WSU 2014 Recruiting Class Ranked #2 Nationally

[SHOCKvalue]

This information has been posted in another thread, but news of this magnitude is best served via its own dedicated thread. This should not be buried elsewhere.

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article2203512.html

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=209670091

If you're trying to win back the hearts of WSU fans, this is not a bad approach Coach Butler! Major props to the entire WSU baseball staff!

GO SHOCKS!

[1972Shocker]

It's a good start, but the important thing is what will HCTB be able to do with this highly thought of talent. That remains to be seen but attracting such high quality recruits certainly raises a fan's hopes.

[WSUwatcher]

Very true, 1972. It's an extremely impressive accomplishment and tribute to the efforts and salesmanship of Coach Butler and his staff, and it has certainly raised my hopes. But where they go from here is what it';s all about. You can look back at the list of recruiting ranks and see that the Shocker teams of the late 80s and early 90s who were regulars in Omaha, and even in the finals, were in most cases not built on highly acclaimed recruiting classes -- they were much more the product of the sort of work Gregg Marshall and his staff are now doing on the basketball side: superior talent identification, player development, and on the field execution; plus hard work and a winning attitude with a good dose of swagger thrown in.

If Butler and Co. can recapture those elements of the baseball glory days and add them to a quality talent base, we could be in for a pretty exciting ride. Here's hoping.

[ShockerFever]

This is a quite a statement.

No.2 is balls-out impressive.

[Veritas]

Wow! Best ever for WSU. Impressive.

[pogo]

I like the quote from HCTB " Now we need to coach em up". He already knows it is just the start.

[Power Outlet]

This is great to see. Can't wait for the season to start.

[Shock Top]

Just remember, this is HCTB first true recruiting class and it's already the best in program history. For a program that has been in decline recently, to have the second best class in the nation is beyond impressive.

Getting talent and players to fit Butler's system is the most important thing at this point. Remember, HCGM need a couple seasons to turn the basketball program onto the path it is today. I am willing to give HCTB time to prove he can get this program back to it's glory days.

[ShockTalk]

Verey true, 1972. It's an extremely impressive accomplishment and tribute to the efforts and salesmanship of Coach Butler and his staff, and it has certainly raised my hopes. But where they go from here is what it';s all about. You can look back at the list of recruiting ranks and see that the Shocker teams of the late 80s and early 90s who were regulars in Omaha, and even in the finals, were in most cases not built on highly acclaimed recruiting classes -- they were much more the product of the sort of work Gregg Marshall and his staff are now doing on the basketball side: superior talent identification, player development, and on the field execution; plus hard work and a winning attitude with a good dose of swagger thrown in.

If Butler and Co. can recapture those elements of the baseball glory days and add them to a quality talent base, we could be in for a pretty exciting ride. Here's hoping.

Just some off the cuff comments regarding the ranking of recruiting classes. You'll notice that between 1983-2000 and 2001-2012, there are 3 classes each where we only "received votes". That could mean we only needed a few new recruits that year to a number of top recruits got drafted to just simply a weaker class.

However, as you stated, the teams of the 80s and 90s were many times "outperforming" there class rankings (of course, a team's performance has even more to do with combined ranked classes than a single class).

On the of hand, while the recruiting classes of the 2000s were not as highly touted as earlier teams, some teams did not perform even close to what one might expect based on recruiting class rankings even though we had mostly the same coaches as earlier.

Just something I noticed. Make of it what you wish.

[Shocker1976]

Just remember, this is HCTB first true recruiting class and it's already the best in program history. For a program that has been in decline recently, to have the second best class in the nation is beyond impressive.

Getting talent and players to fit Butler's system is the most important thing at this point. Remember, HCGM need a couple seasons to turn the basketball program onto the path it is today. I am willing to give HCTB time to prove he can get this program back to it's glory days.

Well said; we knew HCTB could recruit when ADES hired him. Now we have an opportunity to see how well he can coach talent.

Given this first year of recruits, coupled with excellent coaching, WSU could/should have Nationally Ranked Baseball and Basketball Teams this coming season.

Could the Shockers field two Top Ten Men's Teams?

[Kung Wu]

With 27 newcomers and this being his first real recruiting class, we could be looking at one more year to see a real shift in performance due to the massive system change couldn't we? I don't know much about baseball so I don't know if having your players play at least one year under a new system makes a big impact the second year like it does in most other team sports.

[Dave Stalwart]

I guess I have two observations from a marginal baseball fan. One is that this sounds absolutely awesome and will be very likely it bring success. I know that baseball is different with the draft and all, but anytime your recruiting class is that good, you are in good shape. Two is that if he doesn't win with a class like this, wouldn't he immediately be on the hot seat?

[ShockTalk]

With 27 newcomers and this being his first real recruiting class, we could be looking at one more year to see a real shift in performance due to the massive system change couldn't we? I don't know much about baseball so I don't know if having your players play at least one year under a new system makes a big impact the second year like it does in most other team sports.

Very good, young Grasshopper.

I guess I have two observations from a marginal baseball fan. One is that this sounds absolutely awesome and will be very likely it bring success. I know that baseball is different with the draft and all, but anytime your recruiting class is that good, you are in good shape. Two is that if he doesn't win with a class like this, wouldn't he immediately be on the hot seat?

That depends on what you mean by "wins". While overall, this recruiting class may improve the talent level of the team, last year's team did have D-I experience and many had played together. Many, if not most, of the type of players that could make immediate, big impact on any college baseball team went in the draft. Unlike basketball, much of the cream has been skimmed off. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's most likely the combination of good recruiting classes that will be most successful. As an example, the #1 recruiting class of LSU will be combined with many junior and sophomore players from those previous ranked LSU classes.

A hot seat this quickly would not be expected.

[RoyalShock]

Baseball's learning curve is a long one, and it takes time for player's skills to mature and develop, and for them to adjust when they take a step up in competition level. That's why you rarely see drafted high school players make it to the majors with less than 3-4 years in the minors. So while it appears we have a very nice influx of young talent, it may not start paying dividends until 2016. The nice thing is that this class should get a lot of playing time.

The other aspect of a longer development path is that young, highly touted players don't always pan out. ie. they may never learn to hit a D1 curveball. Bubba Starling is a prime example of this. KC drafted him 4th overall in 2011 out of Gardner-Edgerton high school and has yet to reach AA. His slash line this year in advanced A ball (in, admittedly, a league where nobody's offensive numbers will impress) was .218/.304/.338 with 150 Ks. Don't expect Bubba to do much in the majors, if he even makes it.

[1972Shocker]

Baseball's learning curve is a long one, and it takes time for player's skills to mature and develop, and for them to adjust when they take a step up in competition level. That's why you rarely see drafted high school players make it to the majors with less than 3-4 years in the minors. So while it appears we have a very nice influx of young talent, it may not start paying dividends until 2016. The nice thing is that this class should get a lot of playing time.

The other aspect of a longer development path is that young, highly touted players don't always pan out. ie. they may never learn to hit a D1 curveball. Bubba Starling is a prime example of this. KC drafted him 4th overall in 2011 out of Gardner-Edgerton high school and has yet to reach AA. His slash line this year in advanced A ball (in, admittedly, a league where nobody's offensive numbers will impress) was .218/.304/.338 with 150 Ks. Don't expect Bubba to do much in the majors, if he even makes it.

Good post @RoyalShock:. There is no doubt that players are drafted largely on projectability. I agree with ShockTalk that is reasonable to expect HCTB to have to string together 2 or 3 good recruiting classes before he would be expected to win big. It migh happen sooner but that would be icing on the cake.