Posted in Premium Forum, but they are all consumed with the Baylor demise and downfall. Maybe someone here can answer.

I was injured in college, so coaching baseball became a passion once I got over not playing anymore. I love kids, so I help coach several premier teams (infielders and hitting). I mainly stay at the younger age levels. 14u being as high as I have coached. As the kids get into HS age, they often go on to play with different teams.

I do, however, watch a lot of high school baseball in the area (Houston and surrounding) and have a pretty good eye for talent and am right about 90% of the time when I see a kid that is "next level" good. Next level being Div 1 or Pro-draft. I do work with some HS kids one on one, but it is usually just kids that played for me when younger and I am just helping tweak something or give them some extra reps. I DO NOT deal with any recruiting or showcase teams.

So, I was asked to look at a kid this year by his dad. His parents knew I went to A&M and the kid loves A&M.

Some info:

5'11", 172lbs, bats left, throws/fields right (Was only 5'5" and 140lbs as junior)
Plays 3rd, SS, or 2nd - Arm above average - speed above average
Leads District in Batting 5A District - .464 avg - ONE strikeout all season. Kid has a sweet stroke. Power to get to the gap, but only one HR.
Academically he is 8th in his HS class

So, I went and watched 4 district games (2 home and 1 away) and was EXTREMELY impressed. I have since watched 4 playoff games. They are in Regional Semi-final right now so may catch more. Although, I may go see Deer Park instead.

The kid is LEGIT D1 talent now. He was clearly a late bloomer as he was small until senior year and he is blowing up. He did not play on a showcase team last summer and just filled in on a summer team coached by Deer Park's coach, Chris Rupp. He was not on any radar junior year due to size. It is my only explanation I can come up with. Entire family is athletic. Sister has a full ride gymnastics scholarship to an SEC school.

Anyway, he is accepted and going to A&M and I was asked if I had any contacts in the coaching ranks at A&M because he wants to continue to play ball at A&M as a walk-on if possible. He is in love with A&M and wants to go to school in College Station no matter what. This kid already has his tuition paid for and although any scholarship would be a blessing, he does not even require one. This kid is about as good as you can get on and off the field. Perfect teammate. Coaches dream in my opinion.

So, I do some research and fire off an email to an A&M coach (no name). The coach was very nice and responded. He thanked me for the information but said they already signed all the infielders they wanted and were maybe going to add a pitcher and JUCO infielder. He said they were going to take a look at the kid, but he would suggest the JUCO route and look to sign next year or two if he plays well. He acknowledged that "late bloomers" do get overlooked sometimes and he said they would check the kid out just in case they really missed something.

Since my conversation, this kid has gotten better with each game. He has colleges out to watch and I was told he could go to Arkansas if he wanted. He DOES NOT desire to go JUCO, because he has over 45 hours college credit due to dual credit and AP classes. A&M never followed up. I am sure it is low on the priority list and I get it.

So, he says he is set on going to A&M and it is best for his long term future. He really is a smart kid and he understands what comes with a degree from A&M. He said he would play as a walk-on, but there has been no contact since my email to the coach at A&M.

I also just found out this kid is being selected to play a HS all-star game that almost all of the Houston area A&M players played in. Lots of D1 and PRO talent.

So, those on here with knowledge of college rules and recruiting: Is this common for kids that are this good and offer to play as a walk-on to be turned down and not even looked at? Is it due to roster limits? That is the only explanation I can see being valid with this kid and why A&M would not be jumping up and down to take him. Maybe we have to save spots for pitchers. I was told we are holding a spot for a possible JUCO infielder. I can state with pretty high confidence after researching our signed incoming players from HS (even watched video), that he would be one of the better infield signees if he were signed. Very near the top and with the kind of character kid he is, would be dream to have. He would be 100% in if a coach called and asked him to be a preferred walk-on since his tuition is paid already anyway. Is this common? Trying to decide if I should tell him to give 1 year of JUCO a shot (not sure he would) or if I should advise him to just go to A&M, seek and notify the coach I spoke to that he is going to A&M and deciding against JUCO or other offers, and hope the situation changes and he gets a call.

So, if anyone can enlighten me on roster limits, signing limits, or anything else relevant, I would appreciate it. I want to give his parents and he all the information and opinion I can.

Thanks in advance you college baseball guys.

We just had a 5 foot 10, 165 pound middle infielder leave the team because things were crowded at short and second.

They're bringing in, I believe, 3 middle infielders already on the next roster.

Going to JUCO is no guarantee that A&M takes notice, and thinks they need a player at the position this guy plays at. The better chance to play would be going to Arkansas or whoever it was that actually offered him time.

There is a yearly walk-on tryout. We're told most years that they don't yield a very good chance of getting an invite to be on the team.

There's just so many spots on a roster, and only so many guys that get to play, and only so many of those guys that get to play regularly. We have people come on here every year asking why Childress didn't pick up all the local kids they've seen playing well, or the guy from their hometown etc. Some of those guys end up contributing somewhere, and some we never hear of again. Pretty much every time, I think it just boils down to only having so much room on the team.

