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Baseball de-commitment
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Owl1998 Offline
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Post: #1
Baseball de-commitment
Josh Rivera, 2019 commit, just de-committed. The kid is really good.

I'm telling you, losing Van Hook is not a good thing. Since he took over the recruiting from Hallmark, we've secured some good players. Rivera was one of 2 commits from the 2019 class. This leaves Jackson Kiddy from Sweeny as the lone remaining 2019 commit.
07-13-2017 08:15 PM
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HawaiiOwl Offline
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-13-2017 08:15 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Josh Rivera, 2019 commit, just de-committed. The kid is really good.

I'm telling you, losing Van Hook is not a good thing. Since he took over the recruiting from Hallmark, we've secured some good players. Rivera was one of 2 commits from the 2019 class. This leaves Jackson Kiddy from Sweeny as the lone remaining 2019 commit.

I'm a bit confused . Many have posted that we are not getting many prime recruits, and the number of players drafted has has declined drastically since the mid-2000's, so on what basis is he a recuiting whiz? Honest question.
07-13-2017 09:25 PM
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exowlswimmer Offline
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Post: #3
RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-13-2017 09:25 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  
(07-13-2017 08:15 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Josh Rivera, 2019 commit, just de-committed. The kid is really good.

I'm telling you, losing Van Hook is not a good thing. Since he took over the recruiting from Hallmark, we've secured some good players. Rivera was one of 2 commits from the 2019 class. This leaves Jackson Kiddy from Sweeny as the lone remaining 2019 commit.

I'm a bit confused . Many have posted that we are not getting many prime recruits, and the number of players drafted has has declined drastically since the mid-2000's, so on what basis is he a recuiting whiz? Honest question.

I hope he is finding those not so rare folks who no matter what their talent have the following

(remember Talent is overrated)

10 Things That Require Zero Talent

1. Being on Time
2. Work Ethic
3. Effort
4. Body Language
5. Energy
6. Attitude
7. Passion
8. Being Coachable
9. Doing Extra
10. Being Prepared

I'll take an 0-12 football team where each student (no athletes on an 0-12 team where each and every player exhibits these traits, because even with minimal talent those players would find a way to win a couple) does their best. Ditto baseball. Wayne Graham is a living legend. If he just took walk on Rice students who show these behaviors, I'm guessing 9 years out of 10 he still gets to .500. Character is hard to measure as only our creator has perfect knowledge and can spit out the .400 hitter's other stat, a character average ranging around a buck thirty!
07-13-2017 11:05 PM
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ExcitedOwl18 Offline
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Post: #4
RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-13-2017 11:05 PM)exowlswimmer Wrote:  
(07-13-2017 09:25 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  
(07-13-2017 08:15 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Josh Rivera, 2019 commit, just de-committed. The kid is really good.

I'm telling you, losing Van Hook is not a good thing. Since he took over the recruiting from Hallmark, we've secured some good players. Rivera was one of 2 commits from the 2019 class. This leaves Jackson Kiddy from Sweeny as the lone remaining 2019 commit.

I'm a bit confused . Many have posted that we are not getting many prime recruits, and the number of players drafted has has declined drastically since the mid-2000's, so on what basis is he a recuiting whiz? Honest question.

I hope he is finding those not so rare folks who no matter what their talent have the following

(remember Talent is overrated)

10 Things That Require Zero Talent

1. Being on Time
2. Work Ethic
3. Effort
4. Body Language
5. Energy
6. Attitude
7. Passion
8. Being Coachable
9. Doing Extra
10. Being Prepared

I'll take an 0-12 football team where each student (no athletes on an 0-12 team where each and every player exhibits these traits, because even with minimal talent those players would find a way to win a couple) does their best. Ditto baseball. Wayne Graham is a living legend. If he just took walk on Rice students who show these behaviors, I'm guessing 9 years out of 10 he still gets to .500. Character is hard to measure as only our creator has perfect knowledge and can spit out the .400 hitter's other stat, a character average ranging around a buck thirty!

