Seeking info/recommendations on the West Virginia and Arkansas D2 programs for a D1 ACC pitching transfer. I'm fairly familiar with Southern Ark Muleriders success/facilities. Somewhat Henderson Reddies (Ark), who seem to have nice D2 facilities and a solid program. I know very little about others facilities, academics, or college-to-pro draft success and would appreciate words of advice or info.
Thanks!
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I don't have any recommendations, but here's the list of D2 baseball schools sorted by state.
BK,
Just went through this (D1 pitching transfer) with my oldest. Looked solely at smaller, Southern D2 and D3 programs. For him (and us), getting a solid education in an environment with smaller class sizes was a priority. We wanted a small school (student population) environment overall, with a good graduation rate, career services, etc. And we wanted a school that was focused on undergraduate education, so that left off many larger schools.
Baseball wise, we looked at competitive D2 and D3 conferences where programs were nationally ranked, players were getting placed in good Summer leagues, and where there was a track record of players drafted. He also wanted good baseball facilities and excellent strength / conditioning facilities.
And he wanted nice weather so the focus was in the South and West.
We used US News and Forbes ranking lists to sort schools and come up with his list. With the above requirements, his list of schools was small. No AR or WV D2's fit our requirements, though we had an AR D3. His final D2's were in FL, TX, and TN.
Would D3 be a consideration?
Just sent you a PM, reference WV D2 schools. I have had a few of my players head that direction.
Branson Baseball posted:BK,
Just went through this (D1 pitching transfer) with my oldest. Looked solely at smaller, Southern D2 and D3 programs. For him (and us), getting a solid education in an environment with smaller class sizes was a priority. We wanted a small school (student population) environment overall, with a good graduation rate, career services, etc. And we wanted a school that was focused on undergraduate education, so that left off many larger schools.
Baseball wise, we looked at competitive D2 and D3 conferences where programs were nationally ranked, players were getting placed in good Summer leagues, and where there was a track record of players drafted. He also wanted good baseball facilities and excellent strength / conditioning facilities.
And he wanted nice weather so the focus was in the South and West.
We used US News and Forbes ranking lists to sort schools and come up with his list. With the above requirements, his list of schools was small. No AR or WV D2's fit our requirements, though we had an AR D3. His final D2's were in FL, TX, and TN.
Would D3 be a consideration?
Unfortunately, only exploring D1 to D2 and MAYBE a D1 to D1 at the moment.
SAU is going to be the best D2 program in Arkansas. Henderson is on the rise and has a nice field. I would look into UA-Ft Smith. New coach that I have gotten to know and he is a top notch hitting coach. The campus is very nice and is mostly newer buildings. The baseball field is ok, but nothing great. Ft Smith is about 80k and is an hour south of Fayetteville so there will be access to a lot more to do than the other D2's in state. We played at Henderson this Summer and the field was the nicest part of the school. Everything seemed old and not in the classic college way, more in the 1970's and needs updating way. The whole town seemed like that. The town has another college, OBU, across the street. All of the growth in Arkansas is in the NW part of the state from Fayetteville up to Bentonville due to Wal Mart. There are a lot of career opportunities in that area.
If you are looking at D1 in Arkansas besides Univ of Arkansas, consider Univ of Central Arkansas. Rapidly growing college, nice facilities, great coach. Made the NCAAT a few years ago. Feel free to PM me or ask any questions on here.
d-mac posted:If you are looking at D1 in Arkansas besides Univ of Arkansas, consider Univ of Central Arkansas. Rapidly growing college, nice facilities, great coach. Made the NCAAT a few years ago. Feel free to PM me or ask any questions on here.
My son was offered and visited UCA. Really liked Coach Gumm/Black. Nice developing program. It's on the radar if D1 becomes the final decision.
d-mac posted:SAU is going to be the best D2 program in Arkansas. Henderson is on the rise and has a nice field. I would look into UA-Ft Smith. New coach that I have gotten to know and he is a top notch hitting coach. The campus is very nice and is mostly newer buildings. The baseball field is ok, but nothing great. Ft Smith is about 80k and is an hour south of Fayetteville so there will be access to a lot more to do than the other D2's in state. We played at Henderson this Summer and the field was the nicest part of the school. Everything seemed old and not in the classic college way, more in the 1970's and needs updating way. The whole town seemed like that. The town has another college, OBU, across the street. All of the growth in Arkansas is in the NW part of the state from Fayetteville up to Bentonville due to Wal Mart. There are a lot of career opportunities in that area.
Thoughts on Ark Tech Wonderboys in Russeville or Harding Bisons in Searcy?
BK_Razorback posted:d-mac posted:SAU is going to be the best D2 program in Arkansas. Henderson is on the rise and has a nice field. I would look into UA-Ft Smith. New coach that I have gotten to know and he is a top notch hitting coach. The campus is very nice and is mostly newer buildings. The baseball field is ok, but nothing great. Ft Smith is about 80k and is an hour south of Fayetteville so there will be access to a lot more to do than the other D2's in state. We played at Henderson this Summer and the field was the nicest part of the school. Everything seemed old and not in the classic college way, more in the 1970's and needs updating way. The whole town seemed like that. The town has another college, OBU, across the street. All of the growth in Arkansas is in the NW part of the state from Fayetteville up to Bentonville due to Wal Mart. There are a lot of career opportunities in that area.
Thoughts on Ark Tech Wonderboys in Russeville or Harding Bisons in Searcy?
Have talked to Coach McGaha of Harding a lot and he is a good guy, very detailed and great at answering all of your questions. Their facilities are probably some of the nicest out of the GAC and a great campus too. Have about 7000 enrolled in the school and usually finish in the middle of the conference in baseball.
BK_Razorback posted:d-mac posted:SAU is going to be the best D2 program in Arkansas. Henderson is on the rise and has a nice field. I would look into UA-Ft Smith. New coach that I have gotten to know and he is a top notch hitting coach. The campus is very nice and is mostly newer buildings. The baseball field is ok, but nothing great. Ft Smith is about 80k and is an hour south of Fayetteville so there will be access to a lot more to do than the other D2's in state. We played at Henderson this Summer and the field was the nicest part of the school. Everything seemed old and not in the classic college way, more in the 1970's and needs updating way. The whole town seemed like that. The town has another college, OBU, across the street. All of the growth in Arkansas is in the NW part of the state from Fayetteville up to Bentonville due to Wal Mart. There are a lot of career opportunities in that area.
Thoughts on Ark Tech Wonderboys in Russeville or Harding Bisons in Searcy?
I know the least about Harding so I will defer to BigHurt's post. Arkansas Tech is a good school, especially for engineering. Their problem is that UA-Ft Smith used to be a JUCO and they used to get a lot of students from Ft Smith. Ark Tech is sandwiched between UAFS and UCA which are two colleges that are experiencing tremendous growth. Due to it being harder to attract students they have been pretty generous with academic scholarship money so that could be a plus. Tech has a very nice field and stadium. We played a tournament there last year and it was a great place to watch a game. One other thing to keep in mind is that UAFS is not part of the GAC, which means they have to travel a lot more. That would be a big negative for me and probably hurts them quite a bit in recruiting.
BK Razorback...sent you a PM
