Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
Atocep - you're far closer to all this than I'll ever be, the one thing that jumped out to me in there is that I doubt many people (in general) realize how common the JUCO-to-D1 pipeline is for baseball (maybe other sports too, I dunno).
There are whole 2-year programs built largely around being that conduit, the "success here will get you an offer elsewhere" notion. When the pipeline is ruptured as it is with this, it makes a mess EVERYWHERE.
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It's the key pipeline in the PNW due to the limited offers for kids coming directly out of high school. It's really common for kids around here to struggle with the decision to go JUCO or D2/D3 simply because signing with a D2/D3 effectively ends the D1 dream. Top Jucos routinely put 3-4 starters or more per year in D1 programs around the country here so it's a legitimate path.
TCC is best described as baseball's Last Chance U. Oregon and UW both rely heavily on placing kids there and most starters will end up playing D1 baseball somewhere. Looking at their 2020 class, I see at least 5 that were committed to Power 5 programs at one point. The problem committing there is they heavily recruit D1 wash-backs that are looking for a place to play for a year before essentially becoming a free agent looking for the best D1 offer. It's why I don't think my son would have signed with TCC even if they had offered early. It's more of a player factory rather than a school that focuses on individual development. I don't want to sound too negative about their program as they great at what they do, but my son wasn't interested in a revolving door of coaches and wondering if he's going to get lost in the shuffle because a freshman at UW wasn't getting enough playing time or didn't make grades.