I suppose this is yet another economic casualty as state funding has been cut to all universities under the state system. I'm sure that this was not an easy decision to make on the part of the administration. There was supposedly funding that was supposed to be obtained from George Shinn (N.O. Hornets Owner) as well as a weatly supporter's estate who had passed away. Obviously, the funding has not materialized to this point.
I truly feel for the school as a whole as well as the student athletes there even though this is perhaps just another hurdle in theor baseball journey. My son was recruited by UNO and chose another school due to this potential issue. Signing day for us today was a dream come true. However, for the kids who committed early to UNO this was not the case. I'm finding it hard to understand the reasoning of not notifying the kids who gave their verbal commitment to UNO PRIOR TO SIGNING DAY! The only thing I can think is that UNO was holding out hope of "miracle funding" to arrive just in time. No matter the reason for not informing the early signees, the results are gut wrenching. The following is an excerpt (link included) of one of the players and his familie's dream come true turn into a nightmare:
"My son was one of these kids to have schloarship papers pulled today. We had a signing day party planned. I can't even begin to express our disappointment. I have called Mr Ryan to get an explanation but have yet to receive a call back. We had 4 relatives from out of town who were flying in. Is Mr. Ryan going to compensate my family members for travel expenses after pulling this at the last minute. My son decided on UNO over Southeastern, LA Tech, ULL, and several junior colleges. Those schools now don't have any room for my son. What can we do Tim Ryan......
http://www.neworleans.com/inde...id=258028&Itemid=577
For all of us who were lucky enough to escape this type of heartbreak, I hope we realize that we have one more reason to be thankful. Because of this great website, we learned to perform due diligence which may very well have helped us to avoid this type of experience. Thanks to all of you and best wishes to all UNO baseball players.