Anyone have any information/background about UC Irvine? Anyone have a kid attend or play there who can share some feedback on school and program?
They have a new head coach (though he was assistant for 5 years) and they play solid competition. Any words of wisdom are appreciated.
Thank you!
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You are in LA... take him down to spend a few hours on campus when school is in. It is a beautiful campus and facility. The area really has it's own subculture and demographic and your son will get a feel for fit or not if he does so. Serious, subdued, studious, a bit sterile was my and son's take in a very brief snapshot but it totally depends on perspective. It has a long-standing tradition as a very strong baseball program and would be a dream school for many.
bsbl247 was a long standing member here who has a son that was an Anteater. He has not been around for a while but you might want to PM him to see if he responds.
My sons team opened at Irvine a few years back and surprisingly won the series. I believe that was the year that they went to the CWS, or maybe it was a year later. Beautiful park, great campus and a high academic state school. Not sure you could go wrong if they are showing the love. I've heard good things about the new coach but nithing first hand.
Agree with Cabbage, go check it out. Talk to some current players and get a feel for the culture.
Good luck
I've seen a few games at UCI, good program as mentioned above. Area around the campus is worth just the visit. Great academics, you will never go wrong with a degree from there.
Son did a UV there, and got to spend a few hours with Coach Orloff. He is high energy and likely to do well there, IMO. Good academic school, nice stadium, good conference (Big West) and they also play a good nonconference schedule (e.g., last year they split two games with UCLA, split two games with USC, took 2 of 3 from Oregon, and 1 of 3 from TCU). Like most California state schools, the baseball roster is 100% in-state. Also, it is a large school (close to 30,000 undergrads), so it depends on what your son is looking for.
Son looked closely at UCI. Very solid program with talent - Keston Hiura was a first rounder last year and Royce Lewis was committed there. Like most of the Big West conference they don't recruit early - they really don't have to since there is so much talent in SoCal and many kids like to stay local. They play small ball and value speed and defense. Campus is minutes from some of the best beaches you'll find anywhere.
