(02-21-2022 10:04 PM)billymac Wrote:  

(02-21-2022 09:35 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  

(02-21-2022 07:05 PM)Tribal Wrote:  

(02-21-2022 06:17 PM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  

(11-11-2021 09:24 AM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  Evan Fontaine officially signs.

https://mobile.twitter.com/McLeanathleti...5682206722

Evan Fontaine did not get into WM and is now listed as uncommitted.

https://mobile.twitter.com/TacticalHPO/s...1874063363

The guy in the thread condemning W&M—and Mann, specifically—has a point but he clearly has an agenda. I don’t like our hard 3.5gpa threshold with anything lower requiring a panel hearing. I’d like to see the research showing a kid with a 3.2gpa is convincingly less likely to be successful at W&M. A LOT of factors play into success and some dings may be mitigated by time and/or circumstances.


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I was not aware W&M had a hard threshold for GPA. That's extraordinarily dumb. You have to be able to evaluate candidates holistically.

In this case though it sounds like Fontaine had a high enough GPA? I've never seen something like this with a prospective recruit.

Man, the stories I could tell you about potential recruits and the GPA threshold...

Preach! It is remarkably stupid to have to tell a kid, you are massively talented and we want you and you want to be here but your frickin’ 3.3gpa didn’t satisfy the Board.

Fact: 3.5gpa is the minimum save blessing from a committee and that’s not an easy ask.

We lost sooooo many great student-athletes because we drew the line. How, then, are we supposed to compete with CoC, NU, JMU, and Villanova if our self-imposed sanctions are so ridiculous? It’s beyond me…


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If a student athlete isn't cutting it academically, wouldn't that sort itself out on its own when they are here? The student will right the ship or transfer out. If W&M isn't working out for the student, it's easier than ever to transfer these days. Not really different than the way it is handled now. I get having a GPA threshold for admitting regular students where the need to whittle down the applicant pool is great. When it comes to PWO or scholarship recruits, much more leeway should be granted. It's not like we are recruiting and throwing kids with barely passing marks at W&Ms classes. Coaches should have a feel in the recruiting process on if a kid is mature enough and academically ready. I have little doubt that most motivated high level athletes with a 3.0 will do just fine.

I'd advocate for AD Mann to relax the threshold for a year or two to test the theory. If guys are ineligible and failing out, we'd have our answer. I'm fairly confident that isn't going to happen.

Another point that I'd like to make is that athletes that we would be recruiting are still coming here for the college/academics in addition to their sport. Also, they are by nature competitive and want to win/succeed. All we're doing with the 3.5 gpa is limiting the pool of candidates. I don't really think it's doing anything to ensure success.

(02-21-2022 09:35 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  In this case though it sounds like Fontaine had a high enough GPA? I've never seen something like this with a prospective recruit.

Threshold aside, Fontaine had a 3.9 GPA. So what the hell happened here?

Having no actual knowledge of the subject, here's my theoretical take:

- One of the things W&M "does right" is that our student-athletes are actual students, for whom we have high standards for admissions and classroom achievement. This is Williamsburg, not Chapel Hill.

- It seems appropriate to me that there would be some objective "cutoff" (whether GPA or some other factor, or a combination of factors) that would require an athletic recruit to get a second look from someone other than the coach who's recruiting him. It sounds like we have that, and that the "second look" is by the panel that's been mentioned.

- That panel SHOULD be looking at each individual in a holistic way to determine if they have the background and capability to succeed at W&M in the unique circumstances of a student-athlete.

- To be clear, I have no idea what the current "cutoff" is, or how the panel currently does its job. But an appropriate cutoff and a well-functioning panel, in theory, are fine with me. (And even if the cutoff is too high, a good panel would still be an "escape valve" in appropriate cases).

- One of the things about a holistic evaluation is that things may turn up that could ding you as well as help you. There's no knowing what the deciding factors were in the decision about Evan Fontaine (assuming the panel was even involved in his situation). But I don't think we know enough about his situation to blame the process that's in place.

The difference between a 3.5 and 3.2 over four years of HS is negligible. That .3 has probably kept hundreds of strong student-athletes out of W&M over the past decade. We’re not talking about C students with minimal ambition.

This is a major detriment to our athletic success and, in my opinion, should be top three on Mann’s to do list.

(02-22-2022 04:21 PM)Blow Gym rat Wrote:  Having no actual knowledge of the subject, here's my theoretical take:

- One of the things W&M "does right" is that our student-athletes are actual students, for whom we have high standards for admissions and classroom achievement. This is Williamsburg, not Chapel Hill.

- It seems appropriate to me that there would be some objective "cutoff" (whether GPA or some other factor, or a combination of factors) that would require an athletic recruit to get a second look from someone other than the coach who's recruiting him. It sounds like we have that, and that the "second look" is by the panel that's been mentioned.

- That panel SHOULD be looking at each individual in a holistic way to determine if they have the background and capability to succeed at W&M in the unique circumstances of a student-athlete.

- To be clear, I have no idea what the current "cutoff" is, or how the panel currently does its job. But an appropriate cutoff and a well-functioning panel, in theory, are fine with me. (And even if the cutoff is too high, a good panel would still be an "escape valve" in appropriate cases).

- One of the things about a holistic evaluation is that things may turn up that could ding you as well as help you. There's no knowing what the deciding factors were in the decision about Evan Fontaine (assuming the panel was even involved in his situation). But I don't think we know enough about his situation to blame the process that's in place.

idk, this makes too much sense. Not enough exclamation points.

