WSU Baseball Recruiting -- Class of 2015

[1972Shocker]

Da Cajun Shack at 21st and Woodlawn. I need to try that place sometime but not sure my wife is up to it so it may have to be on a guys night out.

Any comments or reviews on this place?

[RussDaBus]

Da Cajun Shack at 21st and Woodlawn. I need to try that place sometime but not sure my wife is up to it so it may have to be on a guys night out.

Any comments or reviews on this place?

I really enjoy Da Cajun Shak! Cajun Meatloaf w/ dirty rice is always great for lunch and only 6.99. Fried catfish is great as well as the fried crawfish! Never had anything that wasn't delicious.

[RoyalShock]

According to this kid's twitter, he has committed to WSU.

LMK18 @LKunert18 · 11m 11 minutes ago
Just verbally committed to play baseball at Wichita State University������ #shock #the #world #how #bout #me #being #a #shocker

Perfect Game profile

According to this topic on an LSU board he committed there over a year ago.

[Shocker-maniac]

According to this kid's twitter, he has committed to WSU.



Perfect Game profile

According to this topic on an LSU board he committed there over a year ago.

Judging by his tweets he is very excited to be a Shocker.

[FutureShockerDad]

Judging by his tweets he is very excited to be a Shocker.

The competitive team he played on is very tough team to make. I think Butler is a world class recruiter.

[molly jabali]

WAAAAAAY late on Da Cajun Shack review...one of my favorites ...took a friend from LAoiusiana there, he LOVED it!

[RoyalShock]

According to this kid's twitter, he has committed to WSU.



Perfect Game profile

According to this topic on an LSU board he committed there over a year ago.

He has apparently decommitted from WSU and committed to Northwestern State.

Kunert Jr⚾️ @LKunert18
Just committed to @NSUDemonsBSB. I will sign my NLI tomorrow night. Can't wait to be on campus and get after it with the team!

[RoyalShock]

This explains it:

http://www.nola.com/recruiting/index.ssf/2015/07/northwestern_state_inks_former.html

[WSUwatcher]

One of the challenges of college baseball -- along with everything else involved in recruiting, plus competition from the pros, you have to worry about being outbid financially for any given player for whom the cost of college is an issue.

Obviously, it's always been a challenge to some extent, but the combination of the very low equivalency (11.7 is not much for a sport where you play at least 10 every game, and one of the 10 changes basically every day) and the elaborate rules nowadays on how the 11.7 can be divided up make roster management a headache that football and basketball coaches have to be thrilled they don't have to face.

[strongisbeautiful17]

One of the challenges of college baseball -- along with everything else involved in recruiting, plus competition from the pros, you have to worry about being outbid financially for any given player for whom the cost of college is an issue.

Obviously, it's always been a challenge to some extent, but the combination of the very low equivalency (11.7 is not much for a sport where you play at least 10 every game, and one of the 10 changes basically every day) and the elaborate rules nowadays on how the 11.7 can be divided up make roster management a headache that football and basketball coaches have to be thrilled they don't have to face.

I was reading your post that the "coach" has to worry about being outbid financially for any given player for whom the cost of college is an issue.

But, shouldn't the athlete, especially the one "for whom the cost of college is an issue" also be concerned about their scholarship being stripped from them the year following when it was awarded to them, so it can be given to another incoming athlete? These boys are excited coming in with the promise of their schooling being paid for only to have the the $ taken from them the following summer. I think it's horrible how this financial game is being played.

[Play Angry]

Per Sully's article today, Kunnert was going to be walking on at WSU and had Butler's blessing to take NWSU up on their scholly offer.

[WSUwatcher]

I was reading your post that the "coach" has to worry about being outbid financially for any given player for whom the cost of college is an issue.

But, shouldn't the athlete, especially the one "for whom the cost of college is an issue" also be concerned about their scholarship being stripped from them the year following when it was awarded to them, so it can be given to another incoming athlete? These boys are excited coming in with the promise of their schooling being paid for only to have the the $ taken from them the following summer. I think it's horrible how this financial game is being played.

That's a fair point, strong. I was looking at it from the coach's viewpoint because he has to think in terms of the team as a whole and the program, and that's how I look at it as a fan also. I think about the team first, which is bigger than any player. And it IS especially challenging for the coach, because he has a ridiculously small number of scholarships available to try to stock a whole program, and he has to manage an entire roster and deal with, among other things, players being pursued by the pros or deciding to go somewhere else for what they perceive as greener pastures, sometimes because of the same scholarship situation that influenced Kunnert.

