Brown Baseball

Tough on the team when it happens during the course of the season.  Wonder what happened. 

Since the HC "stepped down", Brown has done pretty well and competing.  If I was in your son shoes, I would be even more interested in the program now.  JMO.  Good luck.

I would reiterate what Fenway said. 

I've had the pleasure of getting to know Grant Achilles a little bit over the past year.  He is a Lynchburg, VA native.  Played at Wake Forest.  Has a real passion for the game.  He & the other assistant Mike McCormack are running the show for the rest of the season.

I'm pulling for Grant to be tapped as the next HC.  

Brown is on our High Academic New England Bus Tour.

As a side note, if your kid is considering Brown, does it really matter who the coach is?  "Brown" & everything it stands for is bigger than just 1 guy filling out a lineup card.  Just my 2 cents.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

Thanks to all who have responded.  As a father who is new to this process, I just want to be sure that we are doing our due diligence. I understand the caliber of Brown...never in question. But when you commit to play baseball for a school, it becomes a significant part of the college experience and if the baseball program is in disarray or there is a lack of comittment by the school, I am guessing it can significantly impact the student athlete's college experience. My son is trying hard to learn as much about the program as he can.

Thanks again for your thoughts, we really appreciate it!

John

John - 

BTW - welcome to HSBW.

I sent you a PM, known as "Dialogs" here.  Can be accessed via box on top right corner of page.  

Good luck on the journey!

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

John,

Good luck.  My son was recruited by Brown last year before being dropped.  He visited the school many times and really liked it, the facilities, and most of the people.  I would suggest that this development confirms Brown's commitment to the baseball program.

LuJOLHP15,

You are doing the right things.  Seek to understand the coaching staff and the support the program receives from the school.  You'll find that each ivy baseball program is self funded for operating expenses.  The HC's salaries are endowed by contributor(s).  In some cases the AD's salaries are also endowed.  Personally, I really like the Brown campus, facilities and field.  However, there is going to come a time when they'll have to replace their nice grass field with artificial turf.  The adjoining Brown practice football and multi-purpose field are both artificial turf.

Just to follow up on this thought of learning as much about the program as you can.....

Since the Brown HC's departure, their results are showing me they are playing better in the 5 years I've been following Ivy baseball.   I would not want to play them if I had to win games.   Case and point.....Yale is in 1st place in the Ivy Rolfe division trying to separate themselves from Dartmouth who is trying to catch them in the standings.   Brown wins both games at home last Saturday against Yale who desperately needed those wins.  That is how you earn respect.  A tip of the cap to the Brown program.   JMO.

http://www.d1baseball.com/conf...es/standings_ivy.htm

Incidently, Penn has (also) a new HC this year...John Yurkow.  He has done a tremendous job with a program that struggled for years.  I was very impressed with his game coaching and system when I saw them play a few weeks ago.   Penn is tied for first place in the Gehrig division, and hosts a one game playoff against Columbia this Saturday to represent the Gehrig division in the Ivy championship.  Penn was a total surprise that came out of nowhere this year. 

Feel free to send me a dialogue if you want to discuss specifics.

To reinforce what Fenway said, sometimes when a head coach has "lost" his players (for whatever reason) and their performance doesn't rise to the level of the talent, there is a perceptible sense of the team being liberated once the coach in question leaves. This is definitely the case for UPenn this year and, at least in the past couple of weeks, the case at Brown as well.

Brown, of course, is a fantastic school, the campus and immediate part of Providence that it's in have a great feel. The school culture itself in on the "groovier" end of the Ivy spectrum and all classes are pass/fail, I believe.

Unfortunately one of the vagaries of baseball recruiting is that there is no guarantee that the coaching staff that recruits your son or the administrators who hire the coaches will be the same guys there when your kid attends the school. Case in point: three of the pitching coaches and two of the head coaches who recruited my son were gone by the time he hit college. Having said that, regardless of whether they permanently promote the assistant coach to head coach or bring somebody new in, I think the Brown program is heading in a better direction.

