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Not bashing but would love to know what you liked about the Georgia Tech campus.  The area around GT is not real safe.  I would rank GT very low in community in the SEC/ACC ranks.  There are lots of things to do in Hotlanta but GT campus surrounding community is sketchy at best.  I would not walk through most of that area by myself at night and know I would not want my son doing it.

A&M was very good to my son in offer wise and communication.  He was 88-89 and never officially topped 90 at PG.  He has hit 93 a couple of times in his HS career but is consistently 86-89.  We love Coach Anderson at Tennessee (the Real Southern UT) because he knows how to develop lefties and has proven experience getting guys to the pros, including his own son who has done pretty good for himself.  He took Crochet from mid-upper 80s to low 100's in three years.  That was a draw for us because he is seen as a leftie guru in the pitching community.  I think that also plays a part in your thought process as to whether they have had success and how long they have stayed places.  That was a tough one for us because Vitello was new head coach when son committed but Coach V was the one who recruited my son personally and son was the first offer he gave after being at UT.  Anderson has a record of pretty lengthy stays at schools.

Would also disagree with Forbes because when you compare ACC head coaches length of time as HC and SEC schools.  ACC coaches average length of stay is 6.642 and average for SEC schools is 7.6.  Some of those like Forbes were assistant coaches before being HC but I did not equate that into the picture because that gets real complicated as some also were AC at some point and came back as HC and I don't think either affect the statement.  But I would say that as a whole the two have almost 7 years on average for HC tenure is very high.

You're spot on about the area around Ga Tech. Good program, Danny does a great job and has the East Cobb pipeline for player development and a recruiting advantage over other coaches as he sees those kids early. These days, i would say it is no safer than it's traditionally been. Kids getting stuck up for backpacks, computers and cars. I'm sure there are parents on here who can offer advice for you to refute this, none of my local friends are on here.

Last edited by Shoveit4Ks

My daughter attended GT and she found it to be awesome.  We loved visiting and thought the campus was terrific.  Tons of great food and things to see when we visited.  We loved catching a football game or baseball game, such great stadiums.  We'd see cheerleaders running to the football stadium from their sorority house next door...such a great college atmosphere.  I can see that it isn't for everyone - it seamlessly transitions into neighborhoods and the city, rather than having a fenced in feel like some campuses.  It's a city so you have to have your wits about you when you are out at night but that's true of most urban environments.

@PitchingFan

Again, only sharing what I heard directly from Coach Forbes when another parent in the group was asking about coaching tenure, and verbals, etc when we were onsite for a prospect camp for 2 days and had some great quality time with Coach Forbes. You'll have to take your disagreement on stats up with him.

Again, for us, GT campus was way more "campusy" then we had expected or imagined with facilities that were quite nice for students and athletes. Yes is it Hotatlanta the the surrounding areas to campus are known with limitations, but they took us to where the students live on and off campus and showed us around. We also got to see architecture drawings of the new pitching lab and facility that is going in as part of Phase 2 at Russ Chandler. To be one of the top notch pitching lab facilities in the country, so that was a nice sale and HUGE draw there too. DBo got to design it and walked us through use of and plans for development and how it will be used for both hitters and pitchers. He was also direct and honest when pressed on our concerns he may not be there in 2 years or for the tenure while Christian is at college. (He was new the program and still being courted by MLB teams). But he answered honestly and it made complete sense as a husband and father and I genuinely really liked him. So did Christian. He was very very good with him and in courting him to come visit and scheduling and timing such visit and answering questions he had about the program, coaches, team make up, etc. The Data Science team and lab of GT students, etc. Great school and area. Super easy in/out. 6 direct flights on Delta and 3 from SW to/from Austin.

The GT program and staff also focused on Christian, moreso than any other, and how they saw him coming in and contributing and how they could develop him as a player and why.  Less bragging on how many pro guys they have or Hall of Fame or whatever, like some other programs (that shall remain nameless, but you can ask me privately. See I learn). Their offer was also the best of the bunch and made it an even easier decision.

Christian really liked another school that was in the running, but being out of state and paying that tuition in a program on their last arm, appreciate the candor and honesty from the coach, was going to be cost prohibitive to the tune of $132,000 for 4 years.

Another program that was in the running was HA and extremely intimidating academically to him after talking a former teammate at said school, who was valedictorian and a genius and thought he "thought I was smart before coming to....". "I thought they sent the acceptance letter to the wrong school." The dude is a legit genius and that really put Christian off as the stresses of being a college baseball player and student were enough but to add in the HA rigor of that school, was just too much. GT is no slouch and is going to be Nerd Ball too, but to a lesser extent.

Other programs didn't offer the degree or field in which he was looking to pursue. So made it easy for them to drop down the list.

GT as a whole, with DBo (knowing why he'd still be around for at least a few years), the program, pitching lab, Atlanta (we've got tons of friends there and host families from East Cobb at the ready and on call), Ramsey also is gluten intolerant (Christian has Celiac, so is gluten free) so having familiarity of the places to eat and what they feed the players was a nice peace of mind. Other programs didn't get it as much or take into consideration at camps or comments from tours we heard from students and players. The lack of missed school due to location and schedule and ease of travel compared to other programs, really stack piled the reasons why and it was a no-brainer for my son and the easiest decision he ever had to make, he said.

