Dan Cevette

We're seeing a lot of decommitments in college baseball. I think it's important to understand WHY. This didn't happen overnight. Follow the dominoes. 👇 2020: COVID. The NCAA grants spring athletes an additional year of eligibility. Players stay in college longer. Rosters get older. Opportunities for incoming freshmen become more competitive. Then the professional pipeline changes. MLB cuts its draft from 40 rounds to 20. Affiliated minor league teams shrink from 162 to 120. Fewer traditional opportunities to enter professional baseball. Now look at the roster math. Before COVID, D1 baseball operated with a 35-man roster limit. During the eligibility crunch, temporary allowances eventually expanded rosters to 40 players. Beginning in 2025-26, programs participating in the House settlement moved to a 34-man roster limit, with exceptions for certain players. That's SIX fewer standard roster spots compared to the temporary 40-man allowance. Now add the transfer portal. Nearly 2,700 D1 baseball players entered the portal during the June 2026 window alone. Programs have access to thousands of experienced college players competing for opportunities. Throw in NIL, revenue sharing, and the shift from the old 11.7-scholarship model to the possibility of funding scholarships across all 34 roster spots at participating programs. And now the NCAA's new age-based eligibility model can allow qualifying athletes up to FIVE years of competition within a continuous five-year window, replacing the traditional four-seasons-in-five-years model. Think about what all of this means. A college coach can genuinely believe in a high school prospect when he commits. But by the time that player arrives on campus, the roster, budget, available transfer talent, and immediate needs of the program could look completely different. College baseball has become an increasingly competitive roster-management business. And the pressure to WIN NOW is real. Does that excuse every decommitment? Absolutely not. But I also don't believe every decommitment represents a lack of loyalty. Here's what concerns me most. We're asking teenagers and their families to make decisions about their futures in a system that can change dramatically before they ever step foot on campus. The rules changed. The economics changed. The roster math changed. But the hopes and dreams of those kids haven't. And somewhere in the middle of all this change, we cannot lose sight of the people affected by it. @prepbaseball

Somewhere in SMALL-TOWN AMERICA, there's a baseball player who's a whole lot better than people realize. No national reputation. No big-name high school. No recognizable travel team. Not the "famous" kid. Just a ballplayer who can flat-out PLAY. I know those kids exist. I grew up in one of those towns. And I'll tell you something I've learned... TALENT DOESN'T HAVE A ZIP CODE. A 90+ MPH fastball in rural Pennsylvania is still 90+ MPH. A kid who can HIT can hit whether there are 500 people watching or 15. But here's the reality... Not every talented player has the same ACCESS to opportunity. Geography matters. Resources matter. EXPOSURE matters. Sometimes the difference between being overlooked and being recruited is getting the right eyes on you. And that's a big part of WHY I got involved in this side of baseball. To help give those players a VOICE. A PLATFORM. An opportunity to be evaluated, recognized, and put in front of people who might otherwise never know they exist. That's why I believe so strongly in boots-on-the-ground scouting. Not just evaluating the players everybody already knows. FINDING the ones they don't. Small towns. Rural communities. High schools most people have never heard of. There are players out there who deserve to be SEEN. Don't confuse being UNKNOWN with being UNWORTHY. And to the kid in that small town wondering if anybody will ever notice... KEEP WORKING. KEEP COMPETING. KEEP BELIEVING. They will. ⚾️

Some of the best young baseball players in America aren't the most heavily recruited. They just haven't been FOUND yet. Think about that. Thousands of high schools. Thousands of travel teams. Different levels of competition. Different stages of development. And we're supposed to believe every talented player has already been identified? Not a chance. That's what I love about @prepbaseball & @PBTourney. Finding the kid nobody's talking about. The one playing in a small town, miles from the major recruiting hotbeds. Small-town baseball is part of our DNA. Especially here in the Northeast. Our boots-on-the-ground scouting presence is second to none. Local knowledge. Regional coverage. National reach. And we're nowhere near satisfied. 2027: 👇 MORE high school coverage MORE eyes on players. MORE talent identified. Because somewhere in a small town, there's a kid who can flat-out PLAY. ⚾️ Our job is to FIND HIM. @ocker_n | @JC_NY_PA | @TJHunt_PBRNJ | @EbertBaseball | @JoeWalentin | @jonahwachter1 | @NathanGoranson | @MLaurentinoBB | @harryweiss_

College coaches ⚾️👇

College Coaches 👀⚾️ Still looking for a 2027 catcher? Here's 10 uncommitted backstops out of New England worth digging into. Your next guy might be right here. 👇 @EbertBaseball | @jonahwachter1 | @MLaurentinoBB

BASEBALL PARENTS: ⚾️👇 According to NCAA estimates: • 472,598 high school baseball players. • Just 8.8% advance to NCAA baseball. • Only 2.7% reach Division I. Now consider this... D1 programs operating under the new roster rules generally have 34 roster spots. Those spots aren't just for incoming freshmen. They're shared with returning players, transfers, and other recruits. Here's what I wish more parents understood... Your son can be GOOD ENOUGH to play at a school and STILL never receive an offer. Why? Because recruiting isn't simply about talent. It's about POSITIONAL NEEDS, ROSTER AVAILABILITY, PROJECTABILITY, ACADEMICS, FINANCES, and TIMING. A coach knowing your son doesn't mean he's recruiting him. And a coach not offering your son doesn't automatically mean he isn't good enough. My advice? Study rosters. Understand the numbers. Ask better questions. Find the right fit, and go where you're wanted ‼️ Don't put a ceiling on your kid's dreams, but don't ignore the realities of the process either. The goal isn't just to get RECRUITED. It's to find somewhere your son can DEVELOP, COMPETE, and SUCCEED. Knowledge is power. 🙌

