How A New Dawn In College Baseball Is Challenging Recruiting Norms

By J.J. Cooper

A decade ago, the path to a dogpile in Omaha, a spot in the NCAA regionals or a conference title was paved through many hot summer days in East Cobb and Lakepoint, Ga.

College head coaches and recruiting coordinators would camp out for weeks to see their future cleanup hitters and Friday starters at showcases.

Their goal? Get the best high school recruits to campus, get them some modest playing time as freshmen, move them into the everyday lineup as sophomores and watch them star as juniors. Do so year after year, and you could build a powerhouse.

That now seems as quaint and old-fashioned as an umpire using a balloon-style chest protector.

A program focusing entirely on that formula in the 2020s might find that they are doing a really good job of prepping another team for success. Recruiting is still recruiting, but today the path to Omaha is forged as much in the transfer portal as it is in recruiting high school seniors.

Three of the top 10 college draftees in 2024—Chase Burns, Seaver King and Braden Montgomery—were transfers. Tennessee, the 2024 national champs, were relatively homegrown by modern standards, but their top reliever, one of their top three starting pitchers and their third baseman all transferred from other Division I programs.

The year before, LSU won the national title with D-I transfer Paul Skenes atop the rotation and another, Tommy White, playing third base.

Summers for coaches now are split between hitting up high school showcases, bouncing around summer college leagues (to spot talent in the transfer portal) and watching a lot of video of transfer portal targets. The addition of a third full-time assistant coach has proven to be crucial, because it has added another person to help do a job that keeps growing busier and busier.

“I probably watch more college summer ball than I ever anticipated that I’d ever watch,” Missouri State head coach Joey Hawkins said.

“Summer time is for the portal,” Austin Peay State head coach Roland Fanning said.

College recruiting is always changing, but it has changed more in the past five years than it did in the previous 15.

As appearing in our latest upcoming BA print edition, J.J. Cooper continues his deep dive into the ever-changing landscape of NCAA athletics by laying out five ways the world of college baseball recruiting has changed, including some bad news for the college recruits of tomorrow.

BOWMAN STERLING 2024 HAS DROPPED

2024 Bowman Sterling: MLB Prospects, Rookie Cards We’re Hunting

Wednesday marked the release of 2024 Bowman Sterling. For prospect autograph collectors, the big day couldn’t come soon enough.

While part of the allure of flagship Bowman releases—Bowman, Bowman Chrome, and Bowman Draft—is the depth of the checklists, Bowman Sterling annually trims the fat and delivers a more selective offering of the game’s most desired rookies and prospects.

While it’s important for the flagship Bowman releases to have long checklists so that no player gets missed for their Bowman First card, Bowman Sterling’s base checklist is chock-full of only the best names in prospecting. Set collectors will need only to track down 100 cards to put together a base featuring 50 prospects and 50 rookies littered with names from Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list.

Check out our complete Bowman Sterling breakdown for a look at…

• Top Available Prospect & Rookie Cards

• Interesting Cards We’ll Be Hunting

• The Complete Card Set Checklist

• Some Really Cool & Valuable Dual Refractor Autograph Cards

• Where To Buy Card Boxes

BASEBALL AMERICA’S LATEST ORG REPORTS

👑 Bill Mitchell writes how the Royals zeroed in on athletic lefty David Shields in the 2024 Draft.

🧦 James Fegan explains how White Sox Prospect George Wolkow has power worth waiting for.

👼 Taylor Ward reports that shortstop Joswa Lugo is exciting the Angels with early promise

🤠 Jeff Wilson relates how a late callup buoyed hard-throwing Rangers reliever Marc Church

⚓ Shane Lantz says the Mariners’ Michael Morales has broken through with improved stuff

🅰️ Casey Tefertiller checks in on how young catcher Dylan Fien stood out the A’s instructrional league

BA SOCIAL

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FROM OUR FRIENDS AT FOUL TERRITORY!

INTERESTED IN SUBSCRIBING TO BASEBALL AMERICA?

Join the thousands of fans, players, coaches and front office personnel who are the backbone of the Baseball America community by subscribing today.

SIGN UP FOR THE BASEBALL AMERICA PROSPECT REPORT NEWSLETTER

Sign up for our free Baseball America Prospect Report newsletter to receive daily updates on top prospect performers, news & more from the night before.