quote:I "spent" most of my budget on impact starting pitchers and power hitters and tried to find "fill in players" around that nucleus who would cost me NO MONEY from my athletic scholarship budget.
Maybe they MUST recruit 2 impact starting pitchers AND a center fielder who can hit the ground running. If the players leaving the program in 2008 only yield 2 full scholarships, what is the coach to do? I certainly do not envy his dilemma.
TW344 - Interesting stuff and here is another slant to it. Even though some coaches may satisfy these type of roster requirements with all or a portion of the needs via academic scholarship (i.e., 3 spots needed to fill with 2 athletic scholarships), another strategy which I think might perhaps be just as effective would be recruiting 2-way players. UVA had a great one last year in Sean Doolittle. Tim Hudson comes to mind as well and my son's team has several of them. They could have given them a full ride yet effectively they only counted on the roster for 50% of each role provided. If the coach could get a RHP and a centerfielder in the same player for example, he can achieve similar results you have outlined. Thus, I am not sure they would not look for that type of player before settling for a kid who strongest suit might be his ability to garner an academic scholarship. At the same time, smart athletes have always been coveted - old or new rules. Interesting conversation nonetheless.