WHAT COLLEGE BASEBALL COACHES ACTUALLY LOOK AT

If your player wants to play in college, you'll hear a lot of advice, much of it contradictory. The truth is simpler: coaches are trying to answer a few questions about every player, and almost everything they look at points back to one of them.

Can they play at our level? Will they get better? Will they be eligible? Do we want them in our dugout for four years?

1. PHYSICAL TOOLS

This is what coaches see first: arm strength, bat speed, foot speed, and for pitchers, velocity and how the ball moves. Tools matter because they're hard to teach. A coach can fix a swing path; they can't add 5 mph to an arm overnight.

You don't need to obsess over one number. Coaches see a player's tools on video, at camps, and in person, and they know how much a 15-year-old can still grow.

2. STATS, IN CONTEXT

Stats help, but coaches read them carefully. A .450 average against weak pitching means less than .300 against strong competition, and they know it. What tends to stand out:

• On-base percentage and strikeout rate for hitters. Getting on base and putting the ball in play travel well from level to level.
• Strike percentage and walks for pitchers. Throwing strikes is the first thing a pitching coach wants to know about.
• Consistency over a season, not one great tournament.
• The level of competition, so always note it next to the numbers.

The most useful thing you can do is keep honest, complete stats, the bad games included. A full season of real numbers is more believable than a highlight list.

3. VIDEO

Most coaches see a player on video before they ever see them in person. A good recruiting video is short (a few minutes at most), starts with the player's name, position, grad year and team, and shows real game or practice reps from clear angles. For pitchers: a few pitches of each type, filmed from behind and from the side. For hitters: several swings, plus fielding at their position.

Skip the music video edits. Coaches want to see the swing, the arm, and the feet.

4. GRADES AND ELIGIBILITY

Academics are a bigger part of recruiting than many families expect. Good grades widen the list of schools that can take a player, and they can open academic scholarship money that stacks with athletic aid. To play at the NCAA Division I or II level, players also need to meet academic requirements and register with the NCAA Eligibility Center, so start early in high school.

5. CHARACTER AND COACHABILITY

Coaches watch more than the at-bat. They notice how a player reacts to a strikeout or an error, how they treat teammates and umpires, whether they hustle on and off the field, and how they talk to adults. Many coaches will also call your player's current coaches. This part is fully in your player's control.

WHEN COACHES CAN REACH OUT

NCAA rules limit when college coaches can contact recruits, and the rules change from time to time. Under current Division I baseball rules, coaches generally can't communicate with recruits or their families before August 1 of the player's junior year of high school. Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college rules are different. Always check the NCAA's current recruiting calendar for your sport.

Before then, the best use of time is getting better, keeping good records, and putting together video.

WHERE PROSPEKT FITS

Prospekt follows the player, not the team. Every game you track, across every team and every season, stays on one record that grows with your player from 10U to senior year, so a coach can see real development over years, not just one summer. That record covers hitting, pitching, and spray charts. Prospekt also builds a shareable player page you control (visitors ask before they see anything), and turns recorded games and lessons into highlight reels with your player's name, team and grad year on the title card. When a coach asks for stats or video, you'll have both in one place, and the same goes for any recruiting service your family uses: share your player page link, a PDF development report, or a reel, or copy the season numbers straight into their profile.