I know there are existing threads on Georgetown but they just hired a new HC yesterday. Edwin Thompson moves to Georgetown from Eastern Kentucky (also former coach at Bates and recruiting coordinator at Duke according to his bio). Interested in any reactions to the hire or the program. I will note it was an interesting coincidence that GTown hires a black man named Thompson as a varsity coach the day after the great John Thompson passed.
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My son went to a few camps run by EKU. Coach Thompson was very impressive and his talks to the boys were all about the important things in life and how baseball was jus a part of it...
My son ended up committing elsewhere, but Coach T was awesome and I would have been very content if my son played for him.
EKU! My alma mater. In talks with people who are still around the program or know Coach Thompson, I have heard nothing but great things. It looks like one of EKU's 2021 commits just de-committed because Coach Thompson went to Georgetown.
My son did a camp with him in Virginia when he was younger, and we really liked Coach Thompson. I believe it was right before his was hired by EKU. His demeanor, baseball knowledge, and genuine interest in players and their development were impressive. It's a great hire for Gtown, and we look forward to seeing how he impacts the program. As a fellow Mainer, I am thrilled for him.
He is a good recruiter. Recruited sons. But how do you get promoted with a losing record as your only head coaching position and the guys who wrote about him saying success follows him wherever he goes when he has not had success in the win-loss records. I know it is about more than baseball but I would not call a losing record success.
@PitchingFan posted:He is a good recruiter. Recruited sons. But how do you get promoted with a losing record as your only head coaching position and the guys who wrote about him saying success follows him wherever he goes when he has not had success in the win-loss records. I know it is about more than baseball but I would not call a losing record success.
Thanks to everyone for their replies. I get your point PitchingFan - the improvement was pretty modest from the previous regime though I know zero about EKU's program.
Yet, the PR announcing his hire had blurbs from Bakich and Corbin saying he's a rising star, etc. Really interesting.
I believe he had the program at EKU in the right direction. They had a winning record last year and this year they were 12-2 before the shutdown. They even had a Friday night win against LSU at LSU. Their only losses were the Saturday and Sunday games in that series. I would have expected them to compete for the OVC title this year.
Related...Just saw this on Twitter:
"D1 program in Washington DC gets new head coach. In a blunt email to recruits he announces all commitments (2021 and higher) with previous head coach are off the table - 100% starting process over. All commitments cancelled. Parents!!! Are you prepared for this??? #shegone"
@Francis7 posted:Related...Just saw this on Twitter:
"D1 program in Washington DC gets new head coach. In a blunt email to recruits he announces all commitments (2021 and higher) with previous head coach are off the table - 100% starting process over. All commitments cancelled. Parents!!! Are you prepared for this??? #shegone"
I know PG doesn’t show the full picture, but just based off of the PG info they only had 4 recruits that this effected. They were all 2021. I did notice that when Coach Thompson sent out a tweet about going to Georgetown he also included that he was looking for 2021’s and 2022’s and his DM’s were open.
@PitchingFan posted:He is a good recruiter. Recruited sons. But how do you get promoted with a losing record as your only head coaching position and the guys who wrote about him saying success follows him wherever he goes when he has not had success in the win-loss records. I know it is about more than baseball but I would not call a losing record success.
Does a coach have to have more wins than loses to be a winning coach? In reading his bio, seems that he has accomplished quite a bit, he is only 40 years old.
I consider a successful coach someone who accomplishes much more than just winning more games than losing. Seems like he is much respected, as from the comments made here plus the coaches. And it does seem that he was turning around the program at EKU.
Erik Bakich had a losing record of 70-98 , conference 20-70 at Maryland, but he did manage to get himself a Big10 head coaching job with a current record of 267-169, conference 101-64. He has been successful in every program he has been involved in.
I have no issue with Thomson reevaluating the 2021 recruits and current players. I am sure that the AD was involved in his decision.
JMO
A kid I coached in LL verballed to an ACC bottom feeder soph year. He felt it was the right academic fit. A new coach came in and released all players from their verbal. By the end of the summer the kid verballed with a ranked SEC team, got drafted and signed. This might be a lesson on committing too soon. The kid took a big jump physically and mentally after committing the first time.
@Francis7 posted:Related...Just saw this on Twitter:
"D1 program in Washington DC gets new head coach. In a blunt email to recruits he announces all commitments (2021 and higher) with previous head coach are off the table - 100% starting process over. All commitments cancelled. Parents!!! Are you prepared for this??? #shegone"
I hate tweets like this, so dramatic. "Parents!!! Are you prepared for this???"
How do you prepare for this? Sucks, but it's part of the game.
At first I was really surprised that an institution like Georgetown would allow for this. Then I remembered how much they lowered their standards for basketball success years ago so perhaps its not that surprising.
Let's not forget that kids decommit too. Son's school just got a commitment from a kid who decommitted from an ACC school 7 months ago. I'd be curious to see the actual Email as that tweet seems particularly harsh (especially given the restrictions COVID put on recruiting/travel and the gentlemen's agreement that exits in college baseball recruiting) but a mutual reevaluation should be possible when there is a change in coaching staff and prior to the NLI. In the same breath, I also think that kids should not have to sit out a year if their coaching staff leaves and they want to transfer.
@PABaseball posted:I hate tweets like this, so dramatic. "Parents!!! Are you prepared for this???"
