Michigan State University Head Baseball Coach, Jake Boss Jr., on what he Expects

March 23, 2020 Keirsten Sires

Michigan State University Head Baseball Coach, Jake Boss Jr., on what he Expects

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Jake Boss Jr., the 16th head coach at Michigan State has become one of the most successful coaches in the school’s 131 year history. Boss has racked up a 333-269 (.553) record in 11 seasons. His teams have had five winning seasons. In seven of the last 11 years, he led the Spartans to 30-win seasons.

Under Coach Boss’s wing, the Spartans:

Earned a Big Ten regular-season championship in 2011 and the NCAA Tournament in 2012
Thirty-four selections in the Major League Baseball Draft
2019 draft, three players were selected: Mitchell Tyranski (12th round, Los Angeles Dodgers), pitcher Indigo Diaz (27th round, Atlanta Braves), and infielder Marty Bechina (32nd round, Oakland Athletics)
2018 draft, one player was selected: Riley McCauley (14th round, Chicago Cubs), after four Spartans were selected the 2017 draft: Alex Troop (ninth round, Washington), Brandon Hughes (16th round, Chicago Cubs), Nathan Witt (17th round, Los Angeles Dodgers) and Joe Mockbee (29th round, Chicago White Sox)
2016 draft, four juniors were selected: Cam Vieaux (sixth round, Pittsburgh), Jordan Zimmerman (seventh round, Los Angeles Angels), Dakota Mekkes (10th round, Chicago Cubs), and Matt Byars (24th round, Minnesota)
2015 draft, record breaker of eight players selected: Cam Gibson (fifth round, Detroit), Ryan Krill (ninth round, New York Yankees), Anthony Misiewicz (18th round, Seattle), Cam Vieaux (19th round, Detroit), Jeff Kinley (28th round, Miami), Mick VanVossen (28th round, Washington), Blaise Salter (31st round, Detroit) and Mark Weist (37th round, San Francisco)
Players have earned All-Big Ten honors 42 times
Three All-Big Ten honorees in 2018: Freshmen Mason Erla and Zach Iverson were both named to the All-Freshman Team
MSU earned the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award in three-straight seasons from 2017-2019
Boss earned his 300th win at Michigan State during the 2018 season

LRT Sports: What is the most important quality you look for in a recruit?

Coach Ross: Combination of athletic ability, academic success and a quality young man who will make our program proud.

LRT Sports: What is the best way for a recruit to get on your radar?

Coach Ross: Play well. Very few kids “fly under the radar.” Apart from that, send some video and come to camp. You need to be seen by coaches of schools you are interested in.

LRT Sports: When should an athlete contact you, what is the best way?

Coach Ross: Any time, but the NCAA rules prohibit us from replying until their junior year. Email is probably best.

LRT Sports: What are your expectations for incoming players in the classroom, in the weight room, and on the field?

Coach Ross: Work hard in all aspects.

LRT Sports: What are the do’s and don’ts of being recruited?

Coach Ross: Don’t have your parents send a letter or email on your behalf. Don’t tell me how good you are. Don’t send a “form letter” beginning with, “Dear coach, I would like to attend your school.” Do send some video so I can evaluate. Do send a personalized letter/email specific to my school to show me you have genuine interest.

LRT Sports: What is the best advice you can offer a recruit?

Coach Ross: Play hard all the time and the process will take care of itself.

LRT Sports: What really jumps out to you when reviewing a recruit’s highlight tape?

Coach Ross: Effort and attitude.

LRT Sports: What are the main do’s and don’ts for a recruit’s highlight tape?

Coach Ross: Don’t make it too long, only need to see a few clips of hitting, throwing, etc. Game footage is good, as is practice footage.

LRT Sports: When do you recommend recruits put together and share their highlight reels?

Coach Ross: Summer before their junior year.

LRT Sports: What advice do you have for recruits who get turned down by their dream schools? What are their options if they don’t gain the recruiting attention they desire?

Coach Ross: Be aggressive with the process and don’t limit yourself to one school. If your “dream school” isn’t interested or doesn’t have room, then pursue others at different levels if you truly want to play. There are a lot of places to play and there is nothing wrong with DII, DIII, NAIA, etc.

LRT Sports: How big a factor is social media when recruiting players? What advice do you have for athletes regarding social media?

Coach Ross: Very important. We have stopped recruiting some players because of their social media accounts. If your grandmother would approve of your social media presence, then it’s probably acceptable.

To read more about MSU and Coach Ross: https://msuspartans.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/jake-boss-jr-/701

Posted on March 23, 2020 in Baseball, Coach Advice, NCAA Division I

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When doing research in the recruiting process for my daughter I came across the LRT Sports website. I was immediately intrigued as this was another dimension of the recruiting process that many people don't even consider. My daughter and I could "short list" schools based on the education she was looking for, as well as the opportunity to play her sport. LRT Sports not only gave us pertinent information into the recruiting process with different interviews of coaches and players, it also gave us insight into current and/or former players' opinions on the coach of that school in her sport. We could use this information to re-prioritize my daughters list of schools based on this feedback. I have many friends that are, or will be, going through this process shortly and I highly recommend using LRT Sports as part of anyone's recruiting process.

Matt Crosson

Parent

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Maria Zachary

The C.A.L.C. was thrilled to have Keirsten Sires come and speak to us on multiple topics relevant to high school athletics today, including recruiting. Keirsten reached all of our students and left them with great strategies that will not only help on the fields, courts, and mats, but also in the game of recruiting. She was a true professional and delivered a wonderful message.

Gus Kalikas

Athletic Director at Arthur L. Johnson High School

Now that the recruiting process and the related stress is over, I wanted to thank you for your guidance. You did so much more than we had expected. Once you started the process by matching the best academic schools first, not the best sport programs, I knew you were the one. The way you laid out a timeline of contacting coaches, visits, and camps completely took any guesswork out of the plan for us. All of the student athletes that you put us in touch with gave us a look from the inside, and made us more comfortable knowing what was coming. Finally, using your website as a resource for knowing what to expect from different coaches based on former recruit reviews gave my son confidence before our meetings. There is no way we could have figured this out on our own, you really put us in a great position when decision time came.

Richard Andrzejewski

I think hearing from other athletes is very beneficial. To be able to learn from people’s mistakes, and to be able to have access to those voices is really helpful; especially voices that have been there and done that. It’s very important for people to have access to information that could benefit them, and in this case there are many voices that can help the next wave of athletes.

Troy Polamalu

University of Southern California | Pittsburgh Steelers

If you have something that’s going to spell [the recruiting process] out for you… it’s so valuable. I think what everyone at LRT Sports is doing to spread the word and help advocate and educate athletes on the recruitment process is incredible.

Brooke Cabrera

University of Maryland

Without question would have used LRT Sports. It would have probably been one of the most valuable tools that I could have had. If you want to know what these coaches are really like then I think this is the best tool out there. I’m really glad you are allowing recruits to have a resource like this moving forward.

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