🚨 NORTHEAST TRAVEL BASEBALL PROGRAMS! ⚾️👇 If you're building your 2027 tournament schedule, PAY ATTENTION. We're putting together something special across the Northeast with Prep Baseball Tournaments. 📍 NY | PA | NJ | CT | RI Premier facilities. High-level competition. Regional Championships. Opens. World Series events. But here's where we separate ourselves from the traditional tournament circuit... WE DON'T JUST HOST THE TOURNAMENTS. WE SCOUT THEM. Our Prep Baseball scouting staff will be on-site evaluating talent, identifying prospects, and providing meaningful exposure through one of the most recognized scouting platforms in amateur baseball. Think about that. Your players aren't just competing for a championship. They're competing in an environment where their tools, abilities, and performances can be evaluated and recognized. For travel programs, that means quality competition and opportunities beyond the final scoreboard. For players, it means another opportunity to get on the radar, build their recruiting profile, and EARN recognition. COMPETITION. SCOUTING. EXPOSURE. That's the difference. We're building more than a tournament schedule. We're building a regional platform where competition and opportunity meet. Travel coaches and program directors, let's make 2027 a BIG one. 👏 @prepbaseball | @PBTourney | @PBTNortheast

Last Monday of October. Some people are waiting for January 1st to make changes. That's 66 days away. 66 days to get stronger. 66 days to build better habits. 66 days to outwork your excuses. 66 days to become more disciplined. You don't need a new year to become a better version of yourself. You need to make a decision. Don't wait for the calendar to change. Give yourself a reason to be proud when it does. ⚾️🙌

I chased Major League Baseball for 11 years. Never caught it. I was a third-round draft pick. Made it to Triple-A. Had the arm, the stuff, and every reason to believe I'd eventually get there. Then came the injuries. The setbacks. The surgeries. For years, I wondered what could've been. What if I'd stayed healthy? What if I'd worked harder? What if I'd done a few things differently? At 43, I still believe I could've made it. But I've also learned something far more important. You can spend your entire life questioning the doors that closed and completely overlook the ones God opened. I didn't accomplish everything I dreamed of. But I've been blessed with things I never could've imagined when I was 18 years old chasing baseball. Faith isn't believing God will give you everything you want. It's trusting Him even when He doesn't. Keep chasing your dreams. Work your tail off. Own your mistakes. But don't become so consumed by what you didn't accomplish that you lose sight of everything you've been given. Sometimes the greatest blessings in life aren't found at the destination. They're found along the journey. Happy Sunday. 🙏✝️⚾️

I grew up in Elkland, Pennsylvania. Small town. 32 kids in my graduating class. No big-city exposure. No fancy facilities. Just a kid who loved baseball and dreamed bigger than his surroundings. Some people told me where I came from would hold me back. Turns out, it was one of my greatest advantages. It taught me to work hard, appreciate what I had, and never expect anything to be handed to me. That little town helped prepare me for 11 years of professional baseball. At 43, I still carry those roots everywhere I go. Never let anyone convince you that where you come from determines where you can go. And never forget the people and places that helped you get there. 👊

I'll probably catch some heat for this, but here goes. I'm a HUGE believer in multi-sport athletes. I grew up playing multiple sports. Loved basketball. Loved competing. And I firmly believe those experiences helped me become a better baseball player. Different movements. Different challenges. Different ways to compete. I've spent decades around this game, and I'll tell you this: being a better overall athlete sure as hell isn't going to hurt your chances of becoming a better baseball player. Does that mean every kid needs to play three sports? Nope. Does that mean specializing is wrong? Absolutely not. But I do think we've gotten a little too comfortable convincing young athletes they need to choose one sport before they've even figured out what they're capable of. Let kids compete. Let them develop. Let them figure it out. There's more than one road to becoming a great ballplayer. 👊

One of the hardest lessons baseball ever taught me had nothing to do with baseball. You can do everything right and still lose. You can work harder than everyone around you and still get passed over. You can give everything you have to something and still watch it fall apart. That's baseball. That's life. But here's what I've learned... The work is never wasted. Even when the outcome isn't what you wanted, the person you became while chasing it is something nobody can take from you. Keep showing up. 👊

Congratulations @GreyBell7 🙌👏. Sky's the limit 👇

Should be a major contributor this Spring for the Nittany Lions 🦁⚾️🔥👇

Pennsylvania is built different 👏👇

Ask a former baseball player what he misses. You’ll hear about the dugout. Batting practice. The bus rides. The guys. Very few mention their batting average. Funny how the numbers feel like everything when you’re playing, and the people become everything when you’re done. 💯

The older I get, the more I realize how many people helped shape my life. Some believed in me. Others didn't. The coaches who saw something in me before I saw it myself. The Keystone State Games coaches who cut me back in 2000. The high school gym teacher who told me I'd never play Division I baseball. The people who thought coming from a small town like Elkland, PA would hold me back. Funny thing about getting older... You start to appreciate all of them. The ones who believed in you gave you confidence. The ones who doubted you gave you something to prove. And somewhere along the way, both helped write your story. Never underestimate the impact your words can have on a young person. They might carry them for the rest of their life. 👊

'29 MIF 📈👇 (PA)

I've spent most of my adult life around competitive people. Professional athletes. Coaches. Business leaders. Kids chasing dreams. And I've learned something over the years. Talent gets celebrated. Success gets attention. Confidence gets noticed. But you know what I've come to respect the most? People who keep showing up when life gives them absolutely no reason to believe things are about to get better. No applause. No recognition. No guarantees. Just an unwavering belief that tomorrow is worth working for. Those are my kind of people. 👊⚾️

Absolute winner and competitor. 📈👇