Illinois Wesleyan

Great academics, solid program, and a wonderful facility for this level. Spoke with some of their players at a showcase a few years ago and all were positive about their experience.
Also, a minute or two drive to Illinois State which enhances social life. Bloomington-Normal is a nice community to live in - plenty of things for kids to do while living in small town atmosphere.

Thanks for the reply. The "all were positive about their experience" was really good to hear. Thanks again

The players might of enjoyed their experience at the school, but ask about the coach. One of the most unprofessional human beings I have ever come across.

Example: While at an American Legion tournament a husband and wife were sitting a seat a part from one another (obviously so they don't feel cramped in the stadium style seating at IWU) when the husband got up and went to the restroom. Coach Martel, whether he saw the man get up or not is beside the point, walks down and ends up sitting in the gentlemans chair a couple of seats away from the wife. The husband comes back down and politely tells the coach that he was seating in the seat that the coach was in. martel blows a gasket and using expletives tells the husband that it's his chair and nobody at the park can tell him what to do. The husband obviously is taken back by coach martels gestures and politely gets his wife and leaves the ballpark while martel sits in the chair feeling as if he's a god.

Good Luck to you!

Wow. Well I asked and I want to know. So far around us Coach Martel has seemed professional. I know thats all part of putting your best face forward towards potential recruits. I am wondering if anyone else has some first hand knowledge of the baseball program. Thanks for your reply.

I was recruited fairly heavily to play football for IWU. My first love is baseball, though, and coach Martel really turned me off to the school. I appreciated that he was honest and explained to me what I was looking at in terms of other baseball recruits, but some other comments didn't sit well with me while I was there on a recruiting trip for baseball. Just things about the lifestyles of his players that he was outspokenly not against, and actually encouraged us to partake in while on campus didn't seem right to me. But that's just me and how I am.

CCKnights
I would be interested in private messaging you to ask some additional questions but am not quite sure how to do it.

Feel free to ask me questions about them too. I know pleanty about this school and their coach and their players. Any specifics you are wondering about?

anonymous1
sent you a pm

hsbb05,

Wow is right! My son was recruited by Coach Martel last summer and fall and would have gone to IWU if he wasn’t offered a scholarship at a great D1 program. Great campus and community. IWU is one of the finest academic institutions in the US with one of the best D3 baseball programs. It was a tough decision selecting another school. Please believe me, given the combination of academic and athletic opportunities, we struggled with this decision. We had a great experience with Coach Martel. He was always professional, direct, and honest. While we were doing our “due diligence” on IWU and the baseball program we found that we had family members who knew Dennis Martel personally. They have the highest regard for Dennis Martel and only speak with the positive. Mind you that this is very close family that would not BS.

Bottom line; if you have interest in playing baseball at IWU it behooves you to contact Coach Martel and make you own opinion regarding the school, program, and the coach.

From my experience (baseball and basketball): Martel is smug and cocky - neither is a bad thing, but you have to appreciate that style. If you do, he seems like a great guy and his honesty (which has been alluded to above) makes him easy to read.

Again, I think his personality and honesty are what makes him unappealing to some and perfect for others.

They do have a top-notch program, school, and facilities.