An alternative to Firing Gene Stephenson...

[Shockerman]

People are frustrated not only about this season but the direction of the program. Baseball is a funny game but is not one that "passes"
someone by. Gene Stephenson was a phenomenal coach in the 80's and 90's and is still one today. I don't know the inner workings of the program but if I understand correctly, we have a pretty weak recruting budget and can only recruit x number of out of state players. Recruiting the cream of the crop from Oklahoma, KS, and MO is not going to cut it anymore as we are no longer getting the best players out of the region.

Why can't we develop a new position within the baseball program that handles a nationwide recruiting effort that is not hamstrung with some of the in state scholarship stuff. Preferably a former shocker player that is a GS guy. Schermerhorn or Hooper types that know what to look for. The whole point of this thread is that before we start the fire GS bandwagon up (be careful what you wish for) we need to make sure we have done everything possible to give this program the tools it needs for success in the BCS era of college baseball. If this means we need to restructure some contracts in the program so be it.

[ABC]

Are we not "getting" the best players in Kansas, or is Kansas not producing as good of players anymore?

What players have we missed on?

[WuDrWu]

There was something posted about what Gene made and how much budget he has to work with and what the mix of "local" players needed to be to meet that budget.

I have no idea how much or if all that was 100% factual, but if it is, I still place the burden on the coach.

Bottom line is there are X amount of dollars going to the program. If Gene is putting X-$1000 in his pocket for salary, then he has X for everything else.

If he needs more for recruiting, maybe the $463000 salary needs to come down a bit.

Just my .02

[wushock]

I believe his budget is enough to handle national recruiting.

[SubGod22]

I believe his budget is enough to handle national recruiting.

I get the feeling that the staff doesn't care to recruit nationally. Too much time and energy perhaps?

[shockersince71]

When is the last time Gene left town to recruit?
I heard, and if I'm wrong I am sorry, that he
doesn't leave the area any longer to recruit and
leaves the recruiting to his staff.

[DUShock]

Re: An alternative to Firing Gene Stephenson...

People are frustrated not only about this season but the direction of the program. Baseball is a funny game but is not one that "passes"
someone by. Gene Stephenson was a phenomenal coach in the 80's and 90's and is still one today. I don't know the inner workings of the program but if I understand correctly, we have a pretty weak recruting budget and can only recruit x number of out of state players. Recruiting the cream of the crop from Oklahoma, KS, and MO is not going to cut it anymore as we are no longer getting the best players out of the region.

Why can't we develop a new position within the baseball program that handles a nationwide recruiting effort that is not hamstrung with some of the in state scholarship stuff. Preferably a former shocker player that is a GS guy. Schermerhorn or Hooper types that know what to look for. The whole point of this thread is that before we start the fire GS bandwagon up (be careful what you wish for) we need to make sure we have done everything possible to give this program the tools it needs for success in the BCS era of college baseball. If this means we need to restructure some contracts in the program so be it.

Step away from the punch bowl!

[shox1989]

I believe his budget is enough to handle national recruiting.

All I know is that when Gene left for Ou for a day, he said his recruiting budget was going to be some huge (like 12 times) factor larger than he had at WSU.

But part of the problem is that his WSU Contract requires that he gets 1/3 of his players from Kansas (12 players). If there aren't 12 really good division 1 players during a particular time we are hurt. Especially if a few of the good Kansas players go to KSU and Ku or anywhere else for that matter.
He is required to have 12 regardless. Some years that probably isn't a problem other years it can be a big problem.

[ShockTalk]

I believe his budget is enough to handle national recruiting.

All I know is that when Gene left for Ou for a day, he said his recruiting budget was going to be some huge (like 12 times) factor larger than he had at WSU.

But part of the problem is that his WSU Contract requires that he gets 1/3 of his players from Kansas (12 players). If there aren't 12 really good division 1 players during a particular time we are hurt. Especially if a few of the good Kansas players go to KSU and Ku or anywhere else for that matter.
He is required to have 12 regardless. Some years that probably isn't a problem other years it can be a big problem.

I think that 12 player requirement needs to be reduced. Now that KU and K St are putting a bigger effort into their program, they are getting some of the best KS players, yet only have, maybe, 7-8 KS players on the roster. That puts a very unfair disadvantage to WSU's program, contributes to its down turn, which leads to less revenue to the Athletic Department.

