Affect of Corona on ‘21s and ‘22s

We won't know until the NCAA says what happens with the lost year of eligibility for this year.  If the current players get an extra red shirt, the following incoming classes will have to compete with a surplus of bodies for scholarships and playing time.  School budgets aren't set up to absorb any extra players.  So paying for the extra red shirt year means cuts to the numbers in following classes  or running off more than usual to make room.

The only thing I am sure of at this point is the NCAA doesn't give a damn about it student athletes. I do think it cares about its member institutions, at least to some degree. I expect whatever it decides to do will help the budgets of the largest schools with the most money and the rest won't matter. 

I hope I am wrong on this one but the NCAA is one of the very few organizations that is a bigger POS then our government bodies. 

old_school posted:

The only thing I am sure of at this point is the NCAA doesn't give a damn about it student athletes. I do think it cares about its member institutions, at least to some degree. I expect whatever it decides to do will help the budgets of the largest schools with the most money and the rest won't matter. 

I hope I am wrong on this one but the NCAA is one of the very few organizations that is a bigger POS then our government bodies. 

Very little knowledge of the idiocy of NCAA However I wonder if this wouldn’t be one of the few things lawmakers would be good for? It would be good PR for them and someone else would need to clean up the messy details of what they pass. Maybe simply a proclamation that all student athletes in college will not lose a year of eligibility and have the option to return if they are seniors....?

Big10 says no on or off campus recruiting activities for the immediate future.

Spoke to a Pac-12 HC yesterday.

Everything is moving so fast, many issues haven't been addressed (though the issues have been identified). The first issue addressed  - on a priority 1 emergency level - had to be Public  Health issues. 

As others have noted about their players, his staff and players were very emotional, confused, disappointed and angry over the seemingly abrupt cancellation. Neither he nor his players were remotely aware of what was happening with the virus, so they felt blindsided. 

The league and NCAA are very aware of eligibility, scholarship issues, etc., and that attention will be turned to those in the coming weeks.

Most likely summer leagues will be affected and the situation is very fluid. For now, there is no recruiting - but alot of video watching going on.

Tough to say.  NCAA will be under a great deal of pressure to be flexible here, but they're not prone to logic so who knows how that's going to go.  My 2022 is planning on using the time this spring (assuming his season is canceled) to get bigger, stronger, faster, better and do a lot of emailing in advance of his summer season.  We may also have time now to do more campus visits.  

Kids need to understand that, while not ideal, this is an opportunity for them if they use their time wisely. Trying to be optimistic.  

Stay healthy everyone!

chazball posted:

Tough to say.  NCAA will be under a great deal of pressure to be flexible here, but they're not prone to logic so who knows how that's going to go.  My 2022 is planning on using the time this spring (assuming his season is canceled) to get bigger, stronger, faster, better and do a lot of emailing in advance of his summer season.  We may also have time now to do more campus visits.  

Kids need to understand that, while not ideal, this is an opportunity for them if they use their time wisely. Trying to be optimistic.  

Stay healthy everyone!

Campus visits? To see an empty campus? Coaches won’t be meeting with anyone until they’re told they may. I don’t mean to pick on this poster. I don’t believe a lot of people are grasping the situation. And I’m an optimist. I’ve been able to function in my every day life. But I’m not expecting it to continue. 

Every day I stop by the grocery store to buy an item to see if panic buying has set in yet. So far it’s just hand cleanser and toilet paper. When it becomes food I want to know it’s time to stock up.

I don't feel picked on, that's ok.  Yes, to see an empty campus.  My son still doesn't know what type of school he wants to attend, so while he has some time off of school and I have some flexibility at work, we may go do that.  You don't have to agree, I'm fine with my decisions.  I grasp the situation.  And I'm no virus denier.  I am fully aware of the situation and am dealing with life as it presents itself to us.  We have the same shortages, we have the same challenges, but our family is healthy, is taking precautions, is social distancing, but we're not sheltering in place for the apocalypse.  

As a 2021 Grad, I’m taking this all with a grain of salt. Here in New England, specifically VT everything is in limbo with our hs sports season. Personally I’m using this time to continue to keep in contact with coaches and send video, email, and summer ball schedules out. Will be interested to see how this affects everything but I am not hampered or worried. What an interesting time in our lives though, this is unprecedented

I hope that's all this time of our lives is: interesting.

Looks like all NCAA baseball will be shut down. They haven’t decided if they will allow practices but that being said there are thousands of recruits that might press the panic button. I sent out a mass email to my PSA’s letting them know we will still be following you in one way or another. It may be through videos it may be through small groups off-campus. Make sure you contact your targeted coaches to see what their plans are. Hopefully the high school season will come back or at the very least the summer season. But there is no guarantee so keeping your individual workouts and Sending videos to your coaches might be the only way. Most of us college coaches will be taking advantage of this downtime in our program and hitting the recruiting trail hard with innovative recruiting so stay in touch with your targeted schools

A few thoughts on the recruiting nightmare this will create. The NCAA has all but shut down recruiting so we all need to think outside the box. I got many calls from members of my site but everyone needs to let things settle before they make decisions. Many of the already recruited players are being asked to red shirt since the programs will have less slots (seniors taking advantage of the extra year). A lot of the PSA's are scrambling to get out of their LOI's and transfer to a school where they wont sit the year. Many are thinking JC's and D3 for a year but any way you look at it since all the present players are getting a fresh year the rosters will be crowded for the next 4 years.

