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14 years…

Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken

All-Conference
Oct 9, 2006
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This year will be 14 years since we’ve been to Omaha. The reality is, the High School players we’ll recruit over the next 3-4 years have no memory of seeing us on College Baseball’s biggest stage. The game evolved and we went backwards. Would have been awesome seeing us play in Arlington, Texas to kick off the season from time to time. Now we’re at best a middle of the pack SEC program that’s having a really rough stretch.

Since we’ve been to Omaha, many SEC teams make there and many of them have won it. Vandy, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, LSU…with Arkansas coming a dropped foul ball away from a title as well.

Bottom line is we need new blood in here. And we have to recognize we can’t expect to just hire away a guy that’s already at a contender…we’re just not there anymore. Hopefully we can find the next Tony Vitello and get this thing turned around. But those CWS Titles seem like an eternity and completely different sport than what we play today. Feels like we’re starting from scratch.

And whoever the next coach is, please refuse to take Clemson transfers. These guys suck.
 
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atl-cock

atl-cock

All-Conference
Jan 18, 2022
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Fried Chicken said:
This year will be 14 years since we’ve been to Omaha. The reality is, the High School players we’ll recruit over the next 3-4 years have no memory of seeing us on College Baseball’s biggest stage. The game evolved and we went backwards. Would have been awesome seeing us play in Arlington, Texas to kick off the season from time to time. Now we’re at best a middle of the pack SEC program that’s having a really rough stretch.

Since we’ve been to Omaha, many SEC teams make there and many of them have won it. Vandy, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, LSU…with Arkansas coming a dropped foul ball away from a title as well.

Bottom line is we need new blood in here. And we have to recognize we can’t expect to just hire away a guy that’s already at a contender…we’re just not there anymore. Hopefully we can find the next Tony Vitello and get this thing turned around. But those CWS Titles seem like an eternity and completely different sport than what we play today. Feels like we’re starting from scratch.

And whoever the next coach is, please refuse to take Clemson transfers. These guys suck.
Click to expand...
Years ago,Tanner stated that getting to Omaha is difficult, and I agree with that. It is unrealistic to expect us to get to Omaha every year, but given our P4 legacy status, we should have been there at least twice since 2012.
 
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P

Piscis

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2001
24,745
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Fried Chicken said:
This year will be 14 years since we’ve been to Omaha. The reality is, the High School players we’ll recruit over the next 3-4 years have no memory of seeing us on College Baseball’s biggest stage. The game evolved and we went backwards. Would have been awesome seeing us play in Arlington, Texas to kick off the season from time to time. Now we’re at best a middle of the pack SEC program that’s having a really rough stretch.

Since we’ve been to Omaha, many SEC teams make there and many of them have won it. Vandy, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, LSU…with Arkansas coming a dropped foul ball away from a title as well.

Bottom line is we need new blood in here. And we have to recognize we can’t expect to just hire away a guy that’s already at a contender…we’re just not there anymore. Hopefully we can find the next Tony Vitello and get this thing turned around. But those CWS Titles seem like an eternity and completely different sport than what we play today. Feels like we’re starting from scratch.

And whoever the next coach is, please refuse to take Clemson transfers. These guys suck.
Click to expand...
The HS players recruited now have no memory of SC being in Omaha. In fact, I would say no player we have recruited in the last 5 years had a memory of SC in Omaha.
 
J

JohnnySolo

Junior
May 6, 2011
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Glad to be alive and young to experience the best years in basketball, baseball, football and women's basketball. I know the McGuire years were better than 97-98 men's basketball team, but those 2 years were special.
 
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V

Viennacock

All-Conference
Jan 21, 2022
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JohnnySolo said:
Glad to be alive and young to experience the best years in basketball, baseball, football and women's basketball. I know the McGuire years were better than 97-98 men's basketball team, but those 2 years were special.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I have no memory of the basketball glory years (MBB).
 
V

Viennacock

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Jan 21, 2022
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Piscis said:
I'm assuming you are older than 15 to 18 right now, which is the age of HS players being recruited.
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Tradition is not nearly as important as it was in the past. NIL and great coaching will get us back. We are struggling in both categories.

