Miss. JUCO Division Changes

twoseamer,
I know nothing (as Schulz would say) about this subject but I do have a question.
Does the "gate money" at these events have anything to do with the funding of allowed scholarships?

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

Chicks,

Everything has to do with money on some level. My tax dollars support the football and basketball programs as well as "gate-money". My kid doesn't play those sports...nor does he want to. I say if saving money is an issue...then ALL sports should sacrifice...not just women's sports, baseball and s****r.

I agree! There should be equal loss/gain across the entire spectrum.

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

that is sad to hear. my understanding is that 6 are currently d-2 and 8 are d-1. i guess it's just another example of baseball getting the short end of the stick. but this is mississippi, so what do we expect, right? all the rhetoric from the politicians around here includes the phrase "for the kids", but they really just care about appearances and not results.

i have an '07, and after recently discovering this site's wealth of information, and taking his study habits into consideration, i was thinking (ahead) that a miss. juco might be his best prospect. i don't know that he will even be a prospect by then, but just in case.

What really concerned me most is that it was not widely publicized. After considering many options my son decided to stay in-state and told other schools he had committed to a state JUCO div 1. He hasn't signed the NLI that we received yet. We just heard about this over the weekend.

Geez...between the NCAA and now Miss. changes this kid is about ready to give up on college. I'm doing all I can to keep him interested, but I guess the "for the kids" doesn't really mean all of the kids. Just the squeaky wheels. You see, JUCO Div II's have been complaining for quit a while that the Div I schools can sign a max of 2 players from their region. My son is not interested in the JUCO that has the "rights" to him. I don't think a school should automatically get the "rights" to any kid. This isn't MLB. If they are going to do away with Div I, then they should do away with the "Protected List".

twoseamer,
which div1 juco are you talking about?

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

Chicks,

You have a PM.

I was told that all the MS JUCO's except Meridian were Div II in baseball now. What is the breakdown of Div I & Div II?

Easton,

Currently Meridian, East Central, East Miss., Jones, Gulf Coast, Southwest, Northeast, and Delta are Division 1 JUCO baseball schools. They are being forced to drop down to Division II and join the exisitng Division II schools of Hinds, Holmes, Coahoma, Itawamba, Northwest, Pearl River, and Copiah-Lincoln.

My understanding is that this will begin with the 2005-2006 year. The high school 05's athletic scholarship opportunities will be greatly diminished as a result of this rule.

Also, Division II schools use the "Protected List" which prohibits the "better" players from being recruited by any other state JUCO if the player lives in their recruting area. If the player does not want to attend that JUCO he must obtain a release by the JUCO school that has claimed the rights to him. I'm not sure that releases are given very often.

This was a decision made by the Presidents of these schools. JUCO baseball in Mississippi may never be a viable option for any kid who is serious about pursuing baseball and an education. Many will probably leave the state for surrounding states close enough to waive out of state tuition.

I wish this major change had been more widely published. Kid's accepting good scholarships to these schools for their first year (2004-2005) will have no opportunity to receive the same for their second year no matter how well they do. Nor will a Mississippi player ever have an opportunity to compete in Grand Junction.

Many are speculating that this will diminish JUCO baseball to an intramural level. I believe some will risk it, but many will not.

I noticed that the JUCO's weren't listed as div 1 or 2 anymore on the www.MSPREPBASEBALL.com web site. Only as the North, Central, and South divisions.
What determines which schools are div 1 or 2? Hasn't Meridian gone independant?

"If you don't know where your going, any road will take you there".

My understanding is that the schools in Mississippi were allowed to make the choice between Div I and Div II. Meridian WAS an independent but joined the state association about 2-3 years ago. (Wonder if those coaches are regretting that now?) I don't know if they will be allowed to return to being an inependent or not. Also, I think this rule goes into effect with the 05 recruiting class who will play in Spring 2006.

twoseamer

twoseamer,

Thanks for the info.

Twoseamer,
I don't think you will see any significant changes. The state of Alabama currently has about 2/3 of the teams in DII and the others in DI. The teams all play each other and the quality of play is equal. There are certain teams that seem to be stronger in each division, but they match up well with each other.
Alabama will also have some changes in 2005. All teams will be participting in DI. From all indications, the only change will be having just one team represent Alabama in post season play after the state tournament. This is only my interpretation. I don't live there, so maybe someone from the great state of AL can clarify.

Lobo

Changing from DII/III to all DI means more scholarship money will be available to the Alabama kids. Mississippi is going the other direction and all JUCOs will be DII. Mississippi is bordered by Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas. And is very close to Florida Panhandle and Texas. I think we may lose a few good players to these states since more scholarship money can be made available to them.

Since the rule does not go into effect until Fall 2006 it's hard to tell just yet what the impact will be. I would like to hear from the Alabama contingent regarding the change you mentioned. What limits, if any, are there for Alabama Jucos revruiting out-of-state players?

While Alabama's move to all DI allows the possibilty of more $, the state rules allow only DII scholarship levels. That is even true now, so no financial advantage to change. This is not likely to change any time soon since Alabama has such a budget crunch.

Ya'll help me out here. I have Pearl Rivers schedule in front of me. They play SWcc, Jonescc, Co-Lin, and Gulf Coastcc. These games are listed as South Division Conference games. Pearl River is a Div. 2 along with Co-Lin. The other 3 schools are Div. 1. Where do the different divisions split? Div. 1 schools end up in Grand Junction and the Div. 2 schools end up in Millington.

"If you don't know where your going, any road will take you there".

fwr01,
Thanks for the info.
I decided to call a couple of coaches that I know in MS & AL. I talked to a DI and a DII coach in AL. I was told that the scholarships are the same at both levels, which can include books, tuition, and fees. The state allows up to 24. The difference in the past has included more travel allowance dor DI, but that is not the case now. There are currently 7 schools in DII South and 7 schools in DII North. There are 5 schools in DI. The state of AL makes up Region 22. The region currently sends 1 team from each region to post season play. All schools at one time played DI. Beginning in August, all Jucos in the state will become NJCAA Division I.
MS currently also allows up to 24 scholarships to include books, tuition, and fees. There are 15 jucos broken down into 3 divisions - North, Central, and South. North has 3 DII and 2 DI, Central has 2 DII and 3 DI, South has 2 DII and 3 DI. The district schedule will cut down on travel and expenses.
Talking with coaches at each level, I was told that the level was insignificant as far as comptetion level. There are teams each year that stand out above the rest. DI and DII have scheduled each other on a yaerly basis. Now there will only be 1 champion instead of 2. Having 2 divisions does allow for 1 more team to play in the post season.
I don't know if this helps anyone, but I was curious myself and wanted to see what I could find out.