Vanderbilt High School Prospect Baseball Camp

Tim Corbin runs one weeklong summer baseball prospect camp per year at Vanderbilt with 275-280 high school players. It’s open to anyone and costs $550 (in 2023) and $675 (in 2024). In 2023, the camp was from 3 pm on Monday and ended around noon on Friday. The other days ran 9 am – 7 pm. Coach Corbin is there all day every day. In 2024, the schedule shifted to Sunday through Thursday at noon. Corbin hires an additional ~45 or so high school and college coaches to help. It’s not an overnight camp, so players and families have to find their own housing. Players from around the country attend with ~40 from California and ~30 from Texas with nearly 40 states represented. Registration opened on December 11th, 2023 for the 2024 camp. To help you prepare for the camp and recruiting in general, read Play College Baseball or The Recruiting Process.

Players are initially assigned to teams based on whether they’re upperclassmen or underclassmen. The first day is an assessment day. Players get eight batting practice swings on Hawkins Field, have their throwing velocity measured from their primary position and get a hand-timed 30 and 60 time. Based on the results of the assessment, teams are adjusted on Tuesday to better align skill sets.

Tuesday through Thursday have similar schedules (in 2023).

Coach Corbin gives a 30-minute lecture every morning on a topic like bunting, being a multi-sport athlete or similar theme.

Each day also has a live hour and fifteen-minute game. All batters start with 1-1 counts to speed the progress. Scores are kept differently with points for bunts, extra base hits, stolen bases, two out runs and other factors. Pitchers generally have two innings in a game to show their best stuff and batters get one to two at bats per game. Tuesday and Wednesday has live pitchers and Thursday is a pitching machine game.

In addition to the game, there’s a hitting time with stations for drills and fielding time to work on defensive skills.

Friday winds down with a competition day with different games like a bunting contest.

Overall, it’s hard to imagine a better run camp in the country. It’s well organized, focuses on the fundamentals of hitting, pitching, fielding and baserunning, is priced fairly and provides exposure to many coaches. Players are well fed along the way with lunch and dinner Tuesday through Thursday as well as dinner on Monday and lunch at checkout on Friday. Coach Corbin and his wife are heavily involved in all of the details and oversee everything including the live games. It’s a long and tiring week for the players, but well worth experiencing what Vanderbilt baseball, which is the gold standard, is like.

One note to consider if you have a top 100 level player, the camp attracts players of all skill level and focuses on fundamentals, so don’t expect a bunch of D1 level players to compete against. There could be a couple, but elite players may be a little bored with the level of competition and back-to-the-basics approach.

While you’re at camp, don’t forget what questions to ask during the baseball recruiting process.

UPDATED: December 11, 2023