Has UNCC suffered by....

Has UNCC coach burned bridges or was it lack of respect that Charlotte area players and their parents had for the baseball program at Charlotte? I as a UNCC graduate and former office assistant to the head coach happen to know it is the latter of the two. Many Charlotte and surrounding area player were recruited but felt the program was not elite enough for their skills. Coach Hibbs has done a tremendous job at Charlotte and brought the quality of the program to what many others already were and have been for a very long time. Yes, many out of state players were recruited but when the players in your own backyard are looking for bigger and better opportunities what is a coach to do. It is his job to bring the best talent he can and developing a winning program... THAT IS JOB and he wants job security just like the rest of us. Do anyother baseball powerhouses just recruit from their own backyard...I think not!!! Give Coach Hibbs his due, he has turned a floundering program into one that is competetive year in and year out. And now that they are what people would call good, the locals are starting to take notice and peoples feelings are getting hurt because they are not being recruited by Charlotte. Like the "O" said Baseball is Baseball. If you are a good enough player...you can play somewhere!!!!!

 

there you go Guys..................she put it pretty plain and simple!

Thanks Ladycolt

 

Ladycolt certainly made some good points and I agree with many of her comments, but I believe the answer is somewhere in the middle. All of the On Deck coaches were either players or in Mike Shildts case an Assistant Coach. They are not shy in admitting that the target of recruiting was in the Maryland area for the most part. The feelings were that area had better talent. I don't blame a coach for trying to upgrade his program, but here lies my question.

As a school in the Charlotte community, don't they owe that community in trying to develop players and contacts with the local area. And aren't the rewards of developing your own community for talent much better for your program.

I'm not trying to be overly critical of Coach Hibbs, he has built a successful program, but I find it ironic that a former coach at UNCC has done more for the players in Charlotte in developing their skills and opportunities to play elsewhere. One would think that the local college coach would want to be plugged in to it's own backyard.....especially when it's losing some quality players to it's rivals.

 

I wonder how many "Maryland" businesses help him buy new scoreboards, or help him when he is trying to raise money for wants for his team when the school won't buy it? If you want the support of the local community you had better be doing a little smoozing (did I spell that right) with the local coaches and kids. It might not be the the kid this year, it might be one 4 years from now that he really wants. The HS coach can be a great influence on where a kid lands, and when they are treated with the arrogance that I witnessed, I know one that will have a hard time recommending again. 64-94 in the last three years is a long way from being successful. No offense LadyColt but I really don't see where the impprovement is? What am I missing?

 

for years most athletes and their parents Overlooked UNCC and vise versa.......................its up to each Now to bridge the gap!

remember that alot of the players/students want to attend college more than 50 miles from home. Great talent across this country wanting to Play Anywhere.........good luck to all striving to play college ball

 

My 2 cents- During my sons' recruiting we heard this several times- "If we (the college) don't get our A list from NC we will try to get our A list from other states-before we go to our B list from instate"
This may seem cruel but to build a successful program it is a must! I'm not as familiar with UNCC as most of you guys but surely they are doing this? If not they are biting the hand that feeds them as Mudcat said!

 

Mudcat...no offense taken by your comments...I do understand what you are saying, but just like most women I have a little more to add to the conversation. I hope that you are not basing your impressions of Coach Hibbs on just the one experience you mentioned in your first post. You seem like a person that understands a lot about baseball and have at sometime, if not now, have been a coach. Before and after games can be stressful times for coaches. Maybe you just caught him on a bad day. Does it really matter whether a scoreboard comes from Charlotte or Maryland? The goal of collegiate athletics is to give students a chance to play at the next level in the best facilities possible and make their experience one to remember for a lifetime while getting a quality education. Do you think any team (university)would turn down a donation or other form of support just because it didn't come from their backyard? Probably not!!! I would also like to make the point that no coach just recruits from his backyard. Go check out the roster from any D1 team and I guarantee you will see only a few athletes from their backyard on the roster. As I said earlier, he is doing what he thinks is best for the program he is responsible for because he likes his job and he wants to keep it. As for the record over the last 3 years, well you're right, but what about the years before that? Every program has losing and winning seasons. Coach Hibbs has been successful overall. When I look down at my finger and see the conference championship ring that I often wear, it brings back great memories of exciting times. I also remember stepping foot on field at Tennessee when UNCC made its first postseason appearance ever in baseball. Many programs have never even had that opportunity!!! As for you not seeing any improvements, well you have the right to your opinion and I respect that, but Coach Hibbs is the most successful coach that Charlotte has had. Job security in the sports world is a rare thing, so Coach must be doing something right or the university would not have kept him around.
Braves... you are correct. A university, it coaches and athletic teams should try to develop and form a good relationship with surrounding communities. But I'll once again say that so often Charlotte gets overlooked by the local talent becuase they are not a "Carolina or ECU" or any other school that has a long standing tradition of baseball. It tough when you try to form those relationships and do things to help local players and constantly get reminded that your not our first choice in schools. It is a two way street. The people around here have to be receptive of Coach Hibbs and his style and way of doing things. He got his start at one of the most repected programs in the nation in Wichita State. He knows baseball and does a good job. If a kid from the Charlotte area has what he looking for, I'm sure he will go after him and try his his best to get him to come to Charlotte. Give the guy a chance, if you really got to know him you would like him!!!

Maybe my opinion is biased, because I know and respect Coach Hibbs. He has been a great influence on my life and I just couldn't let all the people that read this board think he is a bad guy because he is far from it.

 

REcruiting locally

I have a friend that has a son(which is a local you man) that is definitely interested in UNCC, and they have shown interest in him. It woud definitely be a boost for his program, and right now it is on hold. I hope for the program as well as the young man that it works out! It would be a win-win situation.

 

I'm sorry if I implied that Coach Hibbs was a bad guy or that UNCC is a bad program. That's certainly not true in either case.

I like what is happening over there with the new stadium and the new recruiters. My thread was a question about has UNCC suffered from local fan support because of them not aggressively recruiting local players. I believe most people associated with the baseball program would admit that was true.

...and let me state this. Nothing would make me feel better than to see the 49r's consistently gobble up the best in our area each year. It would certainly produce a local fan base.

 

UNCC and coach Hall are making strong efforts to recruit several top 2005's. I know of 5 players who played in the 2003 NC State Games from the Western Part of NC that have been contacted by UNCC. To date, UNCC has been the most effective school to show a sincere interest in this group of players. While I am not aware of the recruiting issues in the past, I can say that their current efforts have been impressive to date. Coach Hall is making an impression with this group of players.