It sounds like you took the steps to make the A&M coaches aware of this player, but beyond what they already told you, I don't think the odds are great that he makes it as a walk-on. I can remember a few pitchers making it as a walk-on, but I can't remember any position players who made it through that route. I'm certainly no expert, however, and it doesn't hurt for him to try if he's set on coming to A&M as a student.

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The NCAA set a roster limit at 35 players and restricted the number of players on scholarship to 27 starting with the 2009 season.

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Don't know if that's still entirely accurate. I think the 35 part is.

If Childress has utilized the former player network at all Chris Rupp has already mentioned this kid to our staff.

Showcase tournament system.....

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I think Boomer is a great example of something like this....we could have had him for 4 years, if we could get our heads out of our asses and realize an athlete, that can hit, is worth 30 position player specialists.

I bet money a good coach could teach Boomer to play any position on the field in 3 mos.

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My understanding is that Boomer chose not to come to A&M because he thought there was not room or would not be much playing time back then, not the other way around.

He is better than Homan today. I'd bet almost anything on that. I can tell you that much.

Also, he plays a hell of a 3rd base and can play SS or 2nd easily.

Started at 2nd soph year because of size but has played 3rd this year. Saw him make the play of the year I have seen at any level diving to snag a ball in the hole between 3rd and short and throw a kid out from deep to save and close out a playoff game and seal a series win. I literally asked every parent after the game if there was video and nobody got it.

The early baseball signing and the showcase world have killed kids like this (late bloomers). Kid on his team that is hitting 200 point lower and has 4 times the errors as he and he is going to another SEC team as a signee because he supposedly had a good showing on a showcase team last summer.

Just heard today thought that A&M may lose more than we thought on the infield and his HS coach is scheduled to talk to someone once season ends. Maybe this will play out after all.

Thanks for the responses guys. I will let you know if anything happens.

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He is better than Homan today. I'd bet almost anything on that. I can tell you that much.

Also, he plays a hell of a 3rd base and can play SS or 2nd easily.

Started at 2nd soph year because of size but has played 3rd this year. Saw him make the play of the year I have seen at any level diving to snag a ball in the hole between 3rd and short and throw a kid out from deep to save and close out a playoff game and seal a series win. I literally asked every parent after the game if there was video and nobody got it.

The early baseball signing and the showcase world have killed kids like this (late bloomers). Kid on his team that is hitting 200 point lower and has 4 times the errors as he and he is going to another SEC team as a signee because he supposedly had a good showing on a showcase team last summer.

Just heard today thought that A&M may lose more than we thought on the infield and his HS coach is scheduled to talk to someone once season ends. Maybe this will play out after all.

Thanks for the responses guys. I will let you know if anything happens.

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slow down. This is starting to sound like Beano Cook talking about Ron Paulus coming out of High School. I am sure that he is very talented and could play college ball. But you are starting to make some claims and make insinuations that probably are not needed on this board.

Maybe the coaches saw him play and did not have the same opinion you did. That happens with lots of players and lots of schools I realize you think very highly of this player but from the sounds of things you are very close to this situation and taking it personal.

There have been former players on here before that have jumped all over the coaching staff for not offering their son a spot on the team and took it public. I know the former players regretted that afterwards because they were too close to the situation.

Sometimes certain players are a good fit for a program and sometimes they are not. It could be style of play, it could be their personality, could be their is not a spot because they already have too many other players coming in at that spot. You don't know how the coaches have evaluated your friend's son.

To start attacking the coaches for not giving him a shot and for you to make claims that the kids is better than the starting players right now is not the best in my opinion.

Baseball recruiting has really gotten nuts. A&M is nearly done with 2018 kids already. It makes no sense to me to offer a 15 year old a college spot, but that's what it's turned into.

I was just giving Homan a hard time because he has been a little error prone lately. I know the kid. He is a good kid.

I know Arrington. He can go to San Jac if he wants, but may waste a half year of school. It is a choice he has to make. He knows that is an option.

A friend of mine has a son who was a late bloomer. He didn't start for his high school team. Went to a JC and got drafted both years. Transferred to A&M and got drafted after his junior year. Came back for year 4 and injured his shoulder. Went to law school. If you are not good enough, keep trying.

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I was just giving Homan a hard time because he has been a little error prone lately. I know the kid. He is a good kid.

I know Arrington. He can go to San Jac if he wants, but may waste a half year of school. It is a choice he has to make. He knows that is an option.

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if you talk to Arrington.

Remind him of how a high school kid playing for the Sequin SMI Steelers took him deep. back in the summer of 1987.

He will probably say the wind was blowing out or it rolled down the back of the fence. it was a bomb!

My husband went through fall practice and walk-on tryouts in the mid 70's at A&M. Coach Chandler told him he was good enough to be on the team, but he probably wouldn't play much. He told him he needed to decide if he wanted to be on the team or get his degree. He chose the degree.

You are allowed to play and get a degree