Just to follow up on one of slotty's comments: you can take classes pass/fail at Brown (some of us did more than others ), but that's just an option. They are otherwise conventionally graded classes.

Hope no one minds if I kind of hijack this thread, while staying on Brown.

My son is determined to try to walk on at Brown.  And, I raised him to make his own decisions, so I respect that decision.  Still, I'd like to be able to share with him what he is committing to (academics important to him and to me).  And since I am NO kind of athlete, I have no experience to share with him.

Anyone know...is there early morning work out requirements?  And if yes, how many times a week?  And how many hours a day for practice?  I've looked on line and can't find this.

And yes...since he is determined, I am really asking this for my own piece of mind.

Thank you

In case you don't get response from someone closer to the specific program... I can't imagine any D1 program not having an extensive early morning conditioning program.

If there is an early morning workout it's probably over in time to get to 8am classes. It not, 9am classes. I don't think Ivies have fall ball (not positive). That could have a bearing on scheduling of conditioning.

Punch your ID into the gym at 6am punch out at 7:30 and all is well.

Dad of Great Kid,

I think you'll find every school and every Ivy school has a different philosophy about conditioning and workouts in the Fall season, winter season and during the regular season.  My son was an Ivy pitcher with a high academic load including engineering labs and working part-time for an NSF award winner in a Particle Accelerator Lab.  His team workouts (not practices) were different than position players.  He worked just as hard but he worked at different times that allowed him some flexibility.   His practices and bullpens sessions (with pitching coach) were set times.  He had team lifting sessions and individual lifting sessions too.  It is very demanding however there is flexibility

Here is my two cents.  Brown is going to have a new coach whether they hire their interim or go outside the organization.  He's probably going to want to do things differently than the previous head coach.  If your son wants to walk on, he needs to be in the best shape possible when he arrives in the Fall.  He also needs to introduce himself to the Coach before he arrives with baseball resume material and what he did to improve his baseball skills this summer.  If he is a pitcher, he'll get looks because they need more & better pitching....JMO.  Don't worry about early morning workouts and stuff like that.  They will make allowances for his studies if he brings something to the program and they want him.  If it is one thing the ivy League is good at is working around your academic situation.....and I've heard that from many Ivy students and parents.  Good luck to him, and please let me know if he makes the team.

Thanks to all for helpful input.

Fenway south...I will let you know

Dad of a Great Kid:

As usual Fenway's "two cents" are worth their weight in gold. I'm not sure I can add much, but at the risk of being redundant, here goes...

I'm sure that the Brown coach--whether the interim coach is made permanent or they bring in somebody new--will want to make his mark and distinguish himself from his predecessor. I bet that will translate into more rigorous training, practicing, and competition (both intra-squad and against other programs). No matter the Ivy school, the combination of playing on a team and the academics is a bear and the first year is usually a shock to the freshman system. Fitting four-hour practices and lifting sessions into an already tough academic environment is really really challenging. Time management skills are put to the test and getting assignments handed in on time while getting sufficient sleep takes focus and commitment. While there is a certain amount of institutional support, usually professors do not give athletes much extra leeway. Nor does the head coach.

If your son successfully walks on, he should be aware that the entire team does not travel to away games. So unless he is an immediate contributor and/or a stud, he may not travel with the team on weekends or to mid-week contests. There are benefits to this, to be sure, as it allows the players left back on campus newly found time to attend to their academics.

As Fenway remarked, it is essential that he introduce himself to the coach now and, once on campus, in person as soon as he can. He should make his intentions clear and ask the coach what he can do to improve his chances of sticking.

Good luck. Brown is a fantastic school and every year Ivy League baseball is getting better and better.

gutsy but awesome move.

http://www.ivyleaguesports.com..._Baseball_Head_Coach