Wake Forest Commit

Congratulations!!

Glad to have you aboard! PM me, Baseballbuzz or Baseballdad1228 if you want to establish contact with any future families.

Always glad to hear good things about the new coaching team. Looking forward to meeting them myself this fall.

Great news.

Awesome news! Maybe we can meet up in the stands someday.

Congratulations to Jack! When he arrives at Wake, he'll be joining some great ballplayers from the state of Maryland! Congrats and best of luck!

Congrats! I have known the athletic director at Wake Forest, Ron Wellman, for 20 years. He is the best and a former baseball coach, too. He will provide all the support it takes to establish a winner again in Winston Salem. I bet the new staff has great success.

Congratulations!

Igball--Congratulations to Jack. Now, please help me out with how this sort of thing happens (I am not doubting the kid or Wake or anything--I really want to know how this happens). How does a player from a Catholic school in Chicago end up at Wake Forest University to play baseball.

(1) Are there not enough quality NC, SC, GA, FL, VA, and MD players to round out Wake's roster?

(2) Did Northwestern and Illinois and Michigan etc. all ignore this kid?

(3) How big is St. Ignatius and what were his numbers in HS and travel ball?

(4) Did he play travel ball in the Mid-Atlantic, or did Wake see him at a PG event, or did he attend a Wake camp?

(5) Why did he choose Wake over other schools (I am assuming he had options)?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I am trying to figure out recruiting, and when I see what appears to be something out of the ordinary, I am curious and want to know why and how it happened (like the NC 2011 who is already committed to LSU).

Thanks again.

WF was founded by the NC Baptist Convention. Even though I don't think it is central to University life anymore, the association is still very important. Baptist Hospital for example. Duke was founded by the Methodist Church - though few would associate the two anymore - yet the seminary turns out theologians and there is beautiful Duke Chapel.

(FYI to those who don't know - both schools also moved locations - Duke from Randolph County in the 20's and WF from Wake Forest 50 years ago.)

I've been wanting to ask this question and it seems to fit in here:

I've heard the reason many schools recruit out of state players is to increase the value of scholarships. In other words, if out of state is worth $5,000 a semester and instate $1,000, the average cost to attend as a ball player is increased the more OOS's on the roster. 25% of 3,000 is a better offer. Obviously this is more relevant to state schools, but it makes sense to me. I just don't know if it is true.

Welcome to Jack and the Fischer family! We look forward to meeting you soon.

quote:

Originally posted by rhobbs:
I am trying to figure out recruiting, and when I see what appears to be something out of the ordinary, I am curious and want to know why and how it happened (like the NC 2011 who is already committed to LSU).

igball - for starters - congrats to your son! Secondly, I wouldn't answer most of the questions on rhobbs list publicly as some of that might come back and hurt your son. Plus, imho that is all your personal business and no one else needs to know unless you decide to share with them.

Finally, rhobbs - this is the ordinary situation imho for the talented ball player. The best players in the country in general play in the south and in the west because of the climate and competition. Who would want to play in cold and windy Chicago in the spring when they could be out on the field in warm North Carolina against some of the best competition in the country. I am guessing it was a no brainer for the young man.

quote:

I really want to know how this happens). How does a player from a Catholic school in Chicago end up at Wake Forest University to play baseball.

(1) Are there not enough quality NC, SC, GA, FL, VA, and MD players to round out Wake's roster?

(2) Did Northwestern and Illinois and Michigan etc. all ignore this kid?

(3) How big is St. Ignatius and what were his numbers in HS and travel ball?

(4) Did he play travel ball in the Mid-Atlantic, or did Wake see him at a PG event, or did he attend a Wake camp?

(5) Why did he choose Wake over other schools (I am assuming he had options)?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I am trying to figure out recruiting, and when I see what appears to be something out of the ordinary, I am curious and want to know why and how it happened (like the NC 2011 who is already committed to LSU).

I knew several guys who went there. I don't think religion enters into it. My son's school was a strong Southern Baptist and he is non of the above.

That's 2 2010 shortstops out of Chicago Catholic Schools going South. Brother Rice's Kevin Koziol is has verbally committed to LSU.


Crusaders' Koziol commits to LSU

hobbs

I don't know what religion has to do with anything here but my son, from NY, played at New Mexico State---how did he get there ?--it just seemed to happen (marketing)--coaches talk about players and that is how it came about---he redshirted his frosh year and then started the next four years and was never seen by the coaching staff during his HS years--he went there on the word of coaches who were friends---in fact, ten years later I am still in touch with the coaches even though they are at different programs now.

quote:

(1) Are there not enough quality NC, SC, GA, FL, VA, and MD players to round out Wake's roster?

(2) Did Northwestern and Illinois and Michigan etc. all ignore this kid?

(3) How big is St. Ignatius and what were his numbers in HS and travel ball?

(4) Did he play travel ball in the Mid-Atlantic, or did Wake see him at a PG event, or did he attend a Wake camp?

(5) Why did he choose Wake over other schools (I am assuming he had options)?

Answers:

1. Maybe there are plenty of kids from the immediate area, but what difference does that make? From Wake's perspective, I'm sure the coaches don't care where you're from. If you can play and you can cut it academically and the coaches like you, you could be from Egypt for all they care. For the player, it's not unusual for a northern kid who feels he can really play to want to head to southern climes, esp. to play ACC or SEC.

2. I don't know, but in my very biased opinion, Wake offers as good or better academics and a higher level of baseball competition. So even if they did go after him, I would hope we would win out!

3. I don't know his numbers, and in travel ball they usually aren't even kept. Evaluations tend to be more subjective when scouting travel ball -- tools, attitude, competitiveness. A kid who hits a lot of line outs is going to rate more highly than the kid who hits lots of safe bloopers and bleeders.

