(03-19-2018 11:54 AM)illiniowl Wrote:  Kids paying MORE to play ball at a CUSA school OTHER than Rice is the proverbial canary in the coal mine if there ever was one.

The canary is the coalmine was when other larger and upwardly mobile schools were catching up.

If LaTech is being chosen over Rice, the advance warning is long gone.

(03-19-2018 11:59 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(03-19-2018 11:54 AM)illiniowl Wrote:  Kids paying MORE to play ball at a CUSA school OTHER than Rice is the proverbial canary in the coal mine if there ever was one.

The canary is the coalmine was when other larger and upwardly mobile schools were catching up.

If LaTech is being chosen over Rice, the advance warning is long gone.

Judging by how well LaTech swings the bat, I'd say they have several kids who chose LaTech over other good schools. They're talented. And, just like UL did several years ago, Tech is really going after kids in Louisiana who are probably good enough to play at LSU but don't want to be in the bench talent log jam the Tigers always seem to have. The state of Louisiana has TONS of good baseball players....not all of them can go to LSU. So, Tech recognized this and really went after them (just like UL). Many of those kids in NE LA used to end up at Arkansas, Miss St, and Ole Miss....

Basically, its yet another school that has put serious money into their program (facilities etc) and are seeing the results pay off. Tech is VERY similar to what Sam Houston has done.

And as an aside...

La Tech has 10 Texas kids on their roster....it wasn't just Rice that those kids chose Tech over....

Tech is doing SOMETHING right. Their 15-6 record with wins over A&M and Pepperdine bear that out.

(03-18-2018 11:07 PM)flash3200 Wrote:  It's pretty easy to get a full ride to a state university in Louisiana. Anyone even contemplating Rice as a school would likely qualify for the maximum benefit of room+board (I think its something like top 10% of class and ~25 ACT which isn't hard when half of your class doesn't even graduate). That said, the program is literally breaking the bank for a state and things might change soon.

A discussion best reserved for The Quad! At the very least, TOPS certainly is a nice foil.

I can't find the link right now, but I have posted it before. Baseball America wrote an article on these types of scholarships ~5 years ago. LSU's Mainieri credited TOPS with allowing him to offer Alex Bregman a full scholarship. So to say this kind of inequity in scholarships has had no impact is foolish. But so is pretending like the scholarship situation or cost-of-attendance at Rice are the primary reasons for the fall. There are a bunch of reasons Rice has fallen from the elite, and I don't think any one predominates. That is part of why fixing the problems and bringing Rice back to its former glory is such a difficult task.

(03-19-2018 02:24 PM)mrbig Wrote:  

(03-18-2018 11:07 PM)flash3200 Wrote:  It's pretty easy to get a full ride to a state university in Louisiana. Anyone even contemplating Rice as a school would likely qualify for the maximum benefit of room+board (I think its something like top 10% of class and ~25 ACT which isn't hard when half of your class doesn't even graduate). That said, the program is literally breaking the bank for a state and things might change soon.

A discussion best reserved for The Quad! At the very least, TOPS certainly is a nice foil.

I can't find the link right now, but I have posted it before. Baseball America wrote an article on these types of scholarships ~5 years ago. LSU's Mainieri credited TOPS with allowing him to offer Alex Bregman a full scholarship. So to say this kind of inequity in scholarships has had no impact is foolish. But so is pretending like the scholarship situation or cost-of-attendance at Rice are the primary reasons for the fall. There are a bunch of reasons Rice has fallen from the elite, and I don't think any one predominates. That is part of why fixing the problems and bringing Rice back to its former glory is such a difficult task.

Without diving into the scholarship debate yet again I think that the changes in assistant coaches since Pierce left and the uncertainty of the amount of time an aging coach will remain at the helm is the main issue.

(03-19-2018 01:23 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  And as an aside...

La Tech has 10 Texas kids on their roster....it wasn't just Rice that those kids chose Tech over....

Tech is doing SOMETHING right. Their 15-6 record with wins over A&M and Pepperdine bear that out.

Completely agree. I stand by my prediction that LaTech will be deep in the hunt for the CUSA championship

Given last year's first half, and the trajectory of this year, the term 'fall from elite' seems time-faded. I find it hard to characterize Rice baseball at this point much more than a mediocre program in its current state.

(03-18-2018 09:47 AM)Owl1998 Wrote:  OMG...back to THIS excuse...money.

Look, there is a player on Tech's team that is currently paying more per year at LaTech than he would have at Rice due to the income based aid that Rice gives. He personally TOLD me that.

Wow... so Rice occasionally misses a kid. I'd have to ask why this kid chose to pay more to go to La Tech? That in and of itself says that he wanted to go to La Tech, even if we had recruited him hard. Maybe he didn't want to attend classes?

BTW, someone told me they paid $2500 for a fake rolex as well. Doesn't mean they did.