(02-22-2022 04:42 PM)WMInTheBurg Wrote:  

(02-22-2022 04:21 PM)Blow Gym rat Wrote:  Having no actual knowledge of the subject, here's my theoretical take:

- One of the things W&M "does right" is that our student-athletes are actual students, for whom we have high standards for admissions and classroom achievement. This is Williamsburg, not Chapel Hill.

- It seems appropriate to me that there would be some objective "cutoff" (whether GPA or some other factor, or a combination of factors) that would require an athletic recruit to get a second look from someone other than the coach who's recruiting him. It sounds like we have that, and that the "second look" is by the panel that's been mentioned.

- That panel SHOULD be looking at each individual in a holistic way to determine if they have the background and capability to succeed at W&M in the unique circumstances of a student-athlete.

- To be clear, I have no idea what the current "cutoff" is, or how the panel currently does its job. But an appropriate cutoff and a well-functioning panel, in theory, are fine with me. (And even if the cutoff is too high, a good panel would still be an "escape valve" in appropriate cases).

- One of the things about a holistic evaluation is that things may turn up that could ding you as well as help you. There's no knowing what the deciding factors were in the decision about Evan Fontaine (assuming the panel was even involved in his situation). But I don't think we know enough about his situation to blame the process that's in place.

idk, this makes too much sense. Not enough exclamation points.

Exclamation points? What does that mean?


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Haverford College (D3) outfielder Luke Smith has committed to WM for his last two seasons of eligibility.

https://mobile.twitter.com/SZ_Recruits/s...2601415687

Stats:
https://www.haverfordathletics.com/sport...ew=profile

(11-22-2021 07:47 PM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  

(11-03-2021 06:38 PM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  

(11-03-2021 09:54 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Tribe get a commitment (1st with our new head coach Mike McRae), from OF/RHP CJ DiNapoli 6'0 175lbs from Mechanicsburg, VA
https://twitter.com/cj_dinapoli/status/1...5662446595

Scouting report and videos

https://www.prepbaseballreport.com/profi...3250496781
https://www.perfectgame.org/players/play...?ID=632668

The gist: lean, strong athlete, above average runner capable of playing all three outfield spots with plenty of arm strength. Probable bullpen arm - high 80s straight fastball with high 70s changeup with good movement. Strong hitter.

CJ DiNapoli officially signed.

https://mobile.twitter.com/hanoversports...9617475588

Jason Burton tweets about CJ DiNapoli:

“ Builds up pace and arm speed. FB jumps on hitters and breaking ball has hard late shape.

FB 86-89 T90
BB 75-78”

Video in the link:
https://mobile.twitter.com/ksallday19/st...8588812296

IF Noah Zertuche of Hayward, CA has committed to WM. He is finishing a prep year at IMG Academy.

https://mobile.twitter.com/IMGABaseRecru...3058016258
https://www.perfectgame.org/players/play...?ID=723263

Quick up-close video of CJ DiNapoli pitching. Fastball topping out at 91mph.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ksallday19/st...1158506496

Vincent Yaghoubi was named prep league player of the year and VISAA first team all state.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Tankrocket27/...6421434369
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tankrocket27/...3909988353

(05-26-2022 08:44 AM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  Vincent Yaghoubi was named prep league player of the year and VISAA first team all state.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Tankrocket27/...6421434369
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tankrocket27/...3909988353

Corey Adams on that VISAA Div 1 first team all state, also.

Video clip of Owen Pierce pitching:

https://mobile.twitter.com/PBRVADC_Nolan...8186677285

(05-28-2022 06:24 AM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  Video clip of Owen Pierce pitching:

https://mobile.twitter.com/PBRVADC_Nolan...8186677285

Owen Pierce was named Concorde District pitcher of the year and All-Region.

https://mobile.twitter.com/CHS_Booster/s...1484616705

Mechanicsville HS baseball tweeted:

“Congrats to @cj_dinapoli for earning 2nd Team All-Region at Pitcher! CJ was 6-1 w/ 1 save on the season! CJ had a 2.33 ERA with 43 Strikeouts in 28.2 innings!”

https://mobile.twitter.com/Mech_Baseball...0561502208

A lot of William & Mary commits receiving honors from the Prep Baseball Report for VA/DC
https://www.prepbaseballreport.com/news/...6438751209

1st Team
2022 Corey Adams
2022 Jerry Barnes III

2nd Team
2023 Chad Yates

3rd Team
2024 Brennan Card

Honorable Mention
2023 Trey Christman
2022 Owen Pierce

Tank Yaghoubi was named to First Team All Central VA. The Daily Progress had this to say:

“Yaghoubi batted .509 with two home runs, 25 stolen bases and 30 runs scored. On the hill, he struck out 30 batters in 16.2 innings. The William & Mary signee was named Virginia Prep League player of the year and was a first-team VISAA Division I all-state selection.”

https://dailyprogress.com/sports/2022-al...lyProgress

(07-20-2022 06:51 AM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  Tank Yaghoubi was named to First Team All Central VA. The Daily Progress had this to say:

“Yaghoubi batted .509 with two home runs, 25 stolen bases and 30 runs scored. On the hill, he struck out 30 batters in 16.2 innings. The William & Mary signee was named Virginia Prep League player of the year and was a first-team VISAA Division I all-state selection.”

https://dailyprogress.com/sports/2022-al...lyProgress

Tank Yaghoubi is a great baseball name. In my mind, I envision a tough as nails catcher for the 1922 NY Giants knocking home the winning run at the Polo Grounds to take down the Yankees in the World Series. Go Tank!