The athleticism of the average Rice student must've changed from your time between the hedges and what I observe in IM Sports.03-lmfao
07-13-2017 11:17 PM
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Owl1998 Offline
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
I'll give you one big reason why I believe Van Hook "gets it." Prior to him being given the recruiting responsibilities last summer, Rice did NOT go after kids who were freshmen or sophomores. They went for the juniors and seniors. That worked fine 10-15 years ago. However, the TCU's, A&M's, LSU's etc started jumping on these kids and snatching them up before Rice would ever enter the picture. When VH took over, that changed. He secured Rivera and Kiddy within months of getting the title of recruiting coordinator. Plus he secured multiple 2018 commits. Now that he's gone, we've seen one 2019 commit bail. Apparently VH has a good rapport with kids. Losing him hurts.
07-13-2017 11:20 PM
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Fort Bend Owl Offline
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
Recruiting is part of the battle but equally important is player development. Van Hook was at Rice for six seasons and I'm not sure he was making a huge difference in that latter area (he was considered the hitting, fielding and base-running coach I guess?). In fact, I'm pretty sure many of us could name a list of past assistant coaches under Graham and most would put him pretty much at the bottom of the list (well Eat More Vole might put him ahead of Hallmark but maybe that's the only coach he'd be ahead of).

Let's see who the replacement is before getting too far ahead of ourselves over a recruit who just finished his sophomore season of high school. Speaking of which, UH has lost two high profile assistant coaches this baseball offseason but they did a pretty good job of quickly replacing them with solid replacements. Hopefully we'll make an equally solid and quick hire as well.
(This post was last modified: 07-13-2017 11:50 PM by Fort Bend Owl.)
07-13-2017 11:46 PM
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exowlswimmer Offline
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-13-2017 11:46 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Recruiting is part of the battle but equally important is player development. Van Hook was at Rice for six seasons and I'm not sure he was making a huge difference in that latter area (he was considered the hitting, fielding and base-running coach I guess?). In fact, I'm pretty sure many of us could name a list of past assistant coaches under Graham and most would put him pretty much at the bottom of the list (well Eat More Vole might put him ahead of Hallmark but maybe that's the only coach he'd be ahead of).

Let's see who the replacement is before getting too far ahead of ourselves over a recruit who just finished his sophomore season of high school. Speaking of which, UH has lost two high profile assistant coaches this baseball offseason but they did a pretty good job of quickly replacing them with solid replacements. Hopefully we'll make an equally solid and quick hire as well.

Fort Bend Owl makes my point on player development ((really student development) because not every player pans out but they all learn life lessons) much more succinctly. Rice recruits character, and our coaches, especially the original OG, then molds these students into even better citizens, whether they have one varsity at bat or a post Rice 20 year MLB career!
07-14-2017 02:44 AM
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OptimisticOwl Offline
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Post: #8
RE: Baseball de-commitment
We appear to judge our assistants by whether or not somebody wants to hire them away. By that measure Van Hook must have been pretty good.

Water under the bridge. Let's see who Graham hires.
07-14-2017 07:03 AM
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waltgreenberg Online
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-14-2017 07:03 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  We appear to judge our assistants by whether or not somebody wants to hire them away. By that measure Van Hook must have been pretty good.

Water under the bridge. Let's see who Graham hires.

Didn't Van Hook have a relationship with Skip Johnson when both were at UT. Given that, this hire is not all that surprising. Yes, I think Van Hook is a loss, particularly on the recruiting front, but he's certainly far from irreplaceable. From my exposure to the team, I found Van Hook to be the disciplinarian amongst the assistant coaches. It was Scott Shepperd who had the closer relationship with the players.
(This post was last modified: 07-14-2017 07:23 AM by waltgreenberg.)
07-14-2017 07:21 AM
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Owl1998 Offline
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
Ok, so please tell me what quality assistant is going to want to come to Rice knowing that Graham's contract ends next year? That basically means you'd be hoping the new hire after that keeps you around. I don't know a single coach that wants to put himself in that kind of limbo.
07-14-2017 08:08 AM
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OptimisticOwl Offline
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Post: #11
RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-14-2017 08:08 AM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Ok, so please tell me what quality assistant is going to want to come to Rice knowing that Graham's contract ends next year? That basically means you'd be hoping the new hire after that keeps you around. I don't know a single coach that wants to put himself in that kind of limbo.

It might be one that wants to compete for Graham's job. Or it might be that "gem in the rough" we are always looking for, willing to get a year on his resume at a major school.
07-14-2017 08:13 AM
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waltgreenberg Online
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-14-2017 08:08 AM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Ok, so please tell me what quality assistant is going to want to come to Rice knowing that Graham's contract ends next year? That basically means you'd be hoping the new hire after that keeps you around. I don't know a single coach that wants to put himself in that kind of limbo.

