DI Programs

None will make an "impact" in the NCAA tourney next May/June.

UIC has the best program in Illinois.

Sadly, I agree. While players are being drafted from our state and they aren't even on the radar of D-1 Schools in our state and while other highly rated players are headed to other states to play because they are snubbed in our state, our state universities will have major trouble. JMHO!

It is very difficult for d1 teams here in Il to be deep enough to make an impact in NCAA's.
There is a good talent pool here in Il & occasionally a number of "impact" players in a given year but for a number of reasons it is difficult to keep them in state.
You have 8 d1's and some very good juco's competing for the same talent pool that while usually good is not deep enough for any one school to get enough of them to make an impact nationally.
I agree with CoachB25 to some extent on the recruiting. The 05 class is the only 1 I'm very familiar with but I scratched my head at some of the kids who were & were not recruited by the Il schools.

Denisr400, you make some valid points. I think top D1 schools in Illinois also lose out on some top prospects simply because of the weather. It sounds like an excuse, but it's a fact.

Yes, most baseball players want to head down here where its warm. Also, I have heard many stories of DI schools in the upper midwest using their football/basketball programs to sell kids. They bring them in on visits when there is a big game and use that as a tool to seel their school. Not that the same thing doesn't happen in the South, but a player could also show up in the spring for a visit and find 5000-7000 people in the stands and 3-4 future top three rounders on the field. It's a bit of a difference.

Lets see...play for a top 40-60 team in warm weather...or participate in building a program in the frozen north? Thats a real tough road for nothern coaches to travel.

The results have been apparent....forever.

one thing i have noticed is the suppression of pretty good teams in the missouri valley (which holds bradley, southern Illinois and illinois state) because of outstanding witchita state teams. Is there any chance that witchita wont win in the near future allowing an illinois team to win?

I've been fortunate to coach several kids that have gone to D-1 schools and on to professional baseball. They have gone to play at places such as Notre Dame, Southwest Missouri State, Memphis State etc. Despite my best efforts, not one of these players were recruited by an Illinois D-1 school. A couple of these guys went on to be Collegiate All-Americans and 4 have made it to the major leagues. Again, not one of them was recruited by any D-1 school in our state. I have never understood it.

I don't know if things are changing, but the vast majority of the 06 players who have made early commitments listed by the PBR (see 2006 commitment list thread) are going to Illinois schools and soem others to the midwest. It was nice to see Notre Dame sign a few Illinois kids as their roster was beginning to look bare of local players.

quote:

I've been fortunate to coach several kids that have gone to D-1 schools and on to professional baseball. They have gone to play at places such as Notre Dame, Southwest Missouri State, Memphis State etc. Despite my best efforts, not one of these players were recruited by an Illinois D-1 school. A couple of these guys went on to be Collegiate All-Americans and 4 have made it to the major leagues. Again, not one of them was recruited by any D-1 school in our state. I have never understood it.

Coach...This posting should be emailed to EVERY SINGLE COLLEGE COACH OF A BASEBALL PROGRAM IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.

Nicely done/written.

coachb25, when you say that you have never had players recruited from an Illinois D-1 school do you mean none that have comitted and played for such a school or those schools have not shown interest in those players.

Soxnole, stick to cheering for the Sox. That's your best catagory on this board. We don't need you ******* up to the warm weather states in regards to their college programs.

Irish83:

Regarding your comment on the weather (the cold North)...BINGO!

Irish83...if the truth hurts...so be it!

Except for ND, Wichita State, Minnesota, Nebraska and very few others, any kid with the desire,ability and opportunity to play at a top southern program would be a fool to pass that up.

Beenthere, You have a PM.

its...Got it and sent one back....

Please use my direct email: havecash@aol.com

Please note, my previous post is out of frustration. I accept much of the blame myself. I try to promote my players. I did this even as an assistant. Perhaps I was guilty of being the "Gadfly." Perhaps I ran people off promoting my kids. They could play. I have been extremely surprised by recruiting efforts in recent years because I looked at some of the talent I've had knowing that they could really play while also knowing they weren't getting looked at. THUS THE FRUSTRATION. I also put a lot of blame on my colleagues. We simply don't work hard enough, at times, promoting our own talent. Unfortunatly, some of us try to sell a "cat in a sack" as my Dad says and so, we hurt our crediablity. I guess what I'm saying that it isn't as simple as to say that D-1 Programs in our state aren't getting it done. We all should shoulder some of this blame. JMHO!

