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Nebraska 2018 class ranked 16th by D1baseball.com



Few interesting takes here...

The first is, finally we are able to sign a class with the quantity that SEC/Big12/ACC can sign because we had the money open. This is partially a quantity award.

Second, we have all been clamoring to recruit more local players, we pull in the best local recruiting class in a long time and we end up with a top20 class out of the B1G. I don' think that's coincidence. That being said, 2019 talent is nowhere near the talent 2018 was, and we only have a couple guys committed from in-state.

Third, I see quite a few early contributors in this class:
-Two guys were drafted in Blessie (got to keep him healthy, promise he will be shut down a bit and the Silva haters will go nuts) and Schwellenbach. Blessie is a legacy from Texas and Schwellenbach from Michigan.
-Gomes and Perry could be potential weekend starters for this team as well (if they don't put them in bullpen)
-Chick, Hammitt, Shanaman, Palensky, and Stroh could all find playing time early and often.

One things for sure, with our pitching depth this year, we should do much better than 3-7 during the midweek conference season. We have a ton of arms to run out there. We will need them graduating who we did on the hill.
 
Nat Rank Name Drafted/Signed......... Pos Ht Wt B T High School Hometown St
137...... Bo Blessie [Drafted by Nationals] RHP 6-3 155 R R Lee Midland TX
500.......Cameron Chick .................... 2B 5-9 175 S R Hickman Rocheport MO
500...... Drew Gilin ..........................SS 6-2 185 L R Millard South Omaha NE
270...... Colby Gomes .......................RHP 6-5 200 R R Millard West Omaha NE
291.. ....Brett Hammit...................... SS 6-3 205 R R Nixa Nixa MO
500...... Tyler Martin .......................LHP 6-2 190 L L Webb City Webb City MO
500...... Kyle Perry.......................... LHP 6-1 175 L L Millard South Omaha NE
500...... Shay Schanaman ..................SS 6-0 185 R R Grand Island Senior Hastings NE
110...... Spencer Schwellenbach [Drafted by Indians] SS 6-0 185 R R Heritage Saginaw MI

https://www.perfectgame.org/College/CollegeCommitments.aspx?Grad=2018&college=1799

Gilin, Gomes, Perry, Schanaman are all in the Top 5 in several Baseball Categories for State of NE.
Schanaman #1 in RBIs and Gilin #4.
Perry #2 for Batters Struck out.
http://www.maxpreps.com/list/stat_leaders.aspx?gendersport=boys,baseball&state=ne

:Woohoo2:
 
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How do you feel about this recruiting class, @ShortSideOption? Seems like there’s a lot of potential.
2018? Best job Erstad has done since being here. He got helped by having a ton of money to throw at people and a large number of local kids who weren't enamored with going south to play. Blessie, Gomes, and Perry are all potential studs. Schwellenbach has been showing a ton of power this fall, he could prove that we need his bat in the lineup. Brett Hammitt had the best power numbers in my opinion, will be interesting to see how he adjusts to college pitching, because he has a long swing looking to go yard. Probably will start out hot then cool down a bit. A lot of people are excited about Cam Chick, I don't know enough about him. And Schanaman could find some room somewhere.

This list doesn't include a couple additions like Palensky who could see time right away in the outfield, as he hit 20+ HRs in JUCO. Our pitching should be stacked which should make it so our midweek games favor us.
 
2018? Best job Erstad has done since being here. He got helped by having a ton of money to throw at people and a large number of local kids who weren't enamored with going south to play. Blessie, Gomes, and Perry are all potential studs. Schwellenbach has been showing a ton of power this fall, he could prove that we need his bat in the lineup. Brett Hammitt had the best power numbers in my opinion, will be interesting to see how he adjusts to college pitching, because he has a long swing looking to go yard. Probably will start out hot then cool down a bit. A lot of people are excited about Cam Chick, I don't know enough about him. And Schanaman could find some room somewhere.

This list doesn't include a couple additions like Palensky who could see time right away in the outfield, as he hit 20+ HRs in JUCO. Our pitching should be stacked which should make it so our midweek games favor us.
I've seen you mention the lack of scholarships vs other conferences has been a disadvantage for Erstad. With your ton of money comment, does that mean the Huskers/Big Ten has increased the amount of baseball scholarships available?
 
I've seen you mention the lack of scholarships vs other conferences has been a disadvantage for Erstad. With your ton of money comment, does that mean the Huskers/Big Ten has increased the amount of baseball scholarships available?
Sorry, no, we just had a lot of money graduate then another guy left early that we used a ton of money for. While the scholarships are the same across all NCAA, the Big Ten is the only conference that you can't give a scholarship until the player is gone or off the team, even if the kid tells you he is in fact signing after the year. The example I always give is Arkansas had 23 players in their 2018 class and 19 in their 2019 class. They flipped their roster in less than two years. That gives you a lot of opportunities to be wrong on kids with cutting them and going after top prospects because you can recruit their replacement as well. It took Nebraska 4.5 classes to flip its roster with 10 in 2019, 10 in 2018, 6 in 2017, 7 in 2016, and then finally flipping in 2015. Arkansas and schools in other conferences can recruit to who they know is going to be drafted, and also recruit kids that may get drafted out of high school where for the most part Nebraska can't.

