(08-08-2023 02:40 PM)Musicowl1965 Wrote:  

(08-08-2023 02:28 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(08-08-2023 09:43 AM)Musicowl1965 Wrote:  

(08-07-2023 05:26 PM)ausowl Wrote:  

(08-07-2023 03:14 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  My guess is it's mostly a cost and NIL issue, but not being in the post-season for the past 6 seasons certainly hasn't helped.

Kansas St. could be a cost issue. Northwestern would be something else.

Given a choice, for a more academically minded player, would Northwestern be a better choice than Rice all things being equal?

Not in any world I can think of. Not only is Northwestern an awful baseball program that has been uncompetitive in the relatively weak Big10, but their a Northern school that must play the first 2+ months of the season in cold, wintery conditions. At Rice you can train and practice year-round. Throw in the current reality that Northwestern baseball program just fired their head coach, has (as the football program) been riddled with hazing, and half the team entered the portal, and choosing Northwestern over Rice is a real head scratcher. Remember, he a Texas kid. Unless his girl friend got accepted into Northwestern...

Ok..so what could possible motivate an academically minded player to forgo Rice and go to Northwestern? Baseball likely not the driver, academics being equal, and weather etc. in Rice favor it has to be cost IMO (or the girlfriend!!). All speculation I know but it's a red flag for our program when this happens.

Early playing time? Seems like there are ample spots up for grabs at Northwestern right now.

Or maybe he just wants to experience something different?