How do you prepare for this? Sucks, but it's part of the game.
Yes, but this wasn't the coach's tweet, it was from this guy:
https://twitter.com/O3jfrye/st.../1304525180593733639
Seems to be an anti-travel-industry guy.
@anotherparent posted:Yes, but this wasn't the coach's tweet, it was from this guy:
https://twitter.com/O3jfrye/st.../1304525180593733639
Seems to be an anti-travel-industry guy.
Frye's more than an anti travel guy. He's an ex MLB player who rants about lots of things in today's game. I heard that he tried to get a job in baseball, couldn't, and then was incensed that non-players with backgrounds in analytics and tech were getting jobs. He had a long running and hilarious Twitter feud with a well known hitting instructor who "never played".
Who wants to be stuck committed to a coach who may not want you or your style of play doesn’t fit his? I applaud the coach for his honesty.
Several years ago I was watching a college game while chatting with a scout. He handed me the roster and asked if I saw anything strange. It wasn’t hard to see. The new coach released every returning player from the program except one all conference senior. The roster was mostly freshmen and a few JuCo transfers. He also released every recruit. These were players already in the program. Some were heading into senior year. This is what you do when you inherit a 30+ loss for four straight seasons doormat.
There are far more players who leave than coaching staffs that do. Commitments can be broken on both sides.
The player signs an agreement (NLI) to play for the school, not the coaching staff. That's why doing your homework on the degrees offered and everything else is important. It should not be just about the coach.
I would bet that if we could do a survey, in most situations, players would check off the box that says the change of coach, or coaching staff turned out better than expected.
JMO
@RJM posted:Who wants to be stuck committed to a coach who may not want you or your style of play doesn’t fit his? I applaud the coach for his honesty.
Several years ago I was watching a college game while chatting with a scout. He handed me the roster and asked if I saw anything strange. It wasn’t hard to see. The new coach released every returning player from the program except one all conference senior. The roster was mostly freshmen and a few JuCo transfers. He also released every recruit. These were players already in the program. Some were heading into senior year. This is what you do when you inherit a 30+ loss for four straight seasons doormat.
There is nothing that says that a coach has to keep you as well as a player can choose not to stay.
This may be his way of letting them know that they have to earn their spot. Pretty sure this had to be a discussion with his new boss in case parents complained.
Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
@TPM posted:There is nothing that says that a coach has to keep you as well as a player can choose not to stay.
This may be his way of letting them know that they have to earn their spot. Pretty sure this had to be a discussion with his new boss in case parents complained.
Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
In a year the players and parents won’t even being looking back. These are D1 potential players at a high academic. The worst that will happen is some could end up at very competitive HA D3’s.
What happened to Pete Wilk? He was there for about 20 years and never did very much, and many of his players disliked him. We were at a 2 day Ivy camp, where the coach assured everyone there we would get all the games in (I think it was bad weather maybe initially). Anyway, one thing I remember about that camp (there were a few other funny anecdotal incidents too) is that Wilk drove a Jeep Wrangler and he brought his golf clubs out by the other coaches when they decided to end the camp like 2 hours early on the second day despite promising they would get in all the games. Wilk and his golf clubs told us all we needed to know about what they cared most about at that point.
We also have numerous friends who played there, so have a lot of other stories.
I was never impressed, and I hope Coach Thompson can make the program relevant.
@Twoboys posted:What happened to Pete Wilk? He was there for about 20 years and never did very much, and many of his players disliked him. We were at a 2 day Ivy camp, where the coach assured everyone there we would get all the games in (I think it was bad weather maybe initially). Anyway, one thing I remember about that camp (there were a few other funny anecdotal incidents too) is that Wilk drove a Jeep Wrangler and he brought his golf clubs out by the other coaches when they decided to end the camp like 2 hours early on the second day despite promising they would get in all the games. Wilk and his golf clubs told us all we needed to know about what they cared most about at that point.
We also have numerous friends who played there, so have a lot of other stories.
I was never impressed, and I hope Coach Thompson can make the program relevant.
Those kids got a top flight education. If they did well they had the option to pick their grad school. No one goes to Georgetown because they’re a pro prospect.
@anotherparent posted:Yes, but this wasn't the coach's tweet, it was from this guy:
https://twitter.com/O3jfrye/st.../1304525180593733639
Seems to be an anti-travel-industry guy.
That's what I figured. Never understood the end of the world "what about the children" comments. The guy has a mortgage to pay and expectations that are necessary for him to keep his job. You have to let the guy do what he needs to do to make it work.
I will be curious to see how many of the cut players end up at D1 schools. A lot of the time, the landing spot tells you everything you need to know about the state the program was in under the old regime.
Georgetown is about 55-60k a year? Do they have endowment money? Do you think it costs players very little for each player?
Georgetown University's standard financial aid deal for incoming first year students is $48,251. Around 42.0% of new students get some type of financial aid, the majority of which is scholarships and grants. Total price is 74K for tuition, room, board and miscellaneous.
@RJM posted:Georgetown University's standard financial aid deal for incoming first year students is $48,251. Around 42.0% of new students get some type of financial aid, the majority of which is scholarships and grants. Total price is 74K for tuition, room, board and miscellaneous.
My son in laws neice goes to Georgetown grad school. Small fortune but they gave her a nice financial aid deal.
