"Down Time"

Since we have finished our fall playing season it would seem to reason that it would allow some time to catch our breath and relax a little bit before embarking upon our spring season. Unfortunately this is not the case. As you may have noticed it's been awhile since my last blog and I apologize for that, but we have been very busy. Most people think that this time of the year is "down time" for baseball coaches, but in fact it is probably the busiest time of the year.

After fall ends we begin our off season weight and conditioning program as well as individual instruction with our players. The NCAA allows voluntary work with coaches on specific baseball skills for up to two hours per week in small groups. We work our guys in very small groups generally no more than three at a time. So actually for us our days get a lot longer, instead of practicing everyone at once we generally have 5-6 different individual sessions per day plus weights. It is very difficult on our coaching staff but we feel this is the time of year we see the most improvement in our players and so it is a great benefit to our team. For the players it is a time to rest a little bit, since they can not work out more than eight hours per week including weights and conditioning.

Along with doing individuals we have been hitting the recruiting trail very hard. During the early signing portion we were able to secure three committments of players we are confident will have a significant impact upon our program for the next several years. We also are busy placing our players for the summer. Thus far we have Adam Miller and Philip Clinard going to play in the Coastal Plains League in Edenton. Zac Leonhardt and Nick Cobler are going to the Jayhawk League to play for the Hays Larks and Chase Barrera is going to play for Kansas City in the Mink League. We still have a couple of more guys to place for the summer and are continuing to work on that.

Unfortunately for us our work ends tomorrow due to new NCAA legislation that began last year that forbids any work with our players the last two weeks of school. This means it will be about two months before we are allowed to have contact with our players in an organized setting. I am confident that our players will continue to work hard on their own and be ready to go when we report back to practice on January 10th. I can't wait!!!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and remembers how blessed we all are.