When WSU does hire a new coach, if they want a quality one, I'm sure this would be a stumbling block to getting him unless the requirement is removed.

[XManCometh]

Are we not "getting" the best players in Kansas, or is Kansas not producing as good of players anymore?

What players have we missed on?

Didn't get Jake Marasco (Kansas) and he was in our backyard.
Aaron Crow went to Missouri. He's from Topeka. Playing for the Royals now.
Matt Applegate is at K-State. He went to North.
Jake Brown at K-State is from Russell. Born in Wichita. Starting at 2nd for KSU.
Jordan Jakubov went to Maize, he's at KU.
Sam Stucky is at Nebraska, he's from McPherson.

I'm not saying these guys are world beaters, but Big 12 teams wanted them. So there is talent in Kansas, but we're not getting all of it.

[DaShox]

I have a cousin who has been featured on "ESPN Rise" (much like Perry Ellis has) and has committed to a PAC-10 school. The MLB stories are interesting. He chose to stay at home (hey, I tried!).

My point is that, by and large, college baseball is regional and not coast to coast recruiting like college basketball. Yes, there are the Area Code Games in California. Take a look at the MaxPreps 100 site below and you'll find that the committments, by and large, stay in their region or home state. UNC dips into Texas, which we need to do a lot more, but they are not casting a wide net and consistently venturing out to the west coast.

As you will see, MaxPreps has the #1 high school player in Gardner, KS. The #4 & #5 are in Oklahoma and a lot more Okies down the list. Yes, that's a shot across the bow. In 2009, Garret Gould (Maize) was #29 by MaxPreps and signed with us. However, he went pro. In 2006, Peter Kozma (SS/2B) was the #11 rated high school prospect in the country. Kozma committed to us but went pro. He is from Oklahoma and currently at AAA. Derek Norris was another we lost to the pro's.


SB......who is the stud pitcher at Valley Center?

http://www.maxpreps.com/baseball-recruiting/baseball-spring-11/Z3orYSTTEeCGDwAcxJSkrA/2011-top-100/top-recruits.htm

[SB Shock]

SB......who is the stud pitcher at Valley Center?


http://www.maxpreps.com/baseball-rec...p-recruits.htm

Nate Williams. Wsu went after him but he chose Hill and ksu. Surprisingly - kemnitz was a non-factor in the discussion. My perception is KSU impressed upon how much they wanted and recruited him hard while wsu just kind of expected him to jump at whatever scraps they threw at him.

[DaShox]

Thanks. It has been said 15 MLB teams are after him. It would be surprising if he actually ever makes it to Manhattan.

[DaShox]

As of May 2, 2009, Loren Hibbs Charlotte 49'ers are ranked #25. 22 of 31 players are from North Carolina.

North Carolina is ranked #17. 18 of 31 players are from North Carolina. 1 from Kansas.

Oklahoma St is ranked #19. They have always had a high ratio of California juco's. In 2009, OSU had #1 high school recruit Mychal Givens (FL) and he never played for them.

Oklahoma is ranked #15. OU has 12 players from Oklahoma. 4 from California. 1 from Kansas. 14 from Texas. 1 from NJ. 1 from Lousiana.


WSU signed 10 players in the fall: Eastern Oklahoma State pitcher Brandon Bargas, a lefty who played one season at Oklahoma; Moore (Okla.) lefty Kyle Vail; Cowley College utility player Aaron Rea; Maize outfielder Conner Knight; Shawnee Heights utility player Tyler Baker; pitcher A.J. Ladwig of Omaha’s Millard West; first baseman Casey Gillaspie of Omaha’s Millard North; Lincoln (Neb.) Southeast outfielder Taylor Doggett, Cherokee Trail (Colo.) outfielder Mikel Mucha and St. Louis DeSmet pitcher Kyle Bouman, Sam Hall (Ogden, Utah)

http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2011/01/27/new-baseball-recruit-for-wichita-state/

Nebraska, OU, OSU, Missouri, are not keeping it all at home either.

[lostshocker]

in nebraska's case, from what i have heard is many of the high school coaches cant stand andersen and things are reverting to the sanders' era of not getting nebraska kids at nebraska.