Studentofthegame, of the kids mentioned in my posts (without names but I could if necessary) not a one of them was recruited in this state. One young man that played last year for me dropped from the screen of one of our top programs even as he was being highly recruited by several SEC schools. He chose another Big 10 program and to their credit, they seem to be a tremendous fit for him and they were so easy to work with from my viewpoint.

CoachB25:

What a revealing insight into the recruiting process. Please keep us posted and don't give up! Your players really should be grateful for your efforts. Thanks.

All of which brings up the tough time coaches can have with a talented kid that doesn't want to put the work in etc.

If he sells the "cat in the sack" as CoachB25 says...then he hurts his credibility.

If he doesn't..then the parents scream bloody murder.

...Darned if you do...or don't!

The obvious answer is to tell the recruiter's the facts and let the chips fall where they may.

Player's with a poor work ethic, attitude or grades simply must understand that the HS coach
has to be honest with recruiter's so that the plus player's will get their chance.

soxnole, I call those players "Coach Killers." Hey you have such and such so you should win evertime out. Well, guess what, maybe we should but then again, spend time with such and such and I'm betting you wouldn't pick them to go out with your daughter.

One of the factors is the quality of the programs in Illinois, not the weather. However, they may not be mutually exclusive. The best RPI of an Illinois D1 program is the University of Illinois at 80 with a SoS of 103, followed by SIU at 90 RPI and 165 SoS. This, out of 290 D1 programs, puts the best of Illinois D1 programs just inside the top third (top 28% and top 31%) of the nation. When a top HSBB talent looks for a school he may be drawn to the top programs in the country, outside of Illinois.

I think it is a question of recruiting. When it comes to recruiting, CBN doesn’t rank one Illinois school in the top 40 ranking. Although 3 are mentioned as “other top recruiting classes”, UI, NIU, and WIU(???). Regarding recruiting, all top 40 are south of the Mason-Dixon or on the west coast except CMU, UND, and UM.

Where do the Illinois programs recruit if they are not recruiting in Illinois?
Does the best Illinois BB talent leave to go to better programs?
Does Illinois coaching recognize talent when they see it???
I know… Blame title IX??????????

If Illinois produces a top 40 program the best of Illinois will play in the prairie state as well as some of the best in the nation (works for basketball). Illinois D1 programs will not have an impact on the NCAA tourney until then. The state of Illinois has a long way to go.

Beenthere, Try again. I didn't receive your response.

Agree with lots of your points Smokey. However, even if an Il school can crack the top 40 it will be difficult to maintain that over any length of time.
The weather puts them so far behind the top 40 warm weather schools in Feb/Mar they they try and play rpi catchup all season.
In basketball its much easier to get kids from other states as all gyms are heated and all scholly's are 100%. Even if a program hits top 40 it will need a heavy Il bias as it will still be very difficult to convince kids from South & West to come up and play in the cold and pay the out of state freight.
Speaking of warm weather, how has fallball experience been for JF thus far?

Let's not get carried away with the Coach at Illinois and Illinois basketball.

He didn't recruit a single player on last year's team and he's lost two of the best that Illinois has to offer to other schools from this year's class.

When Dee and the big guy, James, graduate, Illinois will be a Big 11 "also-ran".

soxnole:

" Player's with a poor work ethic, attitude or grades simply must understand that the HS coach
has to be honest with recruiter's so that the plus player's will get their chance."

Hard to argue with that!

Just a few points...

First My rankings for Teams in Illinois AS OF TODAY

1. Southern Illinois- Are a very competitive team in the midwest's best conference, the MVC. Mostly downstate and JC recruits, but they make it work.

2. Bradley-Great Coach, and a competive team in once again the best conference in the area, good academic environment as well.

3. Tie-Illinois State/UIC- good league, but not much success lately, on the rise with Jim Brownlee back from 700 wins at Evansville. UIC-very good program, BAD, BAD LEAGUE...any team on this list minus western IL would win that league, perennially nonconference loser, but they do well with what they have.

4. Illinois- The University name does well, nice year in 05, dont look for a repeat. Average League, need to recriut more in burbs.

5. Northern IL- decent league, Mathey has done a decent job, football helps recruting here, and they are on the upswing as well with good young talent.