But there's no question that the woefully insufficient number of scholarships allowed makes it tough for players as well, because with so few dollars out there to divide up coaches will always have an incentive to bring in new talent whenever they expect the new guy(s) to be better than their current players. That's tough on players because they have no security, although it does resemble the pro game, where security is a pretty scarce commodity in the minor leagues.

What we have now is similar to free agency but with a very low and very hard salary cap. For a long time, Stephenson and his staff actually made it work the way you'd prefer (and honestly, I'd prefer too) for both the program and the players, even though it put them at a competitive disadvantage, partly because they sold the idea that they wouldn't dump players as a recruiting tool and they pretty much delivered, but also -- probably mostly -- because they were extremely active, energetic, and aggressive recruiters as well as superior judges of talent. But when their energy waned, whether because of age or other factors, the competitive disadvantage caught up with them. It also didn't help that more other schools began to take baseball seriously and pour money and effort into their own programs, whereas once upon a time WSU had only a handful of serious challengers fighting them for players in their primary recruiting area.

So the scholarship situation in college baseball is tough on each individual player, yes -- but each player only has to watch out for himself. It's much tougher for the coaches, who have to watch out for juggling 35 or so players with a third of that many scholarships to divide up, while also doing their juggling act successfully enough to win consistently. That is REALLY tough.

[strongisbeautiful17]

Good Post Thank you

[shockmonster]

That's a fair point, strong. I was looking at it from the coach's viewpoint because he has to think in terms of the team as a whole and the program, and that's how I look at it as a fan also. I think about the team first, which is bigger than any player. And it IS especially challenging for the coach, because he has a ridiculously small number of scholarships available to try to stock a whole program, and he has to manage an entire roster and deal with, among other things, players being pursued by the pros or deciding to go somewhere else for what they perceive as greener pastures, sometimes because of the same scholarship situation that influenced Kunnert.

But there's no question that the woefully insufficient number of scholarships allowed makes it tough for players as well, because with so few dollars out there to divide up coaches will always have an incentive to bring in new talent whenever they expect the new guy(s) to be better than their current players. That's tough on players because they have no security, although it does resemble the pro game, where security is a pretty scarce commodity in the minor leagues.

What we have now is similar to free agency but with a very low and very hard salary cap. For a long time, Stephenson and his staff actually made it work the way you'd prefer (and honestly, I'd prefer too) for both the program and the players, even though it put them at a competitive disadvantage, partly because they sold the idea that they wouldn't dump players as a recruiting tool and they pretty much delivered, but also -- probably mostly -- because they were extremely active, energetic, and aggressive recruiters as well as superior judges of talent. But when their energy waned, whether because of age or other factors, the competitive disadvantage caught up with them. It also didn't help that more other schools began to take baseball seriously and pour money and effort into their own programs, whereas once upon a time WSU had only a handful of serious challengers fighting them for players in their primary recruiting area.

So the scholarship situation in college baseball is tough on each individual player, yes -- but each player only has to watch out for himself. It's much tougher for the coaches, who have to watch out for juggling 35 or so players with a third of that many scholarships to divide up, while also doing their juggling act successfully enough to win consistently. That is REALLY tough.

When you come right down to the nuts and bolts, there are just a small number of players who have ever had scholarship money that amounts to very much. Of the 11.7 (or some odd) scholarships, and with 35 players, only 5 (give or take a player) players received full scholarships, 5 (give or take a player) receive half scholarships, and 20-25 are walkons or recieve the equivalent of books. So in essence, there are really only 10 (or some odd) players who are having to fight to renew their scholarships. The large amount of players are just fighting for a roster spot. This is a guess but I would bet it is close to the amount of money the players receive. Meanwhile, the coaches are recruiting for numbers/positions to cover their roster spots and to make sure that each player who has scholarship money since it is so few really are earning their roster spot. If the player who has scholarship money isn't playing well, they either become a walk on, or decide to move on to another program.

[WSUwatcher]

My recollection is that Stephenson said very few of his guys ever got a full scholarship. The financial aspect of college baseball is just tough -- too many guys on the roster and not enough bucks to go around to all of them.