December 20 - Armed with a panel of collegiate coaches and players, last night’s second annual Premier Showcase League recruiting seminar at Westfield High School offered players and parents in attendance a look inside the recruitment process.
The seminar was hosted by PSL’s parent Northern Virginia Travel Baseball League and directed by the league’s general manager, Gonzaga College High School coach Andy Bradley. It featured a panel of three college coaches and six current and former local collegiate players, with Marymount University coach Frank Leoni, Fordham University pitching coach Pat Pinkman, and Catholic University associate head coach Bobby Picardo serving as speakers.
The coaches shared with those in attendance what they look for in college recruits and shared their thoughts on the recruiting process.
Former Oberlin (OH) College standout Jack Evans, a graduate of Gonzaga, also spoke at the event, and was joined on the panel of players by University of North Carolina pitcher J.B. Bukauskas (Stone Bridge), George Washington outfielder Andrew Selby (Bishop Ireton), two other former Gonzaga players in Bucknell’s Connor van Hoose and Virginia Commonwealth’s David Mervis, and Los Angeles Dodgers minor leaguer Kevin Lachance, a graduate of Centreville and former standout at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
The coaches spoke about the specific characteristics they look for in a college recruit, and pointed out that intangibles are sometimes just as important as a player’s measurable skills. They each also stressed how important academics are in the process, and how it can be a deciding factor in some cases.
“You have to ask yourself, would you be happy at that school if you were not playing baseball,” Leoni said. “Don’t go to a school just because of the name, you have to find the right match for you. In some cases, you might get more financial aid from a Division III program than from a Division I [school].”
Hailing from different schools at various levels of play, the three coaches shared the recruiting processes they follow and what it takes to become a student-athlete at their schools. They encouraged potential recruits to be realistic and to do their homework when researching and making lists of colleges they are interested in attending.
Picardo, who also serves as Catholic’s hitting coach and recruitment coordinator, focused his talk on the academic side of the process.
“Start thinking like a college baseball player now, get ahead and stay ahead,” he said. “Start doing school work like you do baseball. The better you do academically, the more doors it will open for you on the field.”
Pinkman, an all-region left-hander at South Lakes in the 1990s before his career at Virginia Tech, spoke about what he looks for in pitchers he is scouting and recruiting. He also outlined some of the Division I scholarship regulations, reminding those in attendance that of the 35 roster spots available at those schools, only 27 can be on scholarship. And that, at most, a Division I school can have 11.7 scholarships available to dispense among those players.
“I’m looking for flashes, can you turn and single into a double or ... as a pitcher how do you prepare, do you have a distinct routine,” Pinkman said. “I am recruiting you not based on what you did in the past, but how you fit in our program going forward.”
After the speakers finished, the panel held a question and answer session with the parents and players in attendance. Those questions ranged from the coaches’ take on junior college, what contact the coaches could have with recruits, Lachance’s emotions after being drafted, and how each of the players on the panel treated their recruiting process.
Each player shared their own perspective on that and how they ultimately decided on their school of choice. While the players had varyings stories, the consensus was that each recruit is different, and that finding a good fit both academically and athletically can sometimes become an extended process.
“Everyone has good insight into the whole process,” Bukauskas said “I think some of the big things [touched on] were character, finding the right fit, and just keep working hard. Keeping the goal in mind and always thinking about where you want to be, not where you are.”
Photos of Pat Pinkman (above) and Andy Bradley (below) by Joey Kamide and Josh Belanger
