The Unfortunate Truth About College Baseball
Newsletter 38/100
The Unfortunate Truth About College Baseball
The transfer portal is a hot topic nowadays. People on both sides of the argument always have something to say about players leaving schools and headed elsewhere.
When I first entered college, the rule about transferring was that you had to sit out 1 season if you transferred from a division 1 school to another division 1 school. This took no consideration into the reason for transfer, and this was before the NCAA started giving out exemptions to everyone who asked for them.
When a good player leaves a good program, you will see fans all over the internet giving their unearned 2 cents about it. They will always mention how the player has no loyalty, how they don't deserve to wear the jersey of their university and how they “were not really that good anyway”.
I understand the frustration. However, if you feel this way I would recommend you finish this article before giving out those opinions again.
“It’s Just Business”
Most of us have heard this one before. It may not have been about sports, but you've definitely heard it.
Unfortunately, it is the exact thing that thousands of college athletes are told every year. Even more so, it is the exact words many athletes heard before they actually were a business (Pre-NIL). Players were told to hit the road every season (myself included) simply because the scholarship limits were over promised by coaches.
For the longest time, there were 11.7 scholarships available for the entire roster in college baseball. Coaches would bring in 35-40 players and no one was allowed to be on less than 25%, while some players were close to 100%.
You do that math, it doesn't really check out.
So when coaches over promise scholarships to get more players into their program, what do they do? They tell players to hit the road. They tell you simply that “your scholarship is not being renewed”. This is literally illegal, but players don't want to really throw a fit about it because it gets them marked as a trouble maker or a problem. The coaching world is tight knit, and getting on the wrong side of the wrong guy isn't always a good move.
And if you have the guts to bring it up? They will simply tell you how you will never play, you won’t be able to make something of your career and that you actually *have* to leave if you know what’s good for you.
If you still don't leave, they will just continually call meetings and meetings to make sure you get the point. I Have seen players harassed like this by the same coaches they competed for the season prior. These conversations usually happen at the end of the season, so they've gotten what they can from the player.
Oh and you can't go to another D1, because that wasn't allowed. You had to go to a D2 or a Juco.
So yeah, having a player leave your program is probably annoying. It sucks as a fan and it's hurtful to see someone not care about your team and college the way you did.
But remember, your coach was telling players to kick rocks for the totality of college athletics existence. Now the athletes simply have an equal playing field.
Sorry bout it.
Help.
I have dealt with it all, injuries, recruitment, transferring, the draft, free agency, indyball, you name it.
I have been doing consulting calls with our premium community every morning of the week for no extra charge.
30 cents a day for access to a 23 year baseball career.
John