Our program only has 5 seniors - all of which said they will return for a fifth year. That means there are 5 slots already covered. Some schools have many more seniors (not all of which will opt to return) and since most kids take 5 years to graduate it will keep the rosters top heavy.

Love to hear some thoughts on this - as a college coach I'm constantly looking for feedback and ways to be fair to all involved.

As a 2021 with a few  D1 New England schools keeping in contact with, I’m honestly a little nervous. No offers yet but had schools planning on attending high school games and travel ball. Now unsure of both. While keeping in contact with those schools, I’m realistically broadening my area to other schools and divisions. Also sending another new wave of emails to around 60 schools. Twitter has really exploded over the past view days. My retweet on flat ground has 1,000+ views in less than 12 hours 

Ozone posted:

Looks like all NCAA baseball will be shut down. They haven’t decided if they will allow practices but that being said there are thousands of recruits that might press the panic button. I sent out a mass email to my PSA’s letting them know we will still be following you in one way or another. It may be through videos it may be through small groups off-campus. Make sure you contact your targeted coaches to see what their plans are. Hopefully the high school season will come back or at the very least the summer season. But there is no guarantee so keeping your individual workouts and Sending videos to your coaches might be the only way. Most of us college coaches will be taking advantage of this downtime in our program and hitting the recruiting trail hard with innovative recruiting so stay in touch with your targeted schools

Ozone, thank you for this - many of us don't know a college coach personally and your words are really helpful for me and my '22. Condolences on the season and best wishes for health and prosperity going forward. 

You are also wasting your time sending emails or anything at this time.  Many coaches, if not all, have been threatened with loss of job or loss of scholarships if they recruit in any form during this time.  They cannot interact with anyone who is not on campus in any form during this time.  Some as far as cannot watch film or anything considered recruiting.  So if you do send something you should not expect a response of any kind.  You will not know if they have read it or put it back or what.  As I said in another section, I think the 20's-23's will have 25-50% of players fall from one level of baseball to the next one down.  P5 to Mid Major to lower to on and on.  I don't think the NLI means what it used to mean this year because I think coaches are going to have to say to guys, we will honor the NLI in it's truest form but we will not have a spot for you in the fall (no matter how good you are) unless you are the top 10-25% of the entire class.  Because there will be guys who were planning on going to P5's that will know they are not going to get to play if a large number of seniors and juniors come back next year.  So they will start looking for upper level mid majors to go to.  Which will push some mid major prospects down a level or to juco.  Just my opinion

Ozone posted:

A few thoughts on the recruiting nightmare this will create. The NCAA has all but shut down recruiting so we all need to think outside the box. I got many calls from members of my site but everyone needs to let things settle before they make decisions. Many of the already recruited players are being asked to red shirt since the programs will have less slots (seniors taking advantage of the extra year). A lot of the PSA's are scrambling to get out of their LOI's and transfer to a school where they wont sit the year. Many are thinking JC's and D3 for a year but any way you look at it since all the present players are getting a fresh year the rosters will be crowded for the next 4 years.

Our program only has 5 seniors - all of which said they will return for a fifth year. That means there are 5 slots already covered. Some schools have many more seniors (not all of which will opt to return) and since most kids take 5 years to graduate it will keep the rosters top heavy.

Love to hear some thoughts on this - as a college coach I'm constantly looking for feedback and ways to be fair to all involved.

I think you will have to do what's best for you and your team.  I just find it hard to believe that a freshman coming in will be able to legitimately compete with a 23-24 year old.  The top freshmen will be okay at the schools they signed with but the middle and bottom of each recruiting class will find there is no room at the inn.  They will be pushed down a level or to another school.

I think as a parent the best thing that a coach can do is be as brutally honest as they can as early as they can so the players have options whether it is with current players or incoming players or recruits.  Some coaches will and some won't.  But that is the fair thing is to let a player know where they stand and what the future seems to hold.  I would rather know I did not have a true spot or chance at a spot rather than get there and realize there are way more people than usual. 

It’s a difficult situation for everyone. But please don’t stop contacting coaches sending videos and any information about where and when you’ll be doing showcases or workouts. Yes there is a moratorium on recruiting but that does not preclude Recruit from contacting a coach.This too will come to an end and recruiting will resume and it would be good if all your information were already in a coaches database. 

Re: Competing with 23 or 24yo redshirt seniors

If they’re that talented they likely left in the draft already. Prospects don’t want to be 23 in short season. Typically most are 21 or at worst 22 other than the 18yo top prospects.

 According to, this phone calls and written communications are allowed.  I think the idea is campuses are closed, so no visitors.  Limit person to person contact.