All this graphic tells me is that 2026 isn't a very strong class for the state of Mississippi with only three Power4 players.
Baseball Recruiting
- Thread starter Leeshouldveflanked
- Start date
His *** got struck by lightening flying a kite. What a dumb 17!*
Ole Miss's starting freshman pitcher who started today vs LSU is better than any experienced pitcher we have on our roster. Their 2 best pitchers left last year and didn't return. And they got a bullpen better than ours also. We simply are not recruiting well in the one department where it really matters.......pitching.
LSU only has one in LA and we have the top guy. This stuff is so laughable.
This is stupid. I want a coach who can recruit *the best players* not under
-recruited Mississippi kids. That seems like a perfect fit for USM, not State. How many DAWGS would we have missed out on if we focused on MS kids instead?
Walters is most likely USM bound unless he really gets paid. His dad is the BSU director.
You’ve missed the point. Not to mention, in today’s world you only recruit (and retain) the best players with money. This is the reason the virgina coach is a little unhappy with Virginia and acting like he might leave. The point is that with the money we’re up against in our league, you want to off set and counter that with someone who is proven to know what he’s looking for with what he has available to use to get them. You want someone who is proven to find the pieces and who can do more with less. What I’m also saying is that our less is more than southern miss. So i would expect that he would find the very best that we could buy or not buy. But I also trust in is development especially in pitching. I trust in his ability to bring in the absolute best that we can buy and not buy, and development them. If you want someone to just recruit the very best on paper as you say, then anyone can buy them if they have enough money. But being realistic, I want someone who knows the intangibles and the things you can’t measure on paper in recruiting them. Again, during his tenure he’s done well against us doing this very thing as I listed earlier. Regardless of excuses, on paper they shouldn’t have been able to play with us.
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So how much better do we need to be in order to beat them in a three game series?
Ostrander coaches in a bad league and has never been to a CWS or won a regional and you'd want him over our supposed list of coaches who have done more? Nah, I'll pass. USM doesn't even have a resume worthy of hosting. If not for their AD being on the committee, they'd be on the road. I like Ostrander, but not for this job.
Who cares? The ability to assemble talented players is literally the ONLY thing that matters in this deal.
With the decrease in roster size in future years, I would think you would recruit more kids that can play a position and pitch as well.
Which was my point....USM isn't some crazy talented team. We'd blow through that conference with our team. They don't recruit at an elite level. O'Connor has out a ton of guys in MLB and had some first round guys too. There's no comparison.
What do you think NlL in baseball is at Southern Miss compared ours? Add to that comparison facilities and lure of conference? Them compare all same things with Southern Miss and Virginia. Most of our fanbase missed the entire point here, just like they do with looking for football coaches ect. Someone like Ostrander has done more with less resources available, and has done it at every level here in this State.
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USM can't even win the damn Sunbelt and I'm supposed to be impressed? We beat them with midweek pitching. This is the silliest damn argument ever! Go compare what BOC has done then tell me what Ostrander has done. It's over! Zero comparison! That Juco state championship at Jones is so impressive!
We get it. He's a good coach but with our record lately, you go with someone you know can preform at the highest level and work down. Ostrander is on the list but there are more proven/ less risky coaches ahead of him. Is that the right way to go, currently yes. If we didn't have such a high turnover in sports recently and had someone here for years prior to this search, sure you could take a risk and not spend so much then fall back later and over spend. We just don't have that luxury right now
When Ostrader takes usm to Omaha, then he goes on a search list. He may end up being a star, but it is way too early to know. Anyone talking about putting him on a list with OConner, Bakich, and Wasikowski should rethink things.
I don't think Bakich should still be on it, but that's a guess. O'Connor would surprise me, and it would be a pleasant surprise. I figure they'll announce his new contract at UVa soon.
Wasikowski (sp?) sounds at least like he might have interest. Probably should add Skip Johnson and the Kansas head coach, Fitzgerald. Then you get to assistants.
If we have the opportunity to hire Wasikowski and hire Fitzgerald or Johnson, then that's frustrating. Was is a winner. I know Skip Johnson made it to the CWS finals once. He has also been coach for eight years and not hosted a regional.
If O'Connor says no then Wasikowski should be the clear-cut number one. He's responsible for five of the twelve regionals in the history of the school, every year since 2021. They have hosted two regionals and two Supers since then.
He's an Andy Lopez product (who is first class) and got his start in big boy baseball with him at Florida, granted 20+ years ago.
If O'Connor says no then Wasikowski should be the clear-cut number one. He's responsible for five of the twelve regionals in the history of the school, every year since 2021. They have hosted two regionals and two Supers since then.
He's an Andy Lopez product (who is first class) and got his start in big boy baseball with him at Florida, granted 20+ years ago.
He was an ga and assistant at SEMO. I think his wife is from Missouri. He's definitely a west coast guy, but he has spent some time in the SEC and away from the west coast. I do think Wasikowski would be a home run hire.
One thing I saw someone mention in talking about candidates is the schools in Starkville. If State is trying to hire a coach that has kids still in K-12, the schools in Starkville will factor in. I wonder how many of these rumored candidates have kids that are at least out of high school. I could see coaches that have all their kids out of the house more likely to be open to a move to rural MS.