My son is playing division 1 baseball. His team will play 8+ ranked opponents this year (they also play USC. They have players that could leave for P4 schools. They aren't going anywhere. They have a great coach in which the parents know they are in very good hands. The coach could very well be a coach USC will pursue if they have an opening in a few years.

My son could get more money elsewhere but my wife and I are beyond thrilled with the coaching and his situation. My point- coaching and comfort are most important to our family. NIL is 2nd but I know for a fact it's #1 to many families. Tradition is a distant 3rd.
 
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Sweetwatergolf

Sweetwatergolf

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May 27, 2012
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Viennacock said:
Tradition is not nearly as important as it was in the past. NIL and great coaching will get us back. We are struggling in both categories.

My son is playing division 1 baseball. His team will play 8+ ranked opponents this year (they also play USC. They have players that could leave for P4 schools. They aren't going anywhere. They have a great coach in which the parents know they are in very good hands. The coach could very well be a coach USC will pursue if they have an opening in a few years.

My son could get more money elsewhere but my wife and I are beyond thrilled with the coaching and his situation. My point- coaching and comfort are most important to our family. NIL is 2nd but I know for a fact it's #1 to many families. Tradition is a distant 3rd.
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The experience will be better long term than money he would get now IMO. Wish him best of luck....
 
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92Pony

92Pony

Joined Jan 18, 2011
Jan 18, 2011
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Viennacock said:
Tradition is not nearly as important as it was in the past. NIL and great coaching will get us back. We are struggling in both categories.

My son is playing division 1 baseball. His team will play 8+ ranked opponents this year (they also play USC. They have players that could leave for P4 schools. They aren't going anywhere. They have a great coach in which the parents know they are in very good hands. The coach could very well be a coach USC will pursue if they have an opening in a few years.

My son could get more money elsewhere but my wife and I are beyond thrilled with the coaching and his situation. My point- coaching and comfort are most important to our family. NIL is 2nd but I know for a fact it's #1 to many families. Tradition is a distant 3rd.
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Interesting to hear your perspective - Thanks for posting that. (y)
 
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M

MathTeacher2011

All-Conference
Sep 5, 2023
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Viennacock said:
Tradition is not nearly as important as it was in the past. NIL and great coaching will get us back. We are struggling in both categories.

My son is playing division 1 baseball. His team will play 8+ ranked opponents this year (they also play USC. They have players that could leave for P4 schools. They aren't going anywhere. They have a great coach in which the parents know they are in very good hands. The coach could very well be a coach USC will pursue if they have an opening in a few years.

My son could get more money elsewhere but my wife and I are beyond thrilled with the coaching and his situation. My point- coaching and comfort are most important to our family. NIL is 2nd but I know for a fact it's #1 to many families. Tradition is a distant 3rd.
Click to expand...
Who does you son play for?
 
V

Viennacock

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MathTeacher2011 said:
Who does you son play for?
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Citadel- just got back from Tallahassee late last night from a three game series. LONG drive from the upstate. I didn't know the bananas were in town. It was a circus. Tallahassee was much nicer than I anticipated.

Citadel is going to give teams some trouble. Lost 2-6, 1-2 in 10 innings and 0-2. Our pitching shut them down but their pitching was lights out. We made a few untimely errors / miscues that cost us. We play KY three games this weekend. We also play Georgia, clemson twice, coastal twice and USC twice. Don't judge them by their record as their schedule is a *****.

Although he was a Tiger, Triplett is very good coach. Parents and players love him. He embraces the Citadel/Cadets. My son says every time he sees coach on campus, he makes my son pull up his grades. He gets after him if he's not satisfied. Pretty cool.
 
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sclawman77

sclawman77

All-Conference
Jun 27, 2011
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Viennacock said:
Unfortunately I have no memory of the basketball glory years (MBB).
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I remember the '97-'98 years vividly (played rec league with BJ) but Mcguire was before my time. My dad filled me in though. I remember eating lunch in the '80s at Mathias sandwich shop in Irmo and my dad saying in awe "Do you know who that is over there reading the newspaper? That's Frank McGuire." He went over and chatted with him for a few minutes. That made my dad's day.
 
