State of D1 Softball in NC

SEC

The SEC is on a plane unto itself when it comes to money and therefore the ability to recruit players. Look at the salaries at ut for example. They invest more in the head coach(es) every year than UNC spends on it's entire softball program. This is not faulting UNC.

Losing one or two players to GA or AU is not the reason that NC schools are not fairing as well as they might. North Carolina is the ninth most populous state in the country. Far more people live here than in Alabama. We do have a large number of schools which can slice the pie pretty thin but our coaches should be able to recruit the entire northeast corridor very effectively as the first 'warm weather' schools on the way south.

 

I attended UNCC vs State recently. Very good crowd. The stands were full. Maybe a few hundred. I watched Georgia Tech and Maryland over the weekend and the stands were pretty empty. 3200 most schools can only dream. To often girls sports are marked off by people who will not give it a chance.

 

missed recruits

One thing that is happening is that D1 schools in NC are not doing a good job of knowing who's out there. Many young ladies are going to in-state and out of state DII and DIII schools who are D1 caliber players. The coaches just don't take the time necessary to know who is in their own backyard. I know several cases such as this. Just one more piece of the puzzle.

 

Who are these players that the D1 coaches are overlooking? Or, if no one wants to name names, what are the teams with these D1 level players?

 

sad but true

Some Div 1 schools in NC have some D2 & D3 - caliber players on the roster, and some in the starting lineup.

Some players with great upside seemingly with all the tools coming out of high school but haven't excelled at the college level. Lack of player development as mentioned in a previous post?

 

We see the same thing going on in football in our state. (ACC vs. SEC) Tough to keep the best in state.

 

My 2 cents


Division 1, I think, gets 12 scholarships which coaches usually divide. I would guess that there might be 5 full scholarships offered, and the rest partial. 3 pitchers and 2 catchers or sometimes a SS or another player with special offensive skills will be offered a full ride. The rest get partials or if you an in-state girl, maybe enough for books or in-staters get nothing at all, just the title of playing for the college they wanted to attend. Although, 12 scholarships are allowed by NCAA, some colleges don’t fund or allow that. Some may only have 9 to play with.

For D1, most kids don't get seen. How many of the travel teams in NC actually go to the national level tournaments…Colorado, Las Vegas, California? I think we can pick out only a few and those kids are the ones going to out of state schools or the top NC schools. Trust me, they are not being recruited to Auburn by playing in NC/SC tournaments. If there are stud D1 players at D2 or D3 schools, then they weren’t on the right travel rosters or might not be a good student or might want to play D3 because it isn't as demanding as D1. (my opinion)

How many of the D1 schools in NC actually recruit at these national tournaments? Probably the ones that are in the top 20 mentioned in the RPI. Two or three others might head out west for recruiting and pick up a player here or there, but they don’t get that high ranked stud because she is being drawn to the major world series driven schools. Picking up a stud here or there does not fill a roster of 9 studs that the nationally ranked teams have. We have a few good coaches at the D1 level that will recruit out of state studs, but scratch my head at the recruiting methods of some others.

I don't think the State owned NC colleges will pay their coaches anywhere close to what the national level teams are making and that will be a deterrent in getting good coaching. Also Nationally ranked D1 is about the win and the coach being able to keep his/her job by winning and they are cut throat. Their recruitment is performance based, and they will cut you or pull your scholarship if you don’t perform for them. It looks glamorous and might be what everyone strives for, but it is the elite of players that can keep that scholarship and spot on that roster.

 

2 cent just became a nickel

I agree. Just checked UNC roster 21 players 11 from NC. For UNC to make the World Series they may have to start making tough choices. Do I as a coach take a in-state kid that may be a 4 star or do I take a 5 star from Tex or Cal. Thats the gamble I guess coaches take. Especially with not a lot of $$$$ to spread around. But get to the Super Reg a few times and the WS a few times and the $$$$ will likely start to flow. Still think a few wins over top SEC or PAC 10 schools will also help in that recruiting battle. Winning and winning a lot has a way of doing wonders. App St did it in football. Ask the Michigan and LSU folks.

 

Another question might be do you have the right staff in place to accomplish what stated above, or are the administrations at the 2 big state schools happy with where they are. There are a good deal of bright young coaches spread throughout the country.