Congrats to the Charlotte Area Class of 2003!

Several years ago, a friend and I sat in Knights Castle watching an ACC baseball tournament game. Between innings, my friend, who is also from Charlotte, flipped through the pages of the tournament program and counted the number of Charlotte area players on ACC rosters.

Sadly, he could only find 2; causing us to agree that this seemed to fly in the face of our perception that the overall quality of Charlotte area baseball had improved steadily during the 1990’s. We both held the opinion that the combination of (1) the ever-growing popularity of fall baseball, (2) improved access to year-round training facilities and instructors, and (3) better coaching, generally, at the high school level were leading to a systematic improvement in the quality of play. With that recollection in mind, I turned to Impact Baseball’s “2003 North Carolina Follow List” to see if I could find any evidence of the improvement my friend and I sensed.

Limiting the definition of “Charlotte area” to Mecklenburg County and those North Carolina counties contiguous to it, there are 21 members of the high school class of 2003 playing at the collegiate level this year. Of the 21, 17 went to Division I schools, 3 to Division II colleges, and 1 to junior college. Conferences represented include the Big South (6), Atlantic Coast (3), Atlantic Sun (3), Southern (3), Conference USA (1), Mid-Eastern Athletic (1), and Southeastern (1) at the Division I level; while the South Atlantic (2) and Carolinas-Virginia Athletic (1) account for the 3, Division II players. By school, it shapes up this way (alphabetical order):

Belmont Abbey
Campbell
Davidson
Elon (2)
Gardner Webb
Lenoir-Rhyne
North Carolina A&T
Surry Community College
UNC-Asheville (3)
UNC-Charlotte
UNC-Chapel Hill (3)
UNC-Greensboro
University of South Carolina
Wingate
Winthrop
Wofford


Naturally, I wish I’d had the opportunity to analyze this 5 years ago; but, I couldn’t. However, if I had, I’m pretty certain that that the results would have indicated that fewer Charlotte area players were going on to play collegiate baseball.

Regardless, though, the results for the Class of 2003 represent an impressive testimony to the hard work of the players involved and the dedication of those adults in the region who work with and for them. Congratulations to all involved!

 

Thanks a lot Prepster. Like you said, we did not do it alone. We are very fortunate to have had the instruction and resources around us. I cannot speak on why it is that there were so many more this year, than five years ago, I can only mention the fact that the coaches and baseball people that I have been around in Charlotte have been an absolute blessing.

 

What an interesting thread. Your analysis, in my opinion, is right on target, Prepster.

The key word for me that was nearly non-existant 5 years ago is "exposure" as well as everything else you so eloquently stated.

College level kids now can play in some tournaments with upwards of 250+ scouts attending. Not sure that was the case 5 years ago.