K

kidrobinski

All-Conference
Jul 27, 2004
1,291
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sclawman77 said:
I remember the '97-'98 years vividly (played rec league with BJ) but Mcguire was before my time. My dad filled me in though. I remember eating lunch in the '80s at Mathias sandwich shop in Irmo and my dad saying in awe "Do you know who that is over there reading the newspaper? That's Frank McGuire." He went over and chatted with him for a few minutes. That made my dad's day.
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Frank McGuire was as approachable a ‘big shot’ person as you’d ever meet. I know how your dad felt.
 
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Piscis

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2001
24,745
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Viennacock said:
Tradition is not nearly as important as it was in the past. NIL and great coaching will get us back. We are struggling in both categories.

My son is playing division 1 baseball. His team will play 8+ ranked opponents this year (they also play USC. They have players that could leave for P4 schools. They aren't going anywhere. They have a great coach in which the parents know they are in very good hands. The coach could very well be a coach USC will pursue if they have an opening in a few years.

My son could get more money elsewhere but my wife and I are beyond thrilled with the coaching and his situation. My point- coaching and comfort are most important to our family. NIL is 2nd but I know for a fact it's #1 to many families. Tradition is a distant 3rd.
Click to expand...
I think the increase in the number of baseball scholarships allowed is going to be a big factor for a lot of schools. Going forward, the whole team will be on full scholarship, not 35-40 players sharing 11 scholarships. Now, a player can actually go to the school he really wants to go to without having to weigh how much scholarship money he is going to get. I don't know what sort of NIL baseball players are getting, but I doubt it is anywhere near what football and basketball are getting. NIL might be helping some kids decide to go the college route for development instead of going into the draft right out of HS and ending up on some low A level team trying to move up. Unless a kid is a top round draft pick, with big signing bonus potential, the NIL money might make college a better financial decision.

I agree that tradition isn't what it used to be. Players used to want to go to programs that were winners so they would get more exposure to MLB scouts. Now, with technology what it is, scouts will find good players no matter where they are. Today, players with D1 talent can choose a school based on the coach, the actual school and where they have dreamed of playing knowing the scholarship money is there.
 
T

Tngamecock

All-Conference
Sep 10, 2000
29,659
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Fried Chicken said:
This year will be 14 years since we’ve been to Omaha. The reality is, the High School players we’ll recruit over the next 3-4 years have no memory of seeing us on College Baseball’s biggest stage. The game evolved and we went backwards. Would have been awesome seeing us play in Arlington, Texas to kick off the season from time to time. Now we’re at best a middle of the pack SEC program that’s having a really rough stretch.

Since we’ve been to Omaha, many SEC teams make there and many of them have won it. Vandy, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, LSU…with Arkansas coming a dropped foul ball away from a title as well.

Bottom line is we need new blood in here. And we have to recognize we can’t expect to just hire away a guy that’s already at a contender…we’re just not there anymore. Hopefully we can find the next Tony Vitello and get this thing turned around. But those CWS Titles seem like an eternity and completely different sport than what we play today. Feels like we’re starting from scratch.

And whoever the next coach is, please refuse to take Clemson transfers. These guys suck.
Click to expand...
“Middle of the pack”……not sure we are that good
 
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Viennacock

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3USC1801 said:
@Viennacock can probably answer that question—without getting into specifics.
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Top SEC pitchers are getting between $250-$500k as of last year. I won't mention schools or players but I know a top closer that went to a top SEC schools for $300k. He had a great year last year and decided not to go into the draft. I'm sure he got even more to stay another year.

There could be some starters or even position players getting more. The player we know well was offered more than the $300k to go to Oregon. He decided he wanted to stay on this side of the country.

Mid-major players are getting very little NIL. A lot of mid-majors haven't opted in so they are bound to the low scholarship numbers. Even their best players aren't on full scholarship. They try to give their best players NIL $ to cover the gap in scholarship.
 
