PitchingFan posted:When I say small schools, I'm talking lower smaller schools no matter the conference. Adbono is right to some extent to the baseball gurus but to those of us who are not elitist it is a point that has not been made on here very much that a guy can be low 80's and pitch D1. I just have heard on here for years that to play D1 you have to be 90 plus as a rightie, not just recruited but to play. Even to the extent, that if you are not 90 don't even waste your time trying to be a D1 player. But this year, I think because mine is playing, I've looked at radar in college a lot more. And it clicked with me that we are lying to kids and their parents. In two weeks I have seen 20 plus guys who never came close to 90 and they are living the dream of playing D1 baseball. You can argue what's the big deal and all that but they are living their D1 dream. I just think we have put too much emphasis on here that you have to be a certain speed to get there. I've bought into that in the past but maybe because I was only looking at the top mid majors and P5's. There are a lot of schools, some very good conference teams, that have midweek guys on their rosters that do not come close to that 90 range. And I'm sure of them would rather play at a non-competitive lower level D1 than a high level D3 or juco or any other level. I didn't mean to start a fight and get some people's feathers ruffled. I'm sure some are upset because their kid or someone they know played at one of these schools and think I'm picking on them. I just thought it was interesting that our hypothesis is wrong, my hypothesis is wrong. You can throw it 80 and still pitch at a D1. Maybe you baseball gurus knew this but it never clicked with me to this extent. I feel better for the kids I'm working with that are just hitting 80 as sophomores that if they don't get to 90 they can still play D1, if that is their dream.
I wish you and your players all the success, but to think you are going to be "recruited D1" with a mid to even low 80's fastball is a stretch to say the least. Obviously the odds will trend upward the lower/smaller/etc... the D1 program is. It shouldn't come as a surprise that for one reason or another these D1 programs are struggling to sign players which throw 90+. Also it's only *Feb* for crying out loud, lets not jump to drastic conclusions quite yet.