Top 5 Division 1 baseball colleges in nc

If you were a Division 1 baseball prospect, where would you want to play?

 

UNC
NC State
Wake Forest
ECU
UNC-W

Two more:

UNC-Charlotte
Elon

 

Would you be willing to elaborate?

For those of us who haven't been through the process, would you be willing to share with us your reasons behind your choices? Some are obvious, but wondering if it has to do with coaching, caliber of the players, caliber of the education or some combination of all of this. Thanks in advance for being willing to share your perspective!

 

First, the thread asked for the Top 5 D1's in baseball, so that was easy. The goal is to play in the NCAA's play offs and Championship. These schools will offer excellent opportunities to do so.

Having said that, there are excellent D1 schools that offer outstanding baseball in NC and any number of them can make the playoffs any given year.

I made my opinion based on baseball only. If you ask any kid wanting to play college baseball in NC, one of the things that excite them is the opportunity to play on TV. The schools I mentioned should offer them that.

 

My Top 10:
The North Carolina State University
UNC
ECU
UNC-W
Wake Forest
Elon
App. State
UNC-G
UNC-C
UNC-A

And I'd also like to suggest Community/Junior College Baseball as well if you aren't sure whether or not you are D1 Material. 2 Years of JUCO ball will answer your question, and 2 years there is better (and cheaper) than 4 years at a D2/D3 school you aren't very happy at... In my opinion.

 

Western Carolina

though they are the inter mountian rival of my son's school, UNC-A, you can't argue with their success in making it to the NCAA's.

The way I rank 'em...

1 UNC... No doubt the top program in the state... CWS, All Americans, players going pro.

2 ECU... Godwin is a great coach and great recruiter, fantastic facility with probably the best fans. they get to the playoffs consistently.

3 NCSU... nice on campus venue... should have built it years ago and kept Ray Tanner happy. Produces good players that get drafted.

4 UNC-W... Baseball at the beach! Not really... players are working hard and don't have time to get their feet wet. Mark Scalf is probably one of, if not the, most long running head coaches in the state. Good coach and a good man. Team competes in their conference every year and gets to the playoffs.

5 Tie... UNC-C and Western Carolina

UNC-C... new stadium, good coaches, crappy conference... they spend more time up north than ducks migrating in the spring.

Western... reasons listed above. BUT your kid had better love the mountians and you need to have "frequent flyer" miles on your car, if you are from anywhere east of Greensboro and plan to attend home games.

Honorable Mention... Mt. Olive... not DI but hey, they won a National Championship last year and Coach Carl Lancaster is one of the best!

 

Pitrchersmom

Being a former player myself, here's a few things that went in to our decision making process, things that looking back were special to me and are not necessarily the norm. Also keep in mind we weren't one of those "this is my dream school, I've been a "so &so" fan since I was 3 years old" kind of people.

1. So far as skill level was concerned we simply wanted to play at the highest level possible (and that is determined not by you but by the scouts that have seen you and expressed interest i.e. made an offer)
AND have the opportunity to play right away and or soon. Obviously, no one is going to guarantee you a starting position but if you do your homework you can get a good feel for what the opportunities to play early are. And I stress having the opportunity is all you can ask for, what you do with it is up to you.

2. We wanted to play somewhere that gave us the best opportunity to play in the postseason. Many conferences may only get one bid where others get multiple at-large bid.

3. We wanted to go somewhere that traveled well. How many 18/19 year old kids get to get on a plane and fly around and see different parts of the country. The first time i ever flew, I got on a plane to go to Grand Junction, Colo. to play in the JUCO World Series. Wow, what an experience.

4. And we wanted to travel and play in warm weather conditions. Who wants to play in Syracuse in March? Look at the schools in the conference and where they are located.

5. Facilities were a part of the equation. And not just the baseball field but strength and conditioning and even intramurals. Kids will spend alot of time here as well.

6. Also wanted to be able to compete for a conference championship. You have to ask yourself, do I want to go here even though they probably won't win a championship just to say I played in such and such conference? There's no greater feeling than winning a championship regardless of the level or division.

These are just a few things that we considered along with all the other normal stuff like the coaching staff, teammates and how pretty the diamond girls are. Of course it's an individual thing and different for everybody. I can tell you this though regardless of your decision, if you go in with the attitude that I'm going to be a part of something bigger than me and I'm going to be the absolute best teammate I can and do whatever I can help this program succeed, you will enjoy every minute. If you go in with the attitude it's all about me and what can the school do for me then there could be some issues. Anyway, hope this helps.

 

Rivals.com

http://collegebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1169&CID=863329

Here's how Rivals recently listed programs in NC.

 

Although it appears that my opinion and Rivals are very close in opinion of top baseball schools, I believe most people with any knowledge about the landscape of college baseball in NC would have concluded the same thing.

The interesting decisions are made with finding the schools that are on the rise and maintaining a consistent coaching staff.

 

Elon

I would move Elon up on my list except for one factor. The Phoenix have a great facility on a beautiful campus. The coaching staff is great and they play in a good conference.

The draw back is limited scholarships. As a private school with a high cost for attending, the limited schollys mean the kids and their families have more of a financial burden.

This effects Wake and "Dook" and the other "privates" also.

But back to the original question... go where you're wanted, go where you're comfortable, go where you can get the education you desire, and GO WHERE YOU CAN PLAY! You can sit on the bench at the community park for the rest of your life. Don't waste two or three years of the four you get. They'll be gone before you know it!