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Viennacock

All-Conference
Jan 21, 2022
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Piscis said:
I think the increase in the number of baseball scholarships allowed is going to be a big factor for a lot of schools. Going forward, the whole team will be on full scholarship, not 35-40 players sharing 11 scholarships. Now, a player can actually go to the school he really wants to go to without having to weigh how much scholarship money he is going to get. I don't know what sort of NIL baseball players are getting, but I doubt it is anywhere near what football and basketball are getting. NIL might be helping some kids decide to go the college route for development instead of going into the draft right out of HS and ending up on some low A level team trying to move up. Unless a kid is a top round draft pick, with big signing bonus potential, the NIL money might make college a better financial decision.

I agree that tradition isn't what it used to be. Players used to want to go to programs that were winners so they would get more exposure to MLB scouts. Now, with technology what it is, scouts will find good players no matter where they are. Today, players with D1 talent can choose a school based on the coach, the actual school and where they have dreamed of playing knowing the scholarship money is there.
Click to expand...
A couple things to keep in mind for schools that opt in.

- not all D1 schools have opted in. Matter of fact, most have not opted in. P4 schools have opted in
- rosters reductions are mandatory for schools that opt in
- all schools that opt in are not fully funded for scholarships. They have opted in for football reasons but it has a negative impact for baseball. A team that is not fully funded, yet has opted in, has a reduced roster yet don't have money to provide additional scholarship to offer. They would prefer the expanded roster vs the additional scholarships.
 
S

ScWildthing61

Junior
Jan 23, 2022
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JohnnySolo said:
Glad to be alive and young to experience the best years in basketball, baseball, football and women's basketball. I know the McGuire years were better than 97-98 men's basketball team, but those 2 years were special.
Click to expand...
I wish we had someone in our fan base who has copies of full games from those two years(1997 and 1998) and would post the full games on YouTube. The only 3 games I've seen posted in full from those two years(all from 1997) are the two Kentucky games and our game at Tennessee. Would love to get to see both Cincinnati games, the win we did get over Georgia in 1997, the 1998 comeback vs Florida, the SEC Tournament quarterfinals Alabama in 1997, and vs Florida in 1998, and the SEC Semifinal vs Ole Miss in 1998. Even the disastrous 1999 season has a game I'd go back and watch if it was on YouTube: the senior day game vs Georgia. There are more I could list from those two years but would have to look at our schedules from those two years to jog my memory.
 
P

Piscis

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2001
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Viennacock said:
A couple things to keep in mind for schools that opt in.

- not all D1 schools have opted in. Matter of fact, most have not opted in. P4 schools have opted in
- rosters reductions are mandatory for schools that opt in
- all schools that opt in are not fully funded for scholarships. They have opted in for football reasons but it has a negative impact for baseball. A team that is not fully funded, yet has opted in, has a reduced roster yet don't have money to provide additional scholarship to offer. They would prefer the expanded roster vs the additional scholarships.
Click to expand...
Roster reduced from 40 to 34, I'm not sure it isn't better to have 34 full scholarship talent level players than 40 when a good number of the 40 are walk ons. The marginal players are going to get shuffled to the teams that don't opt in. Coaches aren't going to use up a full scholarship on a player they think might not be a contributor right away.

I think baseball is going to go in the direction football has gone, albeit with a bigger number of schools being relegated to "have not" status. There are 136 FBS football programs and around 300 D1 baseball programs. There are realistically around 20-25 FBS football programs that have the resources to really compete at a high level. All of them are P4 programs. I think there will be more baseball programs that can compete at a high level, probably 50-60, because of the lower number of scholarships per team. Each FBS football team will have 105 scholarships compared to 34 baseball scholarships. Rough math says there will be around 3x teams for the talent to spread around to. I also think there will probably only be around 50-60 baseball programs that can fully fund the 34 scholarship roster.

Like football, the Cinderella stories in college baseball are going to become very rare. Baseball is going to become the haves and the have nots, like football. Unlike football, a couple really good players can't really carry a baseball team for a season. There are too many games and baseball relies on the whole team playing consistently well to make a championship run.

It is really sad to see what has happened to college sports.
 
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Viennacock

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Piscis said:
Roster reduced from 40 to 34, I'm not sure it isn't better to have 34 full scholarship talent level players than 40 when a good number of the 40 are walk ons. The marginal players are going to get shuffled to the teams that don't opt in. Coaches aren't going to use up a full scholarship on a player they think might not be a contributor right away.

