The college baseball recruiting landscape has certainly changed over the past several decades. There are things that you need to be aware of that most people will not tell you. This blog post is going to focus on one college program strategy used to recruit players and raise money for the program. The strategy we are going to address is the single team prospect camp. Some programs host a prospect camp every year. It is an effective strategy for recruiting. However, it is also one of the main fundraising strategies used to raise money for the baseball program. Not all invites to these camps are created equal. There are athletes that receive personal invitations, and there are athletes that receive template invitations. Some players receive special attention at the camp while other players are completely ignored and not even evaluated properly. Just because you receive an invite to a prospect camp does not mean you are being recruited to play for that school. It simply means that you are for sure invited to come to the camp, pay $100, and play some baseball that day. There is no instruction at these camps. They are only collecting data. Before paying $100 for the camp, getting a hotel, and spending money going out to eat, email one of the coaches your vitals, 60-yard dash time, throwing velo, and exit velo. Ask them if that info stacks up against the current roster. If it doesn't, then that prospect camp may not be such a good idea for you. 

Coach Mike VanderBunt