4. His WWBA profile indicates he made a point of attending several WWBA events over the years, joining different teams to do so. Yet another testament to the power of those events. (And yet tonight, I had a conversation with yet another Legion coach who told me those tourneys are really only helpful for pitchers. Sour grapes!)

5. Why wouldn't you? Take your top 30 major national universities using, say, the U.S. News & World Report rankings. How many of them offer college baseball at the highest level, either as top programs in their own rights, or in a top conference, or both? You can argue about particular schools if you want, but if you can pick your top 10 out of those and not include Wake, you're dead wrong!

Wake made a recruiting run at my son from the Chicago Area a couple of years ago after reading his stats from a showcase and not yet having seen him. Seems they cast a wide net.

In addition, my sons NY college team boasts an all American shortstop from NC who was all state there.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:

5. Why wouldn't you? Take your top 30 major national universities using, say, the U.S. News & World Report rankings. How many of them offer college baseball at the highest level, either as top programs in their own rights, or in a top conference, or both? You can argue about particular schools if you want, but if you can pick your top 10 out of those and not include Wake, you're dead wrong!

Interesting thought. Just off the top of my head, without access to the USNWR list...

UCLA
Vandy
Duke
Stanford

Who am I missing???

CPLZ:

Here are some you are missing:

USC
Virginia
North Carolina
Rice
California
Texas???

I hesitate to make a list because inevitably someone will take offense at being omitted!

But throwing caution to the winds, here are schools in USNW's top 30 that either have nationally rated baseball programs, or are in top conferences, or both:

4. Stanford
8. Duke
17. Rice
18. Notre Dame (tied)
18. Vanderbilt (tied)
21. Cal-Berkeley
23. UVA
25. UCLA
27. USC
28. Wake Forest
30. UNC

OK, that's actually 11. (To be honest, I'm not sure what the baseball situation is at Cal.) And there are many excellent options nipping at the heels on the list. And the list shifts year to year, there's not much difference between the closely ranked schools if indeed you put any stock in these kinds of rankings at all. (I think UNC was higher in the prior year's poll, as one example.)

An omission that just jumped out at me would be Miami...their baseball is far superior to many on that list and I believe their academics are pretty stellar also...

The one that I wouldn't agree with is Cal-Berkley, and Notre Dame is hanging onto it by fingernails.

I didn't realize that USC and UNC were that highly regarded academically.

Miami is ranked #51 in USNWR. Hopkins and Emory are in the top 30 and represent two D3 powers.

Just to be clear, I'm not here to denigrate anyone else's school, I was just kind of mystified at the person wondering why someone from Illinois would be interested in Wake Forest. As if there weren't plenty of good reason to be interested!

So hey, let's keep this thread focused on the Demon Deacons, and not hijack it into something else!

Two of the greatest qualities in this country are freedom of choice and association (let's hope they endure). Recruiters are, for the most part, not provincial in who they go after for their team and kids are not usually provincial in determining which school is the right fit for them.

To answer one question, yes my son had offers from midwest schools (as well as other ACC schools) but this school offered the best combination of academics, baseball and overall fit for our situation.

To answer anther question, playing in the top level tournaments (WWBA 17U, Jupiter, etc) and attending the Stanford camp played an important role in the process.

quote:

The one that I wouldn't agree with is Cal-Berkley, and Notre Dame is hanging onto it by fingernails.

Why wouldn't you agree with Cal? Academics or baseball? I suspect baseball...their baseball team has been quite a bit better than USC's over the past 5 years...and produced a lot of very high draft picks.

Keeping in mind that we're talking about the "enemy" here as far as my older son is concerned, if we're talking (academics + baseball)...it would definitely be in the very top tier.

For most academically-minded kids growing up in California, Cal would definitely be on their "dream list" along with Stanford, UCLA and USC.

quote:

Originally posted by justbaseball:

quote:

The one that I wouldn't agree with is Cal-Berkley, and Notre Dame is hanging onto it by fingernails.

Why wouldn't you agree with Cal? Academics or baseball? I suspect baseball...

Yup, that was my reason, certainly not academics. It probably has more to do with geographic proximity and the limitations of news radiation, but rarely do I hear Cal-Berkley brought up in college baseball discussions. I realize USC has been underachieving for years, but their past history and name make them quite a bit more visible.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
So hey, let's keep this thread focused on the Demon Deacons, and not hijack it into something else!

Demon what?

igball,
Congratulations.

Not sure why anyone has to go burst the bubble with negative questions that are no ones business.

No one can answer those questions but the coach that recruited him.

quote:

Originally posted by igball:
Two of the greatest qualities in this country are freedom of choice and association (let's hope they endure). Recruiters are, for the most part, not provincial in who they go after for their team and kids are not usually provincial in determining which school is the right fit for them.

To answer one question, yes my son had offers from midwest schools (as well as other ACC schools) but this school offered the best combination of academics, baseball and overall fit for our situation.

To answer anther question, playing in the top level tournaments (WWBA 17U, Jupiter, etc) and attending the Stanford camp played an important role in the process.

Yes sir, we're going to get along just fine, igball. I look forward to meeting you and your son. Welcome to the Deacon family.

I'm very happy that Wake Forest and Duke are working hard to build their baseball teams. You have to look further afield to that, imho. No problem here. I think they both have very interesting history and didn't know if others knew.

We are very fortunate in North Carolina.

How exciting to be recruited by one of the big 4! Congrats.

Someday I'll ask Rob Kremer how a kid from Oregon would up at Duke!

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
Someday I'll ask Rob Kremer how a kid from Oregon would up at Duke!

Great to hear some good news. I have some to share too. Pop Ups son had all the big programs after him but after much debate, he settled on Star Fleet Academy.