I think baseball is going to go in the direction football has gone, albeit with a bigger number of schools being relegated to "have not" status. There are 136 FBS football programs and around 300 D1 baseball programs. There are realistically around 20-25 FBS football programs that have the resources to really compete at a high level. All of them are P4 programs. I think there will be more baseball programs that can compete at a high level, probably 50-60, because of the lower number of scholarships per team. Each FBS football team will have 105 scholarships compared to 34 baseball scholarships. Rough math says there will be around 3x teams for the talent to spread around to. I also think there will probably only be around 50-60 baseball programs that can fully fund the 34 scholarship roster.

Like football, the Cinderella stories in college baseball are going to become very rare. Baseball is going to become the haves and the have nots, like football. Unlike football, a couple really good players can't really carry a baseball team for a season. There are too many games and baseball relies on the whole team playing consistently well to make a championship run.

It is really sad to see what has happened to college sports.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's better to have 34 full scholarship players but as mentioned, teams are opting in for football reasons. They are not funded for 34 baseball scholarships. They are only funded for the old number.

If you were one of these schools, which would you prefer?

12ish scholarships- roster 34
12ish scholarships- roster 40

Teams that aren't fully funded for baseball scholarships (and there are a lot of non power 4 schools in this bucket) would certainly prefer the roster of 40. Most mid-major baseball programs do not want to opt in unless they are fully funded for baseball, but football rules.
 
atl-cock

atl-cock

All-Conference
Jan 18, 2022
3,050
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Viennacock said:
Tradition is not nearly as important as it was in the past. NIL and great coaching will get us back. We are struggling in both categories.

My son is playing division 1 baseball. His team will play 8+ ranked opponents this year (they also play USC. They have players that could leave for P4 schools. They aren't going anywhere. They have a great coach in which the parents know they are in very good hands. The coach could very well be a coach USC will pursue if they have an opening in a few years.

My son could get more money elsewhere but my wife and I are beyond thrilled with the coaching and his situation. My point- coaching and comfort are most important to our family. NIL is 2nd but I know for a fact it's #1 to many families. Tradition is a distant 3rd.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your insights. It's posts like this which keep me coming back.(y)
 
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atl-cock

atl-cock

All-Conference
Jan 18, 2022
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Piscis said:
Roster reduced from 40 to 34, I'm not sure it isn't better to have 34 full scholarship talent level players than 40 when a good number of the 40 are walk ons. The marginal players are going to get shuffled to the teams that don't opt in. Coaches aren't going to use up a full scholarship on a player they think might not be a contributor right away.

I think baseball is going to go in the direction football has gone, albeit with a bigger number of schools being relegated to "have not" status. There are 136 FBS football programs and around 300 D1 baseball programs. There are realistically around 20-25 FBS football programs that have the resources to really compete at a high level. All of them are P4 programs. I think there will be more baseball programs that can compete at a high level, probably 50-60, because of the lower number of scholarships per team. Each FBS football team will have 105 scholarships compared to 34 baseball scholarships. Rough math says there will be around 3x teams for the talent to spread around to. I also think there will probably only be around 50-60 baseball programs that can fully fund the 34 scholarship roster.

Like football, the Cinderella stories in college baseball are going to become very rare. Baseball is going to become the haves and the have nots, like football. Unlike football, a couple really good players can't really carry a baseball team for a season. There are too many games and baseball relies on the whole team playing consistently well to make a championship run.

It is really sad to see what has happened to college sports.
Click to expand...
Is there any impact in D-II?
 
P

Piscis

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2001
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atl-cock said:
Is there any impact in D-II?
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They are still limited to 9 scholarships per team with no limit on roster size. DII baseball is pretty much High School +1. There are 300 or so D1 baseball programs, so D2 schools are pretty small schools to start with.
 
atl-cock

atl-cock

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Jan 18, 2022
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Piscis said:
They are still limited to 9 scholarships per team with no limit on roster size. DII baseball is pretty much High School +1. There are 300 or so D1 baseball programs, so D2 schools are pretty small schools to start with.
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Thanks. Then there's D-III, with no athletic scholarships at all. Not sure about the NAIA and JUCOs.
 
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