“What they said would happen, happened.
What they said they would do, they did.”
We had worked with a couple of other Baseball programs and were not getting any feedback or direction for our high school athlete. Time was running out for him and thankfully we were referred to Rich Gilbride and Derek January, and the guys at the Student Athletic Advisory Group. They spoke with us and our son, asked all the right questions and quickly returned to us with feedback consisting of a solid, well thought out, long term plan which included completing a post graduate year. What they said would happen, happened. What they said they would do, they did.
They put our son in a position to be seen by many college coaches and we received a great deal of feedback. Even though we had a lot of questions, they patiently and repeatedly took our calls and discussed things with us. This process is not easy to navigate for families and without the guidance and assistance of the guys at the S.A.A.G. our son would not be on the path he is on. He would have missed out on the best opportunity of his life. What was missing with those other programs was the most important things... caring, dedication and integrity. You’re going to get all of that with the Student Athletic Advisory Group.
- Nick and Helen Boulas, parents of Demetri Boulas
“My son started working with the Student Athletic Advisory Group early in high school.”
The baseball recruiting process is not simple. College coaches simply do not have the budgets nor the capacity to see all the players that could be a good fit for their programs. Therefore for players looking to play at the college level, self identifying the right schools and finding a way to get the attention of those college coaches is critical to maximining the chances of becoming a college baseball player. Rich Gilbride, and the guys at S.A.A.G. have been assisting players reach their college dreams for over a decade. He has deep relationships with a large network of college coaches who respect his honest opinion and assessment of a player’s ability. Rich’s deep experience with the recruiting process also makes him uniquely qualified to know what combination of skills and academic performance will be required to play at each level and school. As a result, Rich is able to help narrow the list of potential schools for a player to those schools where the player has a realistic chance to both be accepted and excel on the playing field and he will get the player in front of those coaches.
My son started working with the Student Athletic Advisory Group early in high school. They evaluated his talent, gained an understanding of his academic results and helped develop an initial list of schools he felt would be appropriate for my son. As my son progressed, Rich helped us refine that list and we became focused primarily on the Ivy and Patriot Leagues. During my son’s high school years, The S.A.A.G. was instrumental in reaching out to coaches in those leagues and upon their recommendations, multiple Ivy and Patriot league schools took the opportunity to watch my son play. My son ultimately ended up in the Ivy League where he earned All Ivy and Academic All Ivy honors and secured a job upon graduation. Rich’s assistance with the recruiting process was invaluable in giving my son the opportunity to enjoy 4 years of college baseball and get a kick start to the rest of his post baseball life.
- Mark Michael, parent of Austen (Dartmouth)
“Do yourself and your son a favor if you are lucky enough to be on this incredible baseball journey and talk to Rich, and who knows, perhaps he will be a game-changer for your boy, and your family as well!”
I highly recommend Rich Gilbride and his Student Athletic Advisory Group to any family of a ball player that dreams of playing college baseball and at least projects to be in that small group of student athletes. He was a true game changer for our family and our son! Our son is a talented and determined young man, and we were doing all we knew to do to help him achieve one of his goals of playing Division I baseball for a highly respected and reputable University, it just was not happening in the time frame we expected, and the journey was filled with uncertainty, even as he proved to be one of the best in his graduating class over and over again for his High School, Travel team and at various Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report Tournaments and Showcases.
Enter Rich and his no nonsense style, and endless connections, and within the course of three weeks time our son had multiple offers from some terrific Division I and II Colleges and Universities, and ultimately the right one from our son's (and our) top pick! Truly amazing and we are very thankful for the help and guidance Rich provided us…
The recruiting world has become very difficult to navigate properly and with the incredible amount of talented young men all across North America working hard for a very few spots, without a professional "guide" or "advocate" like Rich Gilbride and his Student Athletic Advisory Group the undertaking can become overwhelming and the results (or lack thereof) disappointing and extremely frustrating. Do yourself and your son a favor if you are lucky enough to be on this incredible baseball journey and talk to Rich, and who knows, perhaps he will be a "game changer" for your boy, and your family as well!
- Brian M. Heney
“…they will do anything in their power to get you to a college where they know that you will both succeed and have fun playing the game you love.”
The college recruiting process was nothing close to being easy. After my junior year summer, I was still uncommitted and I had no clue whether or not baseball was still a realistic goal for me to continue after my high school career. It wasn’t until I was confronted with the constant help and courtesy that Coach Gilbride and Coach January provided to my family and I that led me to a scholarship at Virginia Tech.
During my time with them, dozens of schools came to my games to watch me pitch, ultimately through Derek and Rich’s help; something I had never seen before with past coaches and programs I was with. This told me so much about not only who they are as coaches, but as people: that one, they care about you, and two, they will do anything in their power to get you to a college where they know that you will both succeed and have fun playing the game you love.
- Griffin Greene (Virginia Tech)
“We would highly recommend using these guys and their unlimited knowledge, network and commitment to the athletes!”
Derek and Rich were an invaluable resource for our family throughout the college search and recruitment process. They were always available by phone, text or email to guide us and answer any questions we had or our son had. We felt they always gave us honest answers and in the end, our son committed to the college that was the best fit for him.
We would highly recommend using these guys and their unlimited knowledge, network and commitment to the athletes!
- Lori and Joe Marshall, parents of Luke and Tyler (Stonehill)
“Rich Gilbride and the guys at the Student Athletic Advisory Group helped open doors that I couldn’t have opened myself.”
Rich Gilbride and the guys at the Student Athletic Advisory Group helped open doors that I couldn’t have opened myself. I was able to get into my dream school at Tufts with the help of their guidance and the connections they provided. I went on to have a great career and was fortunate enough to be named a Captain. I can attribute my success to his mentorship and never ending desire to see me succeed.
- Spencer Langdon (Tufts University)