What are these rumors about

[Todd4State]

only 10 guys coming back from the baseball team this year?

That would put us way under the roster limit- with four spots open, which I guess would be filled with walk-ons.

I know Cohen has said that we are going to sign 18, unless he has changed his mind this week, plus the three walk-ons that I'm aware of.

If the rumor is true, we're about to see a purge that would make Paul Manieri proud.

 

[Todd4State]

only 10 guys coming back from the baseball team this year?

That would put us way under the roster limit- with four spots open, which I guess would be filled with walk-ons.

I know Cohen has said that we are going to sign 18, unless he has changed his mind this week, plus the three walk-ons that I'm aware of.

If the rumor is true, we're about to see a purge that would make Paul Manieri proud.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyBulldog]

who those 10 are?

 

[graddawg]

First I've heard of it. Where is said rumor making the rounds?

 

[Henry Kissinger]

very croomian

 

[muddawgs33]

very croomian

At least Cohen will upgrade the players unlike Croom...

 

[Todd4State]

First I've heard of it. Where is said rumor making the rounds?

It's really not far from the truth, but I would rather keep the four crappy guys as So. and Jrs so they will get out of the program sooner than bring in four walk-ons, who likely won't be much better and will have to stay in the program longer, or be cut possibly hurting our APR.

 

[Todd4State]

very croomian

but like muddawg said, Cohen will upgrade the players plus, he knows what he is doing.

I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks.

 

[Henry Kissinger]

yeah, it seemed like cohen's biggest emphasis in hiring assistant coaches was recruiting ability. i expect a substantial upgrade within the next two years.

 

[99jc]

theyallsuxku

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

Seemed to me we mostly just needed pitchers.... but that's what I understand , and am hearing.

We got what "Ya'll" wanted ( me included)...so I guess we let him go, and stay out of the way...I suspect this is what Polk was in fear of!

 

[Todd4State]

And I think an even worse fear for Polk would be for someone like Cohen to come in and recruit good players and win with them, making him look like the charleton that he is.

Cohen is going to completely blow up his NCAA social experiment.

 

[JimHalpert.nafoom]

nm

 

[Todd4State]

IF this rumor is true, I doubt even Cohen knows exactly who the lucky 10 will be, because it's going to depend on the draft and who wants to stay. I'm sure some will show themselves the door.

But since you are asking, my 10 (assuming Conner Powers goes in the draft):

Routt
Sneed
Butler
Collins
Adkins
Duffy
Ryan Powers
Devin Jones
Brownlee
Whitney

To explain myself ahead of time, I'm buying the rumor that Moore and Freeman are going to transfer to DSU. If they don't, put them on the list and mark off Whitney and Brownlee. I think Devin Jones has a lot of upside, second most to Routt as far as the Fr. are concerned. Jones is going to have a chance to develop.

And I'll also say this- it makes a lot more sense to me to keep 14 guys than it does to bring in seven walk-ons.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

.

 

[disturbeddawg]

What's happening with Busby? What kind of injury does he have? I can't see Conner getting drafted high enough this year, but he may feel he's ready to move on. I think D Jones could be a good one as well. He's got good movement on his fastball when I've seen him, but off speed pitches need a little work. Would hate to see Moore leave.

 

[Indndawg]

A contractor of mine know JC and does alotta work for him. He (contractor) told me that JC's level of frustration and pissed-offness is off the scale. Basically JC told him he WILL rebuild this team in HIS image. I asked does he speak of his predecssor much and he said no its just better to not go there.

 

[ababyatemydingo]

just a little inside note on one of our pitching recruits. Looks like Blake Hennington is possibly pulling out of his commitment. I'm good friends with his family, and apparently the MCC coach is looking out for his own hide, and trying to convince Blake to come back to MCC for another year, instead of going State next year. He's telling him to pitch another year in JUCO, and then let everyone recruit him all over again. I'm not sure how that works. Maybe some of you can enlighten me. I thought that once you signed, even if he went back to MCC next year, he'd still be committed to come to State after next year, unless Cohen wanted to let him out of his commitment. Blake's a left handed pitcher, who throws heat for strikes. He hasn't pitched for MCC in a few weeks. He broke some little bone in his throwing hand in a freak accident, and has just started throwing again.

This all started after he came up to Starkville for his official visit. It sounded really juvenile to me when his uncle told me, but...whatever. Apparently, coach Cohen promised him that he would get to stay in a university owned apartment on his visit, but they ended up putting him up in the dorm, when he actually got to Starkville. So he got his panties in a wad over that. So...the MCC coach is playing the angle of, "hey, they've already lied to you. How do you know they won't lie to you again? You might as well just play here another year, and let the recruiting process start all over next year." This doesn't bode too well for us getting future MCC players. Looks like the coach doesn't care for either State or Cohen, or both.

I do know that his uncle is a HUGE Ole Miss fan, and would love to see Bianco sign him next year.

