Walking Away from the SEC

The only part about this I didn't understand was, the article says the new coach was going to reduce his scholarship.   Surely he signed an NLI, how is that possible?  I mean, I get how it is done, but if he's quitting baseball, why wouldn't he just keep the scholarship he's legally signed for? did they just guilt him out of it?

Baseball is and always has been a production business.

I have been thinking about this lately upon hearing all of the conversations concerning school realignment.   Consider the fact that if you play baseball for UCLA you will have road series games in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan etc...   That is some serious travel.   At what point does this become a real problem for a student/athlete.   There are some kids that play baseball in college that don't have aspirations of being MLB drafted, and do place an emphasis on the academic side of college sports.   I know that my son is scheduled to sign with a low D1 program in this fall, and he doesn't have plans for pro sports.   He simply wants to continue to play baseball while in college.   

Will he sign an NLI for a scholarship?  Is it for one year or for four?  I would think the outcome could be quite different, depending on which it is.

I think the argument would be that if you go to a P5, you are understanding and accepting all the work and the travel and the draft goals.

When you go to the SEC, it is cut throat, good or bad.  He only batted .200 this year so I'm sure the new coach told him he would struggle with his playing time.   His father and the former coach were friends so that played a part in it.  I understand he is considering now changing schools so that may play a part in the NLI and scholarship thing also.  He would not have had to agree to the reduction in scholarship unless what they had been giving him was more than what they contracted for when he signed his NLI which does happen.  Coaches try to be good to out of state guys if they have extra money right before the year starts.

I think it should be play the best guys because as was seen by the last coach, if you don't win in the SEC, you find a new job.  So if a player does not produce, he will be looking at the field from the bench or told his services are no longer needed.

The Midwest is a big place. Even with with the old Big Ten my son played in there were a lot of 300-600 mile (5-10 hour) bus rides. If you’re in a plane flying five hours what’s the difference other than you can’t stop at BK?

My son was an academic oriented kid. He graduated high school in the top 3%. When he entered college injured and sitting out his first year he decided he was going to graduate in three years. It provided two options … 1) he would enter the draft with his degree or 2) he would have two more years of eligibility to have his MBA partially paid for.

Quality education and P5 can be balanced. Just don’t try pre med like one of his teammates who passed on baseball after two years. Or engineering.

John Urshel balanced Penn State football, being an NFL prospect and being a math major. He played in the NFL. He earned his BA and MA in Mathematics while playing P5 football. He retired from the NFL after three years to attend MIT full time for his PhD.

@PitchingFan is correct.  If the scholarship was more than originally signed for, the new coach can make adjustments. Considering last season, I would as a coach done the same thing. So would every other SEC coach.

It's too late now to go into the portal and transfer.

Wes Johnson did not get to Georgia until after the CWS. So it sounds like a matter of poor timing how everything went down.

@TPM posted:

@PitchingFan is correct.  If the scholarship was more than originally signed for, the new coach can make adjustments. Considering last season, I would as a coach done the same thing. So would every other SEC coach.

It's too late now to go into the portal and transfer.

Wes Johnson did not get to Georgia until after the CWS. So it sounds like a matter of poor timing how everything went down.

When did the portal close? I *think* he had time to enter. His cousin also at Georgia did and is now at Purdue. My older son used to play against his travel team (GoWags) frequently. Seems like he had a tough go of it the last few years. Think he was recruited as a possible two way. Then had TJ surgery. Right around the time he posted he wasn't coming back looks like he got engaged....

@nycdad posted:

When did the portal close? I *think* he had time to enter. His cousin also at Georgia did and is now at Purdue. My older son used to play against his travel team (GoWags) frequently. Seems like he had a tough go of it the last few years. Think he was recruited as a possible two way. Then had TJ surgery. Right around the time he posted he wasn't coming back looks like he got engaged....

The portal closed recently. I am just assuming by the time he got to meet with new coach he decided to stay then decided not too, for whatever reason we really don't know.

This is what often happens when coaches are replaced.

Wagner didn't necessarily quit.  He is going to be focusing on school and graduating in 3 years.  He mentions he has 2 years of eligibility left if he chooses to go to grad school...

@theleica posted:

Wagner didn't necessarily quit.  He is going to be focusing on school and graduating in 3 years.  He mentions he has 2 years of eligibility left if he chooses to go to grad school...

As of now he quit....What he does in the future may change, but even if he left to pursue his degree in 3 years...he still quit.