Any recent information on coaches, facilities, etc?
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Hey I attended NEO for 2 years for the 2009 / 2010.And my younger brother currently pitches there and will be a sophomore this next year. Roger Ward the head coach is a great guy and if you want to learn a thing or 2 about hitting he can put you in the right direction (Father is Gary Ward(father) and Rocky Ward(brother)both coach at New Mexico State University). Gary ward is one of the if not the best hitting coach in the country.
Roger Ward: Basically every kids dream for a head coach, he is alot of fun and will definitely get out there and have fun with you when the time is right (pre - practice flip sessions that get pretty intense). He has good understanding of his dads hitting system although with being understaffed, as most JUCO's are, You will have to spend a little extra time in the cage getting their swing philosophy down.
Coach Wickert(idk how to spell it): former minor league pitcher, is really avid on keeping his pitchers in shape so you will do plenty of running/swimming and arm band workouts which are great, but he slightly overdoes it I believe as alot of the velocity you will gain in the fall disappears from most likely pitchers arms being dead/tired from his workouts. For as a pitching coach mechanically his philosophy is pretty bad as he really wont be able to help you out all that much on fixing anything wrong your experiencing mechanically....his philosophy is just throw it harder. But if your looking to add velo his workouts will get you there (Little brother went from average 82ish fball to 86-87 when they showcased at Oklahoma State and Oral Robers).
There will be another assistant but it has changed every year so cant really comment.
College itself:NEO like any other juco isnt challenging in the classroom, the town is decent size and has walmart and couple of restaurants in town so it has enough. Joplin is only about 20 minutes drive so if Miami doesnt have it just head there......fball team there is a joke to watch and is the laughing stock of the school.....Girls / boys basketball are always really really good and worth watching.
Rooming: You will get assigned a roomate and you live in a dorm environment with community bathroom and showers so dont forget your flip flops.You can pay extra for your own room which i believe is like 275 ish a semester but dont quote me on that.
Shirley - she is like your dorm mom basically and runs the whole building. So as a forewarning dont hide alcohol in your baseball bag if its 9/10 at night...she will check it. She gets annoying with all her checks but its w/e just deal with it and hide your stuff inside your hoodies (Never fails!)
Facilities: Facilities are not on par with the likes of Seminole and Connors, but there are indoor cages and if your really there to work on hitting or something its got what you need. The Field last I saw it was in good condition, infield is leveled and plays pretty smooth. Outfield grass has trouble staying green, but your not running into any holes or anything.
Fun fact about the field: When the Neosho River, I think its called, floods the whole field will literally be under a couple feet of water depending on how much it rains. And afterwards you can go find fish on the field.
Conference: I'm really not sure what the outside view of this conference is nationally, but I will say that with Seminole and Eastern all of their starters for conference will have Division 1 ability on the mound. Both Seminole and Eastern normally have at least a couple guys a year between them that are gonna bring mid 90's+ and have good stuff.
Hitting:Seminole/Eastern/NEO will all be able to hit and will all be sending agood portion of their guys to big name D1 programs and or drafted.
NEO baseball: You will always be right at the top of the conference fighting for the title with Seminole / Easter /Connors. 2 push over teams of the conference are arkansas baptist and Rose state (although they have started getting decent players and can compete a little bit now). Coach Ward expects nothing less then being in the title hunt at the end of the season.
Scout Visibility: There always a couple in the stands when you play against Seminole/Easter/Connors so there is plenty of chance to be seen
After NEO: Neo best players normally end up at New Mexico State University with his dad and older brother. Coach Wichert has a connection with William Jewel which is a top NAIA in kansas. Those are the 2 main places off the top of my head. I knew Oklahoma State takes a guy every once in a while to, but 85% of the time if your good and D1 eligible to grades he will try to get you to go to NMSU.
Anything I missed or anything else you want to know about NEO just lemme know (yay adhd for late night writing)
Roger Ward: Basically every kids dream for a head coach, he is alot of fun and will definitely get out there and have fun with you when the time is right (pre - practice flip sessions that get pretty intense). He has good understanding of his dads hitting system although with being understaffed, as most JUCO's are, You will have to spend a little extra time in the cage getting their swing philosophy down.
Coach Wickert(idk how to spell it): former minor league pitcher, is really avid on keeping his pitchers in shape so you will do plenty of running/swimming and arm band workouts which are great, but he slightly overdoes it I believe as alot of the velocity you will gain in the fall disappears from most likely pitchers arms being dead/tired from his workouts. For as a pitching coach mechanically his philosophy is pretty bad as he really wont be able to help you out all that much on fixing anything wrong your experiencing mechanically....his philosophy is just throw it harder. But if your looking to add velo his workouts will get you there (Little brother went from average 82ish fball to 86-87 when they showcased at Oklahoma State and Oral Robers).
There will be another assistant but it has changed every year so cant really comment.
College itself:NEO like any other juco isnt challenging in the classroom, the town is decent size and has walmart and couple of restaurants in town so it has enough. Joplin is only about 20 minutes drive so if Miami doesnt have it just head there......fball team there is a joke to watch and is the laughing stock of the school.....Girls / boys basketball are always really really good and worth watching.
Rooming: You will get assigned a roomate and you live in a dorm environment with community bathroom and showers so dont forget your flip flops.You can pay extra for your own room which i believe is like 275 ish a semester but dont quote me on that.
Shirley - she is like your dorm mom basically and runs the whole building. So as a forewarning dont hide alcohol in your baseball bag if its 9/10 at night...she will check it. She gets annoying with all her checks but its w/e just deal with it and hide your stuff inside your hoodies (Never fails!)
Facilities: Facilities are not on par with the likes of Seminole and Connors, but there are indoor cages and if your really there to work on hitting or something its got what you need. The Field last I saw it was in good condition, infield is leveled and plays pretty smooth. Outfield grass has trouble staying green, but your not running into any holes or anything.
Fun fact about the field: When the Neosho River, I think its called, floods the whole field will literally be under a couple feet of water depending on how much it rains. And afterwards you can go find fish on the field.
Conference: I'm really not sure what the outside view of this conference is nationally, but I will say that with Seminole and Eastern all of their starters for conference will have Division 1 ability on the mound. Both Seminole and Eastern normally have at least a couple guys a year between them that are gonna bring mid 90's+ and have good stuff.
Hitting:Seminole/Eastern/NEO will all be able to hit and will all be sending agood portion of their guys to big name D1 programs and or drafted.
NEO baseball: You will always be right at the top of the conference fighting for the title with Seminole / Easter /Connors. 2 push over teams of the conference are arkansas baptist and Rose state (although they have started getting decent players and can compete a little bit now). Coach Ward expects nothing less then being in the title hunt at the end of the season.
Scout Visibility: There always a couple in the stands when you play against Seminole/Easter/Connors so there is plenty of chance to be seen
After NEO: Neo best players normally end up at New Mexico State University with his dad and older brother. Coach Wichert has a connection with William Jewel which is a top NAIA in kansas. Those are the 2 main places off the top of my head. I knew Oklahoma State takes a guy every once in a while to, but 85% of the time if your good and D1 eligible to grades he will try to get you to go to NMSU.
Anything I missed or anything else you want to know about NEO just lemme know (yay adhd for late night writing)
Oh and he has ideal players in mind for positions(I believe for the most part) So lemme know what position you play and I can lend you that info to....I.E I know for his catcher he wants a hitter more then anything else.