Berkman? Now that he's got his college degree and a full assistant coaching opportunity presents itself-- one that pays (as opposed to a volunteer). Unless his relationship with The OG has soured as some have hinted, this unexpected opening could have a silver lining.

And if not Lance, I agree with OO that this opening could attract someone of quality with experience who see an opportunity to be The OG's heir apparent and coach in waiting.
(This post was last modified: 07-14-2017 08:21 AM by waltgreenberg.)
07-14-2017 08:19 AM
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Owl1998 Offline
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
I actually agree with you Walt about Berkman. This is the perfect opportunity to hire Lance and make him the coach in waiting. I actually think it would give the program a shot in the arm. He wants the job and there's no way it wouldn't help in recruiting.
07-14-2017 08:30 AM
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OptimisticOwl Offline
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-14-2017 08:19 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  And if not Lance, I agree with OO that this opening could attract someone of quality with experience who see an opportunity to be The OG's heir apparent and coach in waiting.

A year to familiarize oneself with Administration people, players, and top fans could make the difference.
07-14-2017 08:53 AM
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Almadenmike Offline
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Post: #15
RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-14-2017 07:21 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  
(07-14-2017 07:03 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  We appear to judge our assistants by whether or not somebody wants to hire them away. By that measure Van Hook must have been pretty good.

Water under the bridge. Let's see who Graham hires.

Didn't Van Hook have a relationship with Skip Johnson when both were at UT. Given that, this hire is not all that surprising. ...

Yep. He played for him at Navarro College as a freshman and then again at UT when Johnson arrived there to coach in Clay's senior year.

Here's a quote from Clay in a Sooner news article mentioned in Alan Shelby's Rice Update this morning:

Quote:“Growing up, I always wanted to be a baseball coach and to be around the game,” stated Van Hook. “Skip (Johnson) was the guy that gave me the first shot to play college baseball. I’ve always wanted to coach for him because he’s a person that has had a positive impact on my life in many ways.

BTW, Rice and WG had several positive mentions in that article.
(This post was last modified: 07-14-2017 10:25 AM by Almadenmike.)
07-14-2017 10:22 AM
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Tiki Owl Offline
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RE: Baseball de-commitment
So it seems folks here give Pope little chance at the head job.
07-14-2017 02:19 PM
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ExcitedOwl18 Offline
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Post: #17
RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-14-2017 02:19 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  So it seems folks here give Pope little chance at the head job.

I don't think he deserves it yet. Pitching was an absolute disaster this year.
07-14-2017 02:23 PM
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OldOwl Offline
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Post: #18
RE: Baseball de-commitment
Lance Bergman and Andy Pettit sounds like a great team but not sure if Andy wants to coach.
(07-14-2017 02:23 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  
(07-14-2017 02:19 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  So it seems folks here give Pope little chance at the head job.

I don't think he deserves it yet. Pitching was an absolute disaster this year.
07-15-2017 06:41 PM
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Tiki Owl Offline
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Post: #19
RE: Baseball de-commitment
(07-14-2017 02:23 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  
(07-14-2017 02:19 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  So it seems folks here give Pope little chance at the head job.

I don't think he deserves it yet. Pitching was an absolute disaster this year.

It would be great to see Berkman leading the Owls, but to be fair the rant on Pope is strange since Wayne is still the defacto pitching coach. Plus Pope has 3 state titles at the highest level of HS baseball in Texas while Lance has one in the Private school groupings which aren't close to the same competition. Also if one season of being an assistant at Rice would be sufficient for Berkman, isn't two seasons by Pope just as good or better?

Personally at this point I would be happy with either one leading the program but as Walt mentioned I'm not sure Lance would be welcomed back for a year of being the coach in waiting.
07-16-2017 06:31 AM
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Volente Beach Owl Offline
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Post: #20
RE: Baseball de-commitment
Lance made over $120 million playing professional baseball -- is he truly willing to sign up for the grind of coaching a college baseball team? All the travel, the long hours, the year round recruiting, the time with donors and administrators, etc? This is by no means an attempt to disparage Berkman -- he's my favorite player and I wear his jersey routinely -- this is just asking the question whether he has the fire to take on such a demanding job.
07-16-2017 07:11 AM
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