Recruits for next year?

[IHateLaState]

_ i really feel that the learning curve for some of the youngsters this year is just taking a little while longer than robe expected. I feel that they have been thrown in the fire alittle...considering the schedule. Lets face it we have not played many push over teams. It is the older guys that should be protecting and hiding the holes in the lineup until the younder guys get it. And we all know that aint happened yet. Last summer the Prince kid transfered from UT and was considering comming to UL but descided on Tulane. He was someone that we could have used in the middle infield that is a fairly sure glove and could hit. I wonder what he is doing at tulane this year...have not kept up with his stats. I am not pushing the panic button yet, but i almost have my hand on it! Listening to Robe last night it sounds like it is REALLY getting to him. I cant imagine what he is going through because he has so much passion not only for the game but for this program. The last thing we need to do as fans is to jump ship. We need to continue to create higher expectations for our program _

No jumping ship here... Im sticking with Coach Bustle after all my B$#* about him so no way I desert someone who has built a program like Robe..

On your other point, I have been wondering the same thing about the early schedule.. I know he wanted to be battle tested but I really was not aware of how young the bats would be.. I wonder.. in retrospect which we all know is 20-20... if it would not have been better to open with a string of home games against weaker opponents.. let them get some early success.... anyway thats water under the bridge... heres hoping they can catch some fire soon and win enough to get into the conference tourney... then the vet pitchers step up like we know they can and make a run late.....

[CajunProud]

_ I had a similar thought the other day about the Prince kid who transferred to Tulane. I checked it out a week ago and found he was hitting less than .200 and had played in about 3/4 of their games to date.

I also checked on Ty Rassmussen, a kid who redshirted with us in '06 and then transferred back home to Washington. I remember Robe was really high on him. Anyhow, I found out he was Honorable Mention All-Pac 10 as a FR, hitting over .300 with 10 HRs. We could sure use a bat such as that, although I will never fault a kid for transferring, especially someone who was so far from home.

You can't dwell much on the past or what could have been. I think this season shows how difficult it is to maintain a top flight program year-in and year-out. Baseball is especially difficult with transfers, JC players, arm injuries, draft, grades, etc. I am hopeful the new scholarship and transfer rules will ultimately help the Cajuns in that the BCS conferences will not be able to stockpile the top high school talent and we will see more incoming Fr who are ready for D1 baseball right out of the gate. That said, I trust in the talent Robe and Szefc are bringing into the program. I just think it has been slow to develop into top D1 level. I also think this year highlights an added complexity to recruiting---the need to find talent that fits into your philosophy and adds leadership roles.
Sean Payton said it best to start the '07 season---Each year is different. You can never really pick up where you left off. _

While I agree with what you have said for the most part, a lot of programs do actually "pick up where they left off." I was hoping that we had finally made that jump this year.

[CajunProud]

_ No jumping ship here... Im sticking with Coach Bustle after all my B$#* about him so no way I desert someone who has built a program like Robe..

On your other point, I have been wondering the same thing about the early schedule.. I know he wanted to be battle tested but I really was not aware of how young the bats would be.. I wonder.. in retrospect which we all know is 20-20... if it would not have been better to open with a string of home games against weaker opponents.. let them get some early success.... anyway thats water under the bridge... heres hoping they can catch some fire soon and win enough to get into the conference tourney... then the vet pitchers step up like we know they can and make a run late..... _

I'm with ya on the late run.

[jdebaillon]

While I agree with what you have said for the most part, a lot of programs do actually "pick up where they left off." I was hoping that we had finally made that jump this year.

Agreed. UC-Irvine, Kentucky, Coastal Carolina, Vandy, San Diego...

[CajunProud]

_ Agreed. UC-Irvine, Kentucky, Coastal Carolina, Vandy, San Diego... _

Don't get me wrong, I love Coach Robe and think we are very lucky to have him. I want him to stay for as long as he wants. I just thought that the program would have been more consitent than it has been coming off of the heels of a super regional in 99 and CWS is 00. I know we can't expect super regional every year, but I do expect post season every 3 if not 4 out of every 5 years. Like I said, I think Coach Robe has done a tremendous job especially with the lack of support and funding he has had to deal with over the years. The one thing that I have not been happy with over the last several years is our hitting. I don't think we have been aggressive enough and we strike out way too much. Hopefully we can turn it around before this year is over.

[LifeTimeCajun]

while i do agree with you....you also look at the parity(sp) in college baseball in the past 10 years. It dont know if it is coincidence or what but just seems like we had that run in 99 and 00 and now there is more parity across the nation. More and more "mid-majors" are making noise come postseason. Alot of these schools have new, modern facilities and are dumping a bunch of money into there programs. While I dont always agree that money itself brings championships, it does allow for larger budget to help recruiting, facilities, coaches saleries etc etc.Nor do i think that we need a new facility to win championships. Personaly I love the atmosphere at the Tigue. Indoor facility is a very nice addition to help in recruiting. Bottom line is winning on a consistant year in and year out basis is what is going to get top athletes to WANT to come here to play. We have done that for the most part in the past ten years. I would hope that we can take that next step and be more consistant in doing that. It is just very frustrating when there is all kind of hype prior to a season and we start off the season by laying an egg. If there is a silver lining in all this it is that young guys are getting valuable game experience.

[jdebaillon]

It is just very frustrating when there is all kind of hype prior to a season and we start off the season by laying an egg.

1/3 of our lineup did not return this year. You had Devon Bourque who ate up 6-8 pitches per at-bat and Lucroy and Tatford who were two of the most feared hitters in the conference. Those three guys made the rest of the lineup better. I hate to come down on Hawkins but it's not hard to hit with Lucroy and Tatford around you. Our pitching staff had great numbers last year and with the returning starters Baseball America saw us as a top 20 team. Many people, including myself, had a bad feeling about the preseason ranking and now we are seeing why. I still stand by the thought that we are more talented than 95% of the teams we have played this year but that is why you play the game. Hopefully they turn it around because this team is talented enough to make a run.

[zephyr]

_ Yeah. I know we need that too. Any word on if there is someone like that that we are looking at? I would imagine that we will have to look to the Juco ranks for next year.

I really feel bad for Coach Robe. I know he puts his heart and soul into the program and to see the season fall apart like this must be really hard on him. The good news is that we will always support him and the team. No matter how much we b$%ch and moan, we won't abandon him. That's what being a Cajun is all about. _

Well, I agree with you but I don't think the same can be said for our other major sports. Many of our fans and non-fans have already abandoned coach Bustle and don't truly feel Lee is the man to lead the basketball program to where it needs to be.