6. Northwestern- Average League, no production, good player+good academics, give it a try, odd recruiting styles via academic standards

7. CHI State/Western- perenial bottom dwellers with bad campusses, programs, and leagues, decent player who wants to play d1 and play all 4 years, GO!!!

As far as recruting goes, yes many of the big talent leave illinois, but I think this list will be topped by Illinois State within 2 years. Brownlee and his staff have done a great job recruiting and thier 05 class was by far the best in the state
Ian Berger-OPRF- 10-0, 1st all state pbr, top 30 il prospect. Didnt lose a game in spring summer.
Gabe DeMarco-Rkfd. Boylan- 1st team all state pbr, top 30 ranking, 29 CAREER HOMERS. led state with 16 junior year.

Kevin Dubler-downers south-prolly one of top 3 catchers in state, and a good lefty bat.

Jim Sajewich, Dan Sorce, and Mike Stalowy are also top 30 pbr players ARE ALL AT ISU. Top this off with two top 20 guys from 06 signed already. copeland and shultz. And 04 freshman phenom ryan anetsberger and every position starter and top 2 pitchers returing from a team that was .500 last season.

West Suburban Silver is often regarded as the best league in state...10 players from wss on team!.. this is my sleeper program on the rise.

sorry two mistakes..isu has 2 recruits signed for o6, and chicago state would not win the horizon either....sorry for the mistakes

baseball fanatic...Illinois lost 9 of their last 10 games. Haven't been anywhere and aren't going anywhere.

Best college baseball program, at any level, is UIC. Doesn't matter what their record is...they are constantly trying to improve the level of their competition. They will play 16 games against SEC teams in 2007. That tells me a ton about the coaching staff and the level of the talent that they have there and are recruiting! Should have the big right handed pitcher from Wisconsin; and, the little outfielder from the Northwest suburbs drafted next year.

Best high school baseball conference, year in and year out, was the SICA-West...with Lockport, JT, Stagg, Andrew, LWEast, LWCentral and Sandburg.

Best conference next year...MSL West Barrington, Fremd, Palatine, Schaumburg will all be good.

Beenthere....i agree uic is trying and have a good program, and the nonconference schedule is nice, but THEY HAVE TO DO SOMETHING TO MAKE UP FOR BEING IN THE HORIZON. They are good, but cannot compete with the schools in the mvc period. With this being said, they should be commended for thier efforts to make the program the best that it can be.

By the way on the drafts...ISU had five players drafted in 04, and one in 05(they only had three srs) 5 current major leaguers..SIU had thier entire starting rotation drafted and two outfielders along with jerry hariston and steve finley...bradley has had players drafted every year too, uic has not. All is it takes is to look at nonconf records and records vs mvc lately. Not a rip on UIC, just stating facts

fastballdad, do you really think the msl will be the top conference? I think the schools mentioned will be fine but they are also young with the talent. Last but not least as far as fremd who will they have after gailey? Didn't Barrington loose their top pitcher that carried most of the innings? Schaumburg who after monroe?

I think soxnole hits it right on the head. A Coach be it HS or Summer has to be realistic in his assessment of a kid. If you push a kid to a school that is more than he can handle on the field it not only hurts the coaches creditability but you put the kid in a situation where he will not survive. Most likley these kids are in Jucos at semester break. Not that all Jucos are a bad thing.
In fairness to the college coach, they have their guys all over the place, guys maybe at one point they played with or coached with at another school. It is a tight knit group . It is guys they trust in because they simply know them, or guys they have worked with in the past.
I would think if a coach went to look at a kid every time a coach said he is the next coming of whoever, you would have a coach on a lot of wild goose chases. Yeh, he misses a couple, but beleive me his people are out there and they know what they are looking for. At least for the most part.
As far as going to the South or staying up north, kids go to where the programs are. For me it was about the coaches , who did I think was going to make me a better player at my position. I could have cared less if it was April and cold or Florida and hot, and I did both. I always took great pleasure in beating up teams from Cali and Florida. Soxnole has the same attitude as every player from the south, north cant play with us. Motivated me.
You look at te Head Coaches at the Midwest schools who are sucessful, they are good coaches with established programs.
I will tell you this, I hope the sox meet Houston in the series,, because them boys from the south will find it a bit cool up here come Sat and Sun in the windy city. Yeh, a lot of the sox guys are warm weather creatures but they know what Chicago weather is all about. Advantage cold weather guy.

