Thoughts on the University of Richmond

rynoattack,

Richmond is a great school, and they seemed to have turned their baseball program around.  They are one of the leaders in the A-10 this year under new Head Coach Woodson.  I've been to a couple games this year and they are playing hard for him.  My son was recruited and offered there many years ago under the previous coaching staff.  If they had an engineering school, he probably would have gone there.  Definetly one of the prettiest campuses on the East coast.  New artificial turf field in a great location in a middle sized city with access to the James River, beaches, DC and mountains are 2 hours away.  Lots and lots of positives with UR.  The only drawback is that it is not a very diverse campus.  This is something my son noticed.   All in all, a great school.

I'll echo what Fenway said.  2012 was recruited under the previous regime and passed on the opportunity.  But we loved the campus, baseball complex, city of Richmond and surrounding area.  Really a gem that a lot of folks outside the mid-Atlantic know little about.  It is worth a long look.

One of the best places to watch free baseball, esp. in the outfield!

Private, small(er), beautiful, co-ed campus with a lake smack dab in the middle.  The lake used to separate the "Richmond - boys school" from the "Westhampton -girls school", back in the olden days when I would go to the frat parties there. 

Gothic architecture.

Football stadium recently built on campus.

Has a law school and graduate business school. 

Good basketball rivalry with Virginia Commonwealth Univ. (VCU) several miles away.

Minor cons:  Fenway mentioned the diversity.  Baseball field does not have lights.  Bathroom at the field is an elaborate porta-trailer (maybe this has changed?).  None of these things should deter a prospective player.

Son's JuCo played UR in the fall of 2012 in a 12 inning fall "scrimmage".  We had to go up to the media center to use the facilities.   No port-a-potties anywhere.

But yes, a beautiful small campus.  Football stadium is very nice.

Thanks all!  The only thing I knew about Richmond was that they beat GT in the NCAA Basketball Tourney some years ago.

Ryno - 

All of the above are right on.  I'll add a few tidbits...

New coaching staff is headed up by Tracey Woodson.  He's from the area. Read that to mean I expect him here a long time.  He was part of one of the most famous "dog piles" in World Series history.  He was a part of the LA Dodgers team when Kirk Gibson hit his famous home run.

The upgrades to the field are awesome.  New turf.  New batters eye.  Porto potties are brought in during spring season.  Not ideal at all.  Rumors are they may be getting closer to addressing all of the facilities beyond the foul lines.  Probably a couple years away.  No lights.  I'd expect that to come in conjunction with any stadium renovations.

I live about 5 minutes from campus.  Love that the games are free.  Don't look for that to change.  With set up of the field there is no real way to charge admissions.  Not sure that a $5 ticket really does much to help at a school retailing for close to $60k.

Campus is very much a "closed" campus.  I'd refer to it as  bubble.  The address is "City of Richmond" but it is not to be confused with VCU or any other city school.  It is tucked into a little utopia with an entrance in the front & back of campus.  I walk my dog over there in addition to watching games.  99% of people walking around are students or employees.  1% is neighbor folks going for a run.  I point this out because as a W&M grad, I joke that in addition to be students, you are also a part time "tour guide" while there. Tons of outsiders walking around all day.

UR will be hosting 1 of our 2 Private workouts on our VA College Bus Tour this summer.  If your son is interested in coming east you might want to look at all 3 of our trips... www.playinschool.com/bus_tour  UR is just 1 of many High Academic schools we visit.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

Cool.  We will see how the next couple of weeks go.  I am hoping something comes together soon.  Sounds like a great place...

A little update.  Ryan is scheduled for an OV on June 30th - July 2nd. It will interesting to see how he likes it.  Unfortunately, my wife and I won't be going with him.  Since it is short notice, the flights are just too much. 

An "official visit" the last week of June?  

No students on campus.  No classes.  No football or basketball games to see.  No baseball practice or games to see.  

What exactly is the game plan?

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

Well he just graduated, and it just came together.  I don't want him to commit without seeing the campus. 

You are correct in that it is probably not the best time to see everything, but we can't really rewind time and go at a more appropriate one.  I wish we could, so he could get a better feel, but it is better than not visiting at all.

As far as an itinerary, I haven't seen one yet.  To your point, the assistants will be on the recruiting trail, so that is not ideal.  They like Ryan as a two-way guy, so it would be cool to meet with the hitting & pitching coaches.  However, he will be spending the whole time with the HC, and he said he will show him everything.  So overall, it should be positive.

Ahhh.... Didn't realize he was a 2015.  Makes sense.  Good luck.

Thanks! 

Congrats to ryno on the OV.  He'll love it and the city! 

Forgot to mention, I'd be happy to try to replicate a UR frat party for him to experience.  But you'll have to send me your AMEX card w/ a very large limit on it!

Agree that he will really enjoy it.  It really is a gorgeous campus and setting.  BucsFanSon had an offer as well and when we visited in the fall for his UOV, I recall telling myself about a dozen times that I could easily see him there.  I also love that the coaching staff are hard core, old school, baseball guys - pro background, connections, etc.  Just something about their backgrounds that felt like my son would have been in great hands.  He went another direction for academic reasons, but I would have been thrilled had that been his choice.  Hear ya re; the porta-potties, but c'mon...is that really a factor?  Something tells me Coach Woodson will get that worked out fairly soon.  If he ends up with a facility half as nice as the football stadium or basketball arena, all will be happy.

This is pretty cool, Ryno.  Good luck!

Summer school may be going on, which will be good.  My son took an unofficial visit and committed during the summer at his school.  

I just hope they haven't drained the lake (which they do during the summer)! 

I hope it works out for him!

Do people fish out of the lake?

Yes.  I see folks fishing in the lake all the time.

If he likes fishing, the campus is about 3 minutes from the James River.  Plenty of different types of fishing to be done at the river.  

He LOVES to fish! He'll like that...

All:

Although I did not start this thread, I followed it closely, as this is a school that my 2016 was considering.  I found the information very helpful, especially the comments about the coaching staff, as one doesn't often get to pick their coach. Son had a strong summer down in LakePoint (still there for final Super 25 tourney), and had some chatter going, but we both kept thinkng back to Richmond, the updated facilities and the coaches, as well as a couple dialogs with current Richmond parents that started on this website.

Anyway, my son committed to Richmond this week and is thrilled with the opportunity to be part of what we see as a growing program. Thank you all for your comments on this and other topics. I found the site invaluable as we tried to navigate our way through the entire process.

Go Spiders!

Congratulations, Just-A-Dad and son!  

Looks like our kids will face each other the spring of 2017!  

PM me (or Fenway, or PIS if he is still around on the boards) anything you may want to know about the area.

Congratulations to your son, that's great news to hear! 

That's tremendous!!

Best wishes for his continued success!!

Congrats Just-A-Dad and Just-A-Dad son!  That is great news.  Great choice.

Best of luck going forward.

Yes! Welcome and Roll Spides!

Great News Just-A-Dad to you and your son! Now you are Just-A-Spider's Dad.

That is great!  Congratulations!