2023 AAC Tournament

[shoxlax]

I can make arguments for both sides.

Pros:

-MAY keep the good nucleus of players
-Great recruiting class coming in
-Had trash to deal with in the off-season and by all prognostications I saw overachieved in a job he was asked to do
-Has decent HC resume maybe as good as anyone we could hire.
-Saves money we have blown elsewhere.
-Numbers up in many departments

Cons:

-Age
-Team was oddly inconsistent and often subpar defensively in key games .
-ORU coach or another who wins with little resources may be ready to move on
-Baseball coaches don’t cost as much as basketball
-Some perplexing personnel moves

[1972Shocker]

He has only 5 NCAA regional appearances in 27 tries. Is an NCAA regional once every 5 years what WSU baseball fans expect? That's an easy "Not good enough". But that was done with a school that has lower recruiting expectations.

An interesting question. Shocker fan were and probably still are spoiled by the great success under Gene Stephenson from around 1980 through 2009. A fantastic 30-year run in the MIssouri Valley Conference.

In 2009, the Shockers did not win the MVC regular season championship but did win the MVC Tournament and then went 0-2 in the regional.

In 2010, the Shocker won their 20th MVC regular season championship but did not win the MVC Tournament and despite a 41-19 record did not make the NCAA Tournament. This was the last season the Shockers won a regular season championship in baseball.

In 2013, Gene's final season the Shocks finished 2nd in the regular season and would not have received an at-large bid but they won the MVC Tournament and then went 0-2 in the regional. This was the last time the Shockers played in the NCAA Tournament and this year marks the 10th consecutive year the Shocks have not made the NCAA Tournament.

1996 was the last year the Shockers made the CWS. A 27 year drought. 1993 was the last year the Shockers won a game in the CWS (they finished 2nd). Now a 30 year drought.

So what would be reasonable, achievable expectations and goals for Shocker baseball at this point in time?

Regular Season Play: A winning % of .625 or better overall and a conference finish of no worse than 4th place and a regular season conference championship 1 out of every 3 years.

AAC Tournament Play: Winning 2 games every year and winning the tournament 2 out of every 5 years.

NCAA Regional Play: Not sure what the prospects for an at-large bid out of the AAC will be. So I guess 2 auto-bids out of every 5 years plus maybe 1 at-large bid every 10 years. That would be 5 years out 10 in the NCAA Tournament..

Super-Regionals and CWS: The Shocks will have a tough enough time just achieving the previous targets. Let's see how it goes.

Is this too optimistic and unrealistic considering the last decade or so?

[BostonWu]

Well balanced and fairly reasoned list.

I'd add:

Pro - storied alum
Con - not ADKS guy


Wonder if we're all making a false assumption he wants to continue?

[1972Shocker]

Wonder if we're all making a false assumption he wants to continue?

IIRC, Scooter had indicated he would like to continue although not sure I could find that now. I any case with the way the Shocks collapsed down the stretch that sentiment, if it was true, may very well have changed.

I guess if Scooter wanted to continue coaching he could have stayed at Charlotte. Maybe he was just a bit burned out at the point and feels reinvigorated now.

I would not expect we will have wait too long to get the answer re: Scooter. Maybe as early as next week sometime.

[pogo]

If I were an isu-red kind of guy this performance puts us squarely on the bubble

[Shockersdad]

I'll just add they cant lose Pelfrey or Sirianni. Big blow to recruiting if so

[SB Shock]

I'll just add they cant lose Pelfrey or Sirianni. Big blow to recruiting if so

WSU has to hire the best coach as possible, if the end results means Pelfrey/Sirianni get to stay or go - so be it. We already seen how with IB there were all these prediction that there would be "Big blow to player retention/recruiting" if he wasn't hired. Then he was hired and he couldn't keep players anyway.

[ShockerFever]

I'll just add they cant lose Pelfrey or Sirianni. Big blow to recruiting if so

What exactly has Pelfrey done since he’s been here?

[WuDrWu]

If I'm reading the room correctly, and feel free to chime in if I'm not, then next season (assuming a new coach) should be at least 4-10 game improvement, top 60ish RPI, top 2-3 conference finish and semifinals in the AAC Tourney, and borderline bubble team or we get rid of that person too. Is that about right?

[Shockersdad]

Pelfrey helped recruit Nate Snead and Austin Henry. Also Ryan Geraghty, Tyner Horn and Luke Agnew for next year. Tolle and others improved from last year but that might have happened anyway i suppose.

[Onegreatracer]

If I'm reading the room correctly, and feel free to chime in if I'm not, then next season (assuming a new coach) should be at least 4-10 game improvement, top 60ish RPI, top 2-3 conference finish and semifinals in the AAC Tourney, and borderline bubble team or we get rid of that person too. Is that about right?

Doc, I have resigned to the fact that we have a much different view on the coaching staff than most.

It just depends on how ADKS sees it, I suppose.

[SB Shock]

If I'm reading the room correctly, and feel free to chime in if I'm not, then next season (assuming a new coach) should be at least 4-10 game improvement, top 60ish RPI, top 2-3 conference finish and semifinals in the AAC Tourney, and borderline bubble team or we get rid of that person too. Is that about right?

If you hire a new coach, you have to assume your program takes a step back. It pretty safe to assume you will have player transfer, recruits decommit and the new coach unless some big name guy will be hampered at this late date bringing in a recruiting class.

If you hire Hibbs, and

a) if the players want to play for him and are committed to the program
b) the 2024 class are committed,

Then maybe you can project the program will be better next year. But the program play down the stretch does not lend any evidence to that hope.

But if you are going to hire Hibbs, then you have to commit to him and that means giving him a four year contract.

[BostonWu]

But if you are going to hire Hibbs, then you have to commit to him and that means giving him a four year contract.

Why four years?

[ShockerFever]

If I'm reading the room correctly, and feel free to chime in if I'm not, then next season (assuming a new coach) should be at least 4-10 game improvement, top 60ish RPI, top 2-3 conference finish and semifinals in the AAC Tourney, and borderline bubble team or we get rid of that person too. Is that about right?

How did the season end after the ECU series?

[ShockerFever]

Pelfrey helped recruit Nate Snead and Austin Henry. Also Ryan Geraghty, Tyner Horn and Luke Agnew for next year. Tolle and others improved from last year but that might have happened anyway i suppose.

I don’t even know if I would call that a feather in his cap but what about his previous 4 seasons?