer then, okay? And again, prior to this, they can't. From freshman year to sophomore year, they can't have any communication from a recruiting standpoint. Now they can communicate with players at camps. And camps are going to be really, really big for freshmen and sophomore that are at a higher level caliber of an athlete that are ready to really get into this recruiting process because we've already seen it actually this summer where how important camps are because the coaches can communicate with the freshmen and sophomores where they can't do that elsewhere, okay? They can't initiate again until August 1st as we go. Oh, man. We're seeing even camps really lead up to August 1st and they're giving the campers tours of the facility. That's a gray area as far as the unofficial and official visits as we go. So making sure that you guys are doing your homework. And the thing is, the other athletes that are out there, do not get discouraged if you don't get any communication August 1st or any offers in August, okay? Think of this as just, this is the start of where communication can happen. There's going to be more players than not that are going to get offers and communication way past August 1st into later this year and even into next year that will eventually get offers, okay? Because these college coaches, they don't know of everybody quite yet. They might not have seen you yet. So be patient in this process. Do your due diligence, follow the systematic approach. If you've watched me or if you know about my approach through the recruiting process, there's strategic things to maximize your exposure and your communication with college coaches to make sure you're finding the best college fit for you. So again, do not get discouraged, okay? If you do not get any offers or communication even in the the month of August, okay, that is. And you're going to see stuff on Twitter and in social media and things like that. You stick to your game plan. You stick to the fundamentals of one, the foundation of the college recruiting process, which is your skill development, finding the right fits for you athletically, academically, geographically, socially, financially, all those things, and you're going to be in a good spot. So that is kind of what to expect as far as August 1st. Of the communication now is open and can happen, especially my sophomores going into their junior year. If you guys have any questions, please comment down below. One thing that I have seen and some comments about this is like, well, how are eighth graders and freshmen and sophomores already committed to some of these schools if the rule change. Well, they committed before the rule change before April. Okay. Because they again, no offers are going out until then. If college coaches do do that, there's going to be big violations and, and that is a big no no to where college coaches. You see this in football sometimes on the bottom line on ESPN where you know, the scholarships are taken away, the playoffs are taken away. So those are big violations where they will not be able to do that. And they won't do that. They're going to wait till August 1st. Now these college coaches will watch players, they'll watch players freshman year and sophomore year. They're going to get guys on their radars and their interest list and their offers list. So that's still going to happen. And again, positioning yourself through this as we go. And again, I just want to reiterate, doing your homework. We want to avoid the transfer portal as much as possible because the transfer portal is a tough place to be as far as an athlete because it doesn't guarantee that you are going to be on or be accepted by another team. I think I'm going to be off a little bit here, but it's close to this. It's about 50% of the guys that are in the transfer portal don't find up a new. Don't find a new place. And I think it's actually a little bit even higher than that. So you want to avoid the transportal plus it just breaks up your experience of college, right? Your four year experience, the relationships that you build, the network that you build, the home that you build at the university and with the team and the brotherhood that you have, you want to do your best to avoid that. Now of course it might make sense to leave and enter the transfer for personal reasons. But again, this is why doing your homework and starting the recruiting process early to make sure you're making the right decision and position yourself is a big deal because this is a big decision. A four year picking a university or college. There's some jucos out there that might be a good fit as we go and it could be a good fit for certain athletes, could be good for you. So if you have any questions again, go on in, comment down below and we'll go from there. Have a good day.