 

[hatfieldms]

What's happening with Busby? What kind of injury does he have? I can't see Conner getting drafted high enough this year, but he may feel he's ready to move on. I think D Jones could be a good one as well. He's got good movement on his fastball when I've seen him, but off speed pitches need a little work. Would hate to see Moore leave.

He has a torn labrum(sp?) and had surgery about a month ago. Doctor said he would need up to 9 months to rehab

 

[Todd4State]

the success that Mississippi JUCO recruits have had at State, Ole Miss, and USM, I don't think that is that bad of a thing.

If Hennington comes to MSU, I think he will be a middle relief guy.

And as far as the apartment thing-

#1 Does the University own off campus apartments, and if we put a recruit up in one, doesn't that kind of set us up for some potential violations?

#2 Doesn't Univeristy owned apartments = Dorms?

#3 If he got pissed off about staying one night or weekend in a dorm, do we want him on our team? If he's the next Tim Lincecum, my answer is yes. I doubt that's the case though.

Now as far as the commitment thing- baseball has two signing periods- one in the fall and one in the spring. Hennington verbally committed after the fall period, therefore just like football, he was a "verbal" commitment and had not signed anything, and was still fair game for any other school. I'm guessing what really happened was he broke his throwing hand, and to cover our hide, we pulled his scholarship and told him to pitch another year in JUCO to make sure he was OK. At the same time, we probably saw some HS seniors that we wanted, and have decided to offer them instead, with the thought that we could maybe get Hennington later.

If his recruitment went that bad, why did he commit to us in the first place?

 

[graddawg]

the success that Mississippi JUCO recruits have had at State, Ole Miss, and USM, I don't think that is that bad of a thing.

If Hennington comes to MSU, I think he will be a middle relief guy.

And as far as the apartment thing-

#1 Does the University own off campus apartments, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">if we put a recruit up in one, doesn't that kind of set us up for some potential violations</span>?

#2 Doesn't Univeristy owned apartments = Dorms?

#3 If he got pissed off about staying one night or weekend in a dorm, do we want him on our team? If he's the next Tim Lincecum, my answer is yes. I doubt that's the case though.

Now as far as the commitment thing- baseball has two signing periods- one in the fall and one in the spring. Hennington verbally committed after the fall period, therefore just like football, he was a "verbal" commitment and had not signed anything, and was still fair game for any other school. I'm guessing what really happened was he broke his throwing hand, and to cover our hide, we pulled his scholarship and told him to pitch another year in JUCO to make sure he was OK. At the same time, we probably saw some HS seniors that we wanted, and have decided to offer them instead, with the thought that we could maybe get Hennington later.

If his recruitment went that bad, why did he commit to us in the first place?

Not if it's an official visit. What's the difference between this and a hotel? And I don't know if said apartments even exist.

 

[Todd4State]

To me, a hotel is a very public place. Whereas a "University owned apartment" sounds to me like somewhere that you could have boosters and people like that conveniently meeting recruits and things like that. You can control the traffic and hide things a little better, in my opinion.

I'm kind of thinking back to the days when Ole Miss had the now infamous "hunting camp" that they got busted for.

It just sounds suspicious, but who knows? Maybe every school has them.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

To me, a hotel is a very public place. Whereas a "University owned apartment"

I lived at Arbour Acres my senior year. They were university owned apartments. I don't know about the housing situation, but I would think that MState had more apartments around like that.

 

[basedog]

getting evaluations for next years team. If you look at what Cohen is doing by playing everyone to see what they can do. The only players that I see on this years team that will be back: Collins who is starting to hit like he did last year and is our hottest hitter right now, Sneed who is a good hitter but not that good in the field, maybe he will play 1st next year, Butler, but I'm not convinced that Cohen sees him as a everyday second baseman, pretty decent hitter, Freeman, I don't have a clue where or if he can catch full time, the injury has taken a toll on his ability so maybe he will be stronger and better next year, Atkins, role player, Brownlee, role player, then looking at Ryan Powers, he is up and down but should be back and be much better next year, Duffy who may be our 1st baseman against right-handed pitchers, and Nappi, role player, Rawdow, role player. Thats 10 fielders-hitters I see coming back. As for as pitching, I only see Routt and Whitney as starters, I'm not sure who else will be back, probably Pace but I'm not sold on any of the others but I'm sure a couple will be back. But with around 20 new players coming in, fall practice should be real interesting for the first time in a long time.
Finally, I feel a little sorry for our current players, you know they are in shock with the attitude of our coaches, and there fire approach of hard work and intense play.
I like what I see from the staff.

 

[Todd4State]

I think Cohen's style is more conducive to winning championships.

He also seems to understand the importance of recruiting and recruiting in your state. From the recruits that we have committed, I can tell that he wants a team that has a blend of power and speed, and that pitching is a priority.

 

[basedog]

for next year.