Yes, downtown is downtown and have your wits about you and head on a swivel, like in most big cities. Dually noted and discussed.

Again it isn't for everyone. My impression of ATL was only that coming through on business or trips and getting stuck in traffic, but if you're on campus, you don't deal with the traffic. When you're on campus and right off campus, it's all good. Super close to downtown for other pro games and events.  When we stayed in ATL for 3 weeks this summer/fall and other weeks with other tournaments and teams in previous years - it really grew more on me and he liked it even more.

Couldn't be happier and he really likes his classmates that he got to play with all summer on East Cobb and he already knows 8-12 guys going to be on the team or already is or will be after he gets there.

All important experiences, observations and insights I would want to hear from if I were considering same similar schools.

How'd I do? Over share again or stay with the lanes this time?

FYI, I also don't work for @CollegebaseballInsights but I work in Business Intelligence and Data analytics and see the value and time savings it would have saved us in the process of researching schools and programs. Hence why I brag on it as well as this website with the varied viewpoints and information you get from multiple sources. Again wished we would have known about both. Life and learning curve would have definitely been easier.

Thanks.  I think it is vital to feel loved and appreciated within a program with the coaches that you will have to be around.  My son was really concerned about not being the flame thrower that he saw in most SEC school guys.  The first comments from Coach Anderson was don't worry about your speed if you can control your fastball and offspeed stuff.  I will never forget.  He held up a pen and pointed it at my son and said can you hit this pen head from the mound to home plate.  Son said give me three tries and I know I can.  I thought that sounded cocky when it came out of my son's mouth but Coach A said with that confidence you will be okay.  Coach Vitello has drawn a lot of negativity especially from other coaches and there were those who trashed him to us which is a no no to me and my son.  Talk about yourself but don't trash another coach or school.  He was a new HC in the SEC and yet he was the one who personally recruited my son.  Flew all over the Southeast to watch him pitch and be seen.  That was impressive to us.  Each coaching staff does it their own way and each parent and player is looking for something different.  What works for one, positive or negative, does not work for another.

I think most campuses are great.  Didn't mean to come across downing GT but it is not in the greatest location but knowing the area well I know the campus and local facilities are relatively safe.  Sent a football player of mine when I was coaching HS football to GT and he loved it once he got used to the Big City.  Learned where to go and where not to go and when he could go places and when he could not.  The problems come when students decide to walk to nearby places or go downtown at night.  Hope he enjoys his time in Atlanta.

I live close to Atlanta...these days delineating where you reside specifically for the locals who live ITP (Inside the Perimeter) is important and castigation typically follows if you claim to be ITP. Us OTP folks do commute to the big city and if i had one thing to say, it would be that nothing good happens after 10 pm-12 am at night. I don't care where you are in the metro area but specifically ITP. The campus is awesome, the facilities are too and it sounds like they are upgrading, very cool. We enjoyed the short drive to Russ Chandler to watch son's team play the Jackets and we would tailgate at local bars a bit before games with families and fly our Clemson flags. I'm sure this will be the beginning of many memories for y'all. Welcome to Atlanta, where the playa's play!

I live OTP. And everything I’ve done ITP after 10 PM has been nothing but good, at least those that I remember.

Not sure how this devolved, or why I’m contributing to said devolution, but just wanted to say that sh!t happens everywhere. Listen to your spidey sense. And when you’re 19 and your spidey sense isn’t fully developed, sobriety helps. /

@Shoveit4Ks posted:

Ga Tech campus was the primary focus regarding crime in that general area and i did generalize and also included "Metro Atlanta" of which i am a resident.  I would have thought an ITPer like you would have a bit tougher skin, what with all the times you navigate around town on Marta. You do use Marta, don't you?

Having a thick skin isn’t very common these days. We have all become too tolerant of people who are always looking for something to be offended about. Just an off topic editorial opinion. Not pointing a finger at anyone in particular.

A quick thank you to everyone that has thrown fresh wood on this topic in the past week.  Many nuggets of great advice to sift through as I help my 2024 prepare for the recruiting process that is coming his way over the next couple years.  All this advice (and strong opinions) makes me appreciate my hsbaseballweb membership ...  Donate Now!

About location, my wife and I narrowed the focus for our son ... he must stay east of the Mississippi and go no further south beyond Atlanta.     In search of a great baseball program AND a great education ... while trying to balance the distance from home vs. the average annual snow fall.  Sure glad this topic didn't spin off into a - What city has the best barbecue? - debate. 

Last edited by mjd-dad
@mjd-dad posted:

A quick thank you to everyone that has thrown fresh wood on this topic in the past week.  Many nuggets of great advice to sift through as I help my 2024 prepare for the recruiting process that is coming his way over the next couple years.  All this advice (and strong opinions) makes me appreciate my hsbaseballweb membership ...  Donate Now!

About location, my wife and I narrowed the focus for our son ... he must stay east of the Mississippi and go no further south beyond Atlanta.     In search of a great baseball program AND a great education ... while trying to balance the distance from home vs. the average annual snow fall.  Sure glad this topic didn't spin off into a - What city has the best barbecue? - debate. 

Currently, the correct answer is the DFW area.  If anyone wants to argue, I'll gladly come and sample your favorite place. 

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