William and Mary

High academic college, considered one of the "public ivies". Lovely historic campus and a great town to visit, shop, and eat.  Football field located smack-dab in the middle of campus.  Nice, newer baseball facilities located a short drive off campus. Baseball (and s****r) players are the only Freshman allowed to have cars...so they can get to the field, but upperclassmen will make sure freshmen have a ride.  Coach Pinzino just finished his second year at W&M, and his first as head coach.  He led the team to the NCAA regionals this spring for the third time in school history (I think that is correct).  Bryant University, where he was the former head coach, made it to the NCAA regionals as well with many of his recruits.  Future looks bright for W&M baseball!

Thank you Keewart, and I did recive your Dialog

most of what was said is spot on...i see the staff working hard all summer

Thanks whits!

We will be visiting W&M in mid Nov for a tour/visit and  a football game. Coach kept in consistent contact with my 2015 during his summer injury and remained very positive through out which was a very reinforcing to my son during this down time. Very impressed with that and looking forward to this trip.

Very biased post!

Class of 2001.

Started 3B the day Plumeri Park opened.

Virginia College Bus Tour works out there too.

William & Mary checks of a lot of boxes for both players & parents.  

"Ivy equivalent" education packaged in a "state school" price!  I never had a TA instruct a class.  Never.  

D1 baseball.  Very strong strength of schedule.  

Beautiful and historic campus with many new modern facilities.  

Beautiful stadium.  

Smart & hard working staff.

Keep us posted on the progress.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Tribe Pride

Although my son isn't going to W&M he was recruited by them.  And from my opinion - incredible school.  Honest coaching staff.  Great program.  (Grew leaps and bound in the last year.)  I have heard that the hardest thing for the players is keeping up with the academics.  Very tough academically and slacking is not an option.  I would say W&M is touted more for a 4.0 student. 

Son is a solid 3.7 to 3.8 type of student, Hmmm...

Great school with a lot of positives.  Good luck.

BballFan brings up very important point.  

"Ivy" level academics taught by professors (not TA's) creates a tough environment.

I would know.

Played in half the games my freshman year.  Started every game sophomore year.  Grades were very bad.  Told coaches after conference tournament "thanks for the memories".

With a WM degree on the horizon there was never a thought of transferring to chase baseball.

Junior & senior year I did not play baseball.  Grades soared.  Graduated on time.  Now people commonly think I'm way smarter than I am because I have a W&M degree!  That thought fades quickly.  Just kidding.

Honestly would not have traded 2 more years of baseball for a lesser degree.  And truth be told, I was "over" baseball at the time.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

PIS & BBALL thanks for sharing, you left us with some hard thinking to do but also more prepared for the visit...

The coaches will ask for transcrips for an "academic pre-read".   Also, there is mandatory study hall (minimum hours per week for frehmen) and a full time Director of Academic Support Services.  Things are in place to help all athletes succeed.

We supplied them with transcripts from Frosh and Soph years. 3.7 was his GPA on those. He is a mostly A student with a B sometimes 2 but has no AP classes and a couple Honors. Academically this may be over his head.... we'll have to see...

What is the basis for your opinion? Comments from other parents and kids? Some data you have seen?

According to this source, W&M admits a lot of students with GPAs below 4.0

http://www.parchment.com/c/col...itter=0.5&filter[]=accepted&filterLogic[]=ge&filterVal[]=&filter[]=accepted&filterLogic[]=ge&filterVal[]=&type=undefined&type=histogram&size=medium&legend=0&legend=1&meanLines=0&meanLines=1

Rich (PIS),

Did they have the mandatory study hall and a Dir. of Academic Suport Services when you played at W&M?  I wonder if the use of tablets and laptop computers (can take on bus rides, see notes from missed classes, etc) has helped?

 As part of our research, I reviewed rosters from the 5 years prior to see if any players "dropped off" the roster that weren't seniors.  I counted 2.

At W&M Is there a minimum ACT and/or SAT score potential players must achieve before they can receive an offer? 

From what I understand, no minimum has been stated or published.  But, the higher the better to pass the pre-read.  A SAT study course will be recommended by the coach if warranted.

Maybe they assume that if you have to ask then you probably won't have a high enough score?  

I have a good friend whose son is at Georgia Tech playing football. He is a OL so we know he is smart. He said that if you don't make your grades at a D1 school it is all on you. The amount of support is unbelievable but you do have to put your mouth in the water and swallow. That being said he made Deans List Semester1 and got out of mandatory study hall. That frees up a lot of time. His other comment was that baseball players have the worst deal b/c they have 2 1/2 seasons and 3 games a week in the spring. Football is cake and bball 2nd from a time constraint.

