I do remember the other OF that FSU signed that year, Shane Robinson...had a HUGE career with the Seminoles and now plays in the big leagues with the Cardinals (I think Shane was a fifth round pick out of FSU, maybe in 2006). I was remiss not to mention that FSU was always Chris' first choice but, going through the process for the very first time a decade+ ago and knowing very little at that point, I was intent on Chris taking several official visits that fall before he made up his mind; in Chris' mind at the time, his college goal was achieved but I wanted him to "dot the i's and cross the t's" a bit more thus the other visits were scheduled---once that other college I mentioned earlier pulled the plug, we cut our "thinking time" dramatically and made the FSU call later that evening. I remember Chris having to call the LSU recruiter to cancel his upcoming official visit and advise the coach that he had chose FSU; thinking the coach would not react very well (this particular coach had actually been following Chris for several years) to his decision, Chris was pretty nervous but the coach was very amicable commenting to Chris "I don't care who you sign with, no one is going get you anyway after the draft next year."
And the school that pulled the offer from Chris thinking they wouldn't get him? Well, they did go after another high school OF of course, signed him (likely a very big scholarhship) thinking that this young man would definitely go to college first despite the fact that he was a pro prospect but not likely a First Round pick ...this player got drafted in 2003 as well and turned pro out of high school, so the school ended up getting neither player! I actually ran into the recruiter a few years later at a basebal conference, I had brought my son Mike to the event; the recruiter was not a Head Coach at another program, and he seemed a bit remorseful and apologetic, emphasized again that he "had to do what he had to do" at the time regarding Chris...and then began to recruit my son Mike! Needless to say, we did not bite, and Mike ending up earning a baseball scholarship to Wake Forest (he had early offers from Duke, East Carolina, and North Carolina State as well).
The Wake Forest decision turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made as we embraced the "focus on the education" mantra, and Mike's goal was to compete in the ACC as well; he had a strong second half in the conference as a freshman but tore his throwing shoulder at the beginning of his sophomore campaign (surgery, rehab) then injured the same shoulder days before the start of his junior year wat WFU, more surgery and more rehab!!! By the time his senior year rolled around, Mike was at a crossroads; after much consideration, he opted to relinquish his roster spot (WFU still honored the scholarship of course), turn his full attention to his studies and the job market, graduated on-time (four years), and accepted an offer from Pepsi where he is now beginning life after baseball (he just started a softball team at Pepsi, must be in the blood!).
Chris and Mike's exploits helped us target my youngest son Joe's college journey even sooner, and the plan that we developed for him was uniquely his, different than the older brothers; Joe was a good Division III candidate and we were focusing on several strong DIII academic programs (Swarthmore was at the top of that list) but he blossomed later in his junior year, brought it "every day, every play, every pitch" as Midlo Dad so correctly suggested is needed in this process, and generated Division I interest; he committed to Yale in June after his junior year, and now plays outfield for the Bulldogs (studying Economics, just finished a summer internship at Penn on a Think Tank project).
It's been a great ride for sure, some very special people to thank for their guidance along the way, but a lot of mistakes were made too, and our successes and failures have allowed me to help families even more so than I could have years ago.