All that said, you see that Nebraska is starting to take more kids, and B1G loosened things up a bit giving you a 2 scholarship overlap. But it's still not enough.
 
Sorry, no, we just had a lot of money graduate then another guy left early that we used a ton of money for. While the scholarships are the same across all NCAA, the Big Ten is the only conference that you can't give a scholarship until the player is gone or off the team, even if the kid tells you he is in fact signing after the year. The example I always give is Arkansas had 23 players in their 2018 class and 19 in their 2019 class. They flipped their roster in less than two years. That gives you a lot of opportunities to be wrong on kids with cutting them and going after top prospects because you can recruit their replacement as well. It took Nebraska 4.5 classes to flip its roster with 10 in 2019, 10 in 2018, 6 in 2017, 7 in 2016, and then finally flipping in 2015. Arkansas and schools in other conferences can recruit to who they know is going to be drafted, and also recruit kids that may get drafted out of high school where for the most part Nebraska can't.

All that said, you see that Nebraska is starting to take more kids, and B1G loosened things up a bit giving you a 2 scholarship overlap. But it's still not enough.
Wow. That is very lopsided and not in our favor. I hope BIG continues to loosen their rules and get things a bit more balanced. I appreciate your explanation. I definitely understand your frustration.
 



Wow. That is very lopsided and not in our favor. I hope BIG continues to loosen their rules and get things a bit more balanced. I appreciate your explanation. I definitely understand your frustration.
It makes things really difficult. Not sure if you've read my stuff on this before, but there's a national coach of the year that basically says "if you play in a conference that restricts scholarships in a sport where people can declare early AND out of high school, you'll never be relevant. No matter how bad you want to be." Everyone that quotes our facilities, success in the 2000s, anything like that, doesn't understand that the B1G conference is basically like us moving to the Sun Belt in football and expecting the same results.
 
2019 Grads Commitments
https://www.perfectgame.org/College/CollegeCommitments.aspx?Grad=2020&college=1799
Nebraska
Player..................... Pos Ht Wt. BT... HS... Hometown St..................... College
Braxton Bragg............1B 6-2 190 R-R Liberty Kansas City MO................. Nebraska
Leighton Banjoff........OF 6-0 190 R-R Elyria Catholic Sheffield Village OH ..Nebraska
Luke Boynton...........1B 6-5 220 R-R Walton Marietta GA .......................Nebraska
Hunter Cerveny........UT 6-0 195 R-R Wilber-Clatonia Wilber NE.. .............Nebraska
Sayer Diederich........LHP 6-0 175 L-L Elkhorn South Omaha NE.... ............Nebraska
Aaron Dolney............C... 6-3 210 L-R Detroit Country Day Upper Plymouth MI Nebraska
Michael Holdsworth....SS ..6-2 190 L-R St Ignatius Hinckley OH... ...............Nebraska
Quinn Mason............RHP 6-2 195 R-R Gretna NE ..................................Nebraska
Kyle Wisch...............RHP 6-4 215 R-R Hinsdale Central Clarendon Hills IL.....Nebraska
 
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Double ouch is not only is it a mid-major conference we are in, but we can't give scholarships like the other conferences. Not a good situation. It's why Indiana's baseball coach took off as soon as he had a good run. He was mediocre at best before his 2-3 year run. It's why the "bring Childress back" and all those other things are much more difficult than people give it credit for.
 



Double ouch is not only is it a mid-major conference we are in, but we can't give scholarships like the other conferences. Not a good situation. It's why Indiana's baseball coach took off as soon as he had a good run. He was mediocre at best before his 2-3 year run. It's why the "bring Childress back" and all those other things are much more difficult than people give it credit for.
I've pretty much stopped following Nebraska baseball. It seems like a waste of time and energy to care about a sport that has an unlevel playing field thanks to the stupidity of our conference.
 
I've pretty much stopped following Nebraska baseball. It seems like a waste of time and energy to care about a sport that has an unlevel playing field thanks to the stupidity of our conference.
It's really tough. But what I will say, is we are taking more kids the last couple classes. I know we had a ton of money for 2018, but we took 10 guys in 2019 and 2018, we were never really able to do that before. I'll have to see what I can find out about things because I know the B1G was working on trying to lift some of their restrictions.
 

is basically like us moving to the Sun Belt in football and expecting the same results.
That was a given when the move was made. I didn't know all the specifics, but it was very clear high level success could not be sustained as things were/are in the conference.
 

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