We did a visit/tour this weekend. Absolutely beautiful campus, very stately and colonel from the outside however very new and modern on the inside. The surrounding area is very nice as well with plenty of shopping and unique restaurants. 19 kid average per class and never any TA's. The Business school was a gem. the brand new student activity building was as good as it gets. The Baseball field is a nice little 1100 capacity stadium with above average facilities and excellent playing surface. They are breaking ground on a new indoor facility on the 3rd base side this summer to be ready winter of 2015. This facility will be 4 lanes for hitting and pitching with portable mounds and 1 lane with a clay mound along with an area for workouts,stretching and bands. They also have a list of cosmetic updates that they are doing to the existing stadium/dugouts and locker rooms. They showed us the plans and it all will add a lot to the already nice complex. Coaching staff was very focused and seem to be very structured. We met the team at a football tail gate and they are a very close knit group that seems to do everything together. I believe this staff will continue the team on the up tic. My assessment is a well rounded option for the player looking for good baseball in a nice conference but play the big boys during the week, great academics, perfect size (Not too big) in a beautiful area that allows for practice on the field in Jan wit temps around 50.

Thanks for the update LeftyDad.  Is their locker room at the baseball facility?  How far from the field are the dorms?

Yes there is a locker room (getting a face lift), equipment area, coaches office, (Main office is on campus at an awesome 11,000 seat basketball arena) laundry area, bathrooms, storage area and small kitchen area with refrigerator accessible from their 1st base home dugout. The complex which includes a rather nice (very large) Soccer/LAX stadium and practice fields is just out of reach for walking at about a mile from dorms but a very easy bike ride on a quiet road.

That sounds like quite the set-up.  And for a school like William and Mary, worth the bike ride.

Best of luck to your son, Lefty, as he will have some decisions to make in the future.

Thanks again. 

Here are a bunch of pics from last summers College Bus Tour.

You'll see 1 of the most famous alumni, Thomas Jefferson, sporting a sweet hat followed by...

- Zable Stadium

- The Sunken Gardens (Jefferson modeled The Lawn at UVa after this)

- The Wren Building (oldest college building in USA I think)

- Couple of shots in Library & Business School

- Plumeri Park… sorry no shots of locker room for you.

http://www.playinschool.com/tour_pics.html#75

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Thanks Rich.

Rich thanks, the campus looks even nicer in the summer time. I have some pics I'll post later as well. We really liked the whole package. Our biggest question is will they continue on the up tic. They got a taste of Conference playoffs and Regionals last season, hopefully that will give them the boost in recruiting they need, after all its what got us there...

With all do respect, if an "up tic" in baseball is what has you or your son excited about The College of William & Mary, then y'all are missing the big picture.

The big picture includes names like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe & John Tyler. The big picture is that The College is over 300 years old.  

So, while I hope they win a CWS soon and I hope your son is on that team, try to keep in mind the big picture.

Trust me when I tell you that 30 seconds after he graduates nobody will ever care that he played baseball there or what his ERA or BA was.  But everybody will know what that WM degree stands for.  Big picture.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

WM - 2001

Where did I say that ??? But since you mentioned it, everyone loves to win! Combine that will all the other stuff and W&M is all that and a bag chips.

PIS - Wouldn't it be pretty fair to say that a number of prospective employers would actually care quite a bit that a young man played four years of college varsity athletics, given the dedication and perseverance necessary to do so?   Even more so while attending an academically challenging school like W&M? 

Lefty - "Our biggest question is will they continue on the up tic."  Your words from above.  Struck me odd that that is your biggest question.  Perhaps I misread it though.  The academic reputation is quite well known which left you with no doubts about that part.  That would make sense.

Like2Rake - Absolutely.  I've said that a million times.  I should edit my above comments… yes employers care that students participated.  College athletes are sought after by companies.  Part 2 of that comment is what I was trying to stress… an ERA or BA is irrelevant compared to the degree.  Especially from W&M.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

I hear nothing but positive remarks about W&M. 

My son is very interested in this school, but it appears their entire roster is made up of VA locals. Is that the case? Don't want him wasting his time with a school that can't take him.

LHPMom2012,  I just checked the current roster and 13 out of 32 are from out of state.  I think that is a fairly good percentage of out of state players for a state school.

http://www.tribeathletics.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25100&SPID=80822&SPSID=606361

LHPMom2012,

My two cents....If your son is very interested in W&M he should pursue it whether he is in-state, out-of-state or from the next galaxy.  It is a shot worth taking whether it includes baseball or not.  If your son is qualified, I'd let W&M tell you "yes or no" and not make assumptions.

My father teaches in the MBA program and tells me all the great things going on at this school (undergrad and graduate), and in the community.  This is not one you want to cross off your list willy nilly.  Their President is doing great things, and just had his contract extended.  Their baseball program had a successful 2013 season under new mgt, and appears to be on the right track.  If your son is an established LHP that is a great way to start the conversation with their coaches.

Good luck!

Not True, my son is from out of state and some very positive things have resulted from our visit last week.

Pinzino to OU to be the pitching coach.  Murphy will be Interim HC.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Wow, that was a quick stop in Williamsburg.

LeftyDad

Time will tell.  

Lesson to be learned, coaches come & go.  Its part of the deal.  Make sure your son is making decisions that are not about the coaching staff.  Decisions need to be about big picture items.  

It may be hard for kids to understand that coaches want/need to move around some.  They have to do what is best for them and their families.  

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com