Thanks, Taratko...and sometimes this 57 year old boy even agrees with you.

NOT SO FAST, however, Carillo, Bongiovanni and as you know, O'Connor are all from the Chicago area...(Mt. Carmel, Barrington and OPRF).

Don't sell the LT kid short. These are 4 great HS programs and the Canes and Noles are savvy to that. As one coach told me..."you cannot turn a blind eye to a population of 6 million people". Not sure, but I think there are 1 or 2 player's from southern Illinois that have signed with the Gators?...Coach B25... can you shed some light?

TARatko,

I know your refrain regarding North vs South. It has been stated numerous times. I would like to respond to an error in your post regarding Top Tier and their program. The team that will play next summer has not been finalized as with other elite travel teams outside of the South. Their failure to compete in Jupiter should in no way be construed as a "lack of gumtion". That is just plain false. In addition, when that team is announced you'll find some top players that also are playing football and would not have been able to play in Jupiter regardless. I believe that the tenor of your post was meant to disparage this team as being afraid to compete against the Fla. Bombers and the other behemoths that you often refer to. I think not. You make many good points, just tone down the rhetoric.

I hope things get back to normal quickly down in N.O. and that Zak can get on the field for Loyola.

I do not think that anyone on this board would argue that the southern teams in college baseball are better than the northern teams as a whole, but to be fair about it they do have an advantage with the weather. What I will say is that i believe that the teams in the North do not have the TEAMS to compete with the south, but DO NOT sell the best players on these teams short. The top players on the average/to above average teams in the midwest would easily hold their own on any team in the nation (i.e.-Simon,Bolt,Anetsberger,Zink,Koski among others).
When it comes down to it, you can either play this game or you cannot. It does not matter where you go. Just look at a draft database and look at some of the schools these kids come from. Sure every kid in the midwest dreams of running out on the field for FSU or ASU or Miami. I know i did as a kid, but we dont all get that opportunity. At the same time we need to think of all the kids in this country that just wish they could put on a division 1 uniform and run out onto that field!
PLAYERS PLAY and i dont think it matters where you go, its what you do when your there!

quote:

Coach B25... can you shed some light?

Patrick Keaton from Harrisburg is going to Florida. He is a tremendous talent and can bring the heat around 88-89 from what I've seen. Not super big but is, in my best guess around 6'tall. Harrisburg is an outstanding program with an exceptional coach. This young man should do well but I only had the pleasure of watching him once. I didn't see a gun on him and so I'm giving you a best guess on mph. SI Bullits can say more about him.

TAR, I've unbunched my shorts and am still uncomfortable with your comments about Top Tier. Yes, I have a dog in this fight as my son should be playing for this years's 17U team. I don't believe that the "hype" you refer to ever came from a Top Tier coach. The players on that squad have every reason to be proud of their season; the fact that 7 players were drafted in the past 2 years and that every player from that team received a college scholarship. It is your mistake to infer that this team predicted an East Cobb tournament victory with teams like the Bombers, Midland, Houston Heat, etc.That would have been silly and arrogant, and never happened and is untrue. All that was said, and deservedly so, was that this may have been the strongest squad of Illinois players to hook up and play together. If you don't remember, just look up their roster.

I think enough has been said now, so Go White Sox.

Taratko, i heard that Dennehy is now at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, in Chandler, Arizona.

I've seen a few of the kids from top tier (2006's 18U team) play and let me be the first to tell you that they could compete virtually anywhere for the most part. sure there are better teams out there but top tier has some studs that, in my book, would be good pick up for a lot of the southern schools. As for the northern players not going to the southern schools, it is pretty hard to get exposure to those schools. Unless you go directly to them they will only get to see a certain guy once or twice at the most. If you dont impress on those days its pretty hard to get recruited. I recall seeing on a previous post that the only way to get into a southern school from here is to have connections, go to a showcase\camp at the school or be a blue-chip, all-american type prospect.

I'm sure that are players from up here that go to schools in the south and we never hear of them again, or they go to a JUCO or maybe a school back up here. No doubt the same thing happens to southern kids fighting for spots on those teams as well.....when you attempt to swim in the big lake, you may be the one who is eaten, whether you are a southern fish or a northern one. Just happen to be a few more southern fish in the lake.