And money DOES make a difference. Maybe not to this kid, but to many.

While there are numerous, I'd say a big contributor to the problem is the fact that our coach is in the last year of his contract and everyone knows it....

Absolutely pitiful that we would allow something like that... especially with all the noise made around here about not hamstringing Bailiff like that.

We should have given him a multi-year contract and lowered the buy-out rather than to hang the team, much less a legend out to dry like this.

(03-18-2018 02:21 PM)Clad Scheme Owl Wrote:  I read yesterday on a Texas A&M board (TexAgs) how Childress had apparently mentioned that when he first got the job at A&M, Rice was the team to beat in Texas. Mentioned something about a tough midweek and potentially tough draw for Regionals or Supers. Now sees it as a game that does nothing but hurt their RPI. I will look for the exact quote and post it once I find it. This was just said by one of their users so I'm sure they were paraphrasing as I am paraphrasing them. That just shows how quickly our program and perception has changed.

Hundreds of our former season ticket holders were fans of those schools wanting good regional or super tickets

(03-20-2018 01:37 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(03-18-2018 09:47 AM)Owl1998 Wrote:  OMG...back to THIS excuse...money.

Look, there is a player on Tech's team that is currently paying more per year at LaTech than he would have at Rice due to the income based aid that Rice gives. He personally TOLD me that.

Wow... so Rice occasionally misses a kid. I'd have to ask why this kid chose to pay more to go to La Tech? That in and of itself says that he wanted to go to La Tech, even if we had recruited him hard. Maybe he didn't want to attend classes?

BTW, someone told me they paid $2500 for a fake rolex as well. Doesn't mean they did.

And money DOES make a difference. Maybe not to this kid, but to many.

While there are numerous, I'd say a big contributor to the problem is the fact that our coach is in the last year of his contract and everyone knows it....

Absolutely pitiful that we would allow something like that... especially with all the noise made around here about not hamstringing Bailiff like that.

We should have given him a multi-year contract and lowered the buy-out rather than to hang the team, much less a legend out to dry like this.

(03-18-2018 02:21 PM)Clad Scheme Owl Wrote:  I read yesterday on a Texas A&M board (TexAgs) how Childress had apparently mentioned that when he first got the job at A&M, Rice was the team to beat in Texas. Mentioned something about a tough midweek and potentially tough draw for Regionals or Supers. Now sees it as a game that does nothing but hurt their RPI. I will look for the exact quote and post it once I find it. This was just said by one of their users so I'm sure they were paraphrasing as I am paraphrasing them. That just shows how quickly our program and perception has changed.

Hundreds of our former season ticket holders were fans of those schools wanting good regional or super tickets

You and I agree. I specifically stated that 2 of the reasons he chose Tech were family history with the school and uncertainty on who the coach would be. My point being was that money and the difficulty of getting kids into Rice had nothing to do with it as so many on here want to say.

Sometimes competing schools get better and become more of a recruiting threat. My view is that Tech is doing a helluva job becoming relevant. We are doing a helluva job in the other direction.

Sometimes competing schools get better and become more of a recruiting threat. My view is that Tech is doing a helluva job becoming relevant. We are doing a helluva job in the other direction.
[/quote]

Sometimes it seems like teams of that caliber only become relevant because a perennial power starts to slip and loses their recruiting edge. A good example of this would be pre scandal Baylor when Texas had been down for a few years.

(03-20-2018 02:01 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  You and I agree. I specifically stated that 2 of the reasons he chose Tech were family history with the school and uncertainty on who the coach would be. My point being was that money and the difficulty of getting kids into Rice had nothing to do with it as so many on here want to say.

Sometimes competing schools get better and become more of a recruiting threat. My view is that Tech is doing a helluva job becoming relevant. We are doing a helluva job in the other direction.

With respect... it had nothing to do with THAT kid... but to imply that it never has or will make a difference simply isn't true. I know guys who came to Rice because we offered a better package than _______ and guys we lost to ______ because they offered a better package.

Sure, it's not the only reason... we agree... but you can't do much about family history or your location.... the things we likely CAN do something about are the uncertainty with coaching and the financial packages... and we've been behind the curve on both of those.

(03-20-2018 02:40 PM)Clad Scheme Owl Wrote:  

Quote:Sometimes competing schools get better and become more of a recruiting threat. My view is that Tech is doing a helluva job becoming relevant. We are doing a helluva job in the other direction.

Sometimes it seems like teams of that caliber only become relevant because a perennial power starts to slip and loses their recruiting edge. A good example of this would be pre scandal Baylor when Texas had been down for a few years.

True

When we hired Wayne, I'm certain we didn't pay 6 figures and UT barely did... now coaches of that caliber make 7 figures and escalating quickly.

Money has come to baseball in a way that didn't exist 20 years ago.... like football was perhaps 50 years ago and basketball perhaps 35.