This is why I hate Southern

[Hammer Down]

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/...-usms-mcmahon-finds-way-get-batters/25800907/

Pretty sure that guy could be helping us this year. Yes, I know, it took him 5 years to develop, but it is possible Butch could have gotten something out of him sooner, obviously Berry is not developing much. You see his response to McMahon wanting to be a starter, "Go pitch summer ball" essentially. We could have done that plus some.

But it is not just McMahon, it is Connor Barron and others on that roster. They occasionally beat us on a top prospect in South Mississippi, then they take guys who would be solid depth for us because of the reasons McMahon gave, like being closer to home. These guys are pretty good this year, they have beaten us and beaten Ole Miss twice. Just took 2 of 3 from Western Kentucky. And, they beat South Alabama. I thought the days of USM being the dominant baseball school was over when Corky left, but they are still managing to be a thorn in our side.

At least this is a non-factor in football nowadays.

 

[AlSwearengen]

I didn't read your link, but McMahon wanted schollie money from us but we didn't want to do that. He comes from a State family with money but I guess they felt "dissed". Around Hattiesburg, most people thought he would never really do much which has been the case for the most part. And some of those guys should be producing considering how long they have been around. Southern isn't our problem. We are our problem right now.

 

[Hammer Down]

If USM was Delta State level or similar, we probably still would have gotten him.

 

[WayboDawg]

The thing is, Southern Miss is currently the only school out of the big 3 that consistently has a roster filled with mostly Mississippi guys. Just look at the hometowns of the players on our roster (and Ole Miss') from the past 10 years....it is mostly filled with Alabama boys. That probably comes into the discussion when we recruit these guys, and they already know which school is most likely to start homegrown talent. Not to mention the Pine Belt area of the state is filled with baseball talent from places like Sumrall, Petal, Oak Grove, Laurel, West Lauderdale, and Taylorsville...and all those guys would love to stay local where mom and dad can still come to the home games. Southern has good tradition in baseball, and their facilities are on par if not better than most non-SEC schools.

 

[Hammer Down]

The thing is, Southern Miss is currently the only school out of the big 3 that consistently has a roster filled with mostly Mississippi guys. Just look at the hometowns of the players on our roster (and Ole Miss') from the past 10 years....it is mostly filled with Alabama boys. That probably comes into the discussion when we recruit these guys, and they already know which school is most likely to start homegrown talent. Not to mention the Pine Belt area of the state is filled with baseball talent from places like Sumrall, Petal, Oak Grove, Laurel, West Lauderdale, and Taylorsville...and all those guys would love to stay local where mom and dad can still come to the home games. Southern has good tradition in baseball, and their facilities are on par if not better than most non-SEC schools.

It is a theme that will always ring true. Whoever wins the Mississippi battle will usually have the best teams. There are exceptions, such as Ole Miss last year. But even then they had a bunch of guys from the Memphis area that is usually a good area for them. Typically your 'base' of players needs to come from your home state, and certainly in football. On the Alabama players, I disagree there, we have had some good players from there, but they have never formed our core, and even if they did, we are almost like an in-state school in many of these places, namely the Huntsville and Birmingham suburbs and Lower Alabama.

I certainly hope we do not get away from recruiting Mississippi first and foremost. Alabama football has 'gone national' in football recruiting to their detriment in my opinion, and people like us are there to pick up the pieces they leave behind in their own backyard. That is what Southern does to us as well, especially in baseball, which was my point.

Great thing about the 2015 signing class, is that even if we lose all those hotshots, we still dominated Mississippi so history tells us we have a good few years ahead of us.

ETA: Absolutely right on the Pine Belt baseball talent. All of South Mississippi for that matter. Take our 2013 team for example: Lindgren, Holder, Renfroe, Porter, Henderson, Rea, Gentry.....all from down there. It is an area we absolutely must put emphasis on, and USM is usually the biggest competition (Mason Robbins and Conner Barron come to mind). LSU plucks one time and again.

 

[WayboDawg]

8 of 36 players hail from Alabama on our roster this year. That's 22 percent of our team..... Compare that to the 8 of 36 that are from Mississippi. And I hate it when people say MSU is "virtually" an in-state school in certain areas of Alabama. That's like saying an in-law is part of their spouses family. That goes out the window real quick when the chips are down. Either you're blood, or you aint, and that's the way our neighbors to the East see MSU over there.

 

[Hammer Down]

They are good players, bro. Would you rather not have them?

 

[WayboDawg]

They are good players, bro. Would you rather not have them?

The original argument was "Why does Southern keep stealing Mississippi players from MSU?" I'm just giving you an explanation of why that's happening. When MSU fills their roster with Alabama players, there are less spots for ones from Mississippi. It's simple economics.

But no, I really don't care where our players come from as long as we are winning. Good players are good players whether they are from Jackson or Mobile. However, you lose that sense of home state comradery (even if the players are from Huntsville/Birmingham) when you pull players from outside the state lines. It's just something for a coach to consider when he crosses the border to recruit.

 

[Hammer Down]

The original argument was "Why does Southern keep stealing Mississippi players from MSU?" I'm just giving you an explanation of why that's happening. When MSU fills their roster with Alabama players, there are less spots for ones from Mississippi. It's simple economics.

I will say that since Cohen has been here, this has been diminished, and I believe that is why USM has slid a little from where they were back around 2009. They get the guys we are keeping warm, like a McMahon. So I think we agree more than we think. In the case of Barron and Robbins, I think we got beat on those guys back in 2011. I cannot imagine Cohen bringing in guys like Philip Casey over them. McMahon was in that 2010 class and we had to backfill with guys like Victor Diaz. I guess my point is that we could have it all to an extent. It is not like our classes are filled with out-of-state world beaters, until 2013.

It almost seems like these guys grew up very lukewarm on MSU, and we do not have the grip on them that we used to have in the early 90s and before. We lost Stephen Head, Seth Smith and all those guys for the same reason, although that was sheer laziness and/or stupidity by our coaches at the time.

 

[ConkyMSU]

McMahon had schollie money, Cohen either cut it in half or cut it altogether in order to get Pollorena. I believe he did the same with Garrett Pitts, not sure though. McMahon was either the 1st or 2nd commitment of that 2010 class so I'm sure he did feel "dissed".

 

[thekimmer]

Not me....

I hate em just because they're southern.

 

[mstateglfr]

You hate USM because they were apparently willing to offer some scholarship money to a recruit that we wouldn't give scholarship money to, they then kept the guy on their team for 4 years while he was woefully underwhelming, and he is now turned into a good player 5 years later?

THAT is why you hate USM? Damn, they clearly cant win in your book.

 

[Hammer Down]

You hate USM because they were apparently willing to offer some scholarship money to a recruit that we wouldn't give scholarship money to, they then kept the guy on their team for 4 years while he was woefully underwhelming, and he is now turned into a good player 5 years later?

THAT is why you hate USM? Damn, they clearly cant win in your book.

Well, since you put it like that.....

I guess universities ARE here to educate and promote peoples' careers, rather than for my own sports entertainment. Who'da thunk that?