Chaos in ICC Baseball Program

[tornado]

A lot of people probably could have told you this was coming...
I have had kids that I coached who went on to play at ICC and all told the very same story of how badly this program is run...
read for yourself...

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x1644090953/Illinois-Central-baseball-regaining-control

The title of the column is completely misleading...
"Illinois Central baseball regaining control"

as you can read for yourself -- nobody there really ever had control but the guy in charge is the problem.

[Da Coach]

Nice reporting by Capie and Eminian, but the title is absurd. It should have read, "Illinois Central baseball losing control", or "ICC baseball a mess". I know one of those 2 assistants who were fired, and he is an unselfish, hard-working and dedicated guy. I simply can't understand why ICC would turn their backs on the assistants and players' concerns and blindly ignore all the serious issues there.

[Buesch N Chips]

THAT was one of the most fascinating articles I have read in a while. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[Disturbed]

Wouldn't you rather see your local junior college be a place for local athletes to play and attempt to earn a scholarship as opposed to bringing in players from all over the country in an attempt to win a national title? I know the women have had players from out of the area, but have had great success with mostly local talent. It appears to me the head coach is a little lazy, turned things over to the assistants, and then the administration didn't like what was happening.

[tornado]

Disturbed....I know several really good local kids who, when they ended their high school careers, would have gladly looked to play at their local juco..but...

first -- many local kids are not welcome there despite their talent --

and second -- even the ones who tolerated things and went there were told they'd never be given playing time over the "nationally recruited kids" because that would hurt ICC's prestige and recruiting ability as a "program that recruits nationally"...

So some of the local kids who had good talent literally had the uniforms unfairly ripped off their backs and given to someone else who generally didn't perform any better!

You gotta remember that the ICC head coach has been a top summer and travel coach for the very best and most talented local high schoolers for years.
Those kids literally grow up being coached by him and wanting to play for him at ICC but then they are treated unfairly and don't get to play...

[Disturbed]

Disturbed....I know several really good local kids who, when they ended their high school careers, would have gladly looked to play at their local juco..but...

first -- many local kids are not welcome there despite their talent --

and second -- even the ones who tolerated things and went there were told they'd never be given playing time over the "nationally recruited kids" because that would hurt ICC's prestige and recruiting ability as a "program that recruits nationally"...

So some of the local kids who had good talent literally had the uniforms unfairly ripped off their backs and given to someone else who generally didn't perform any better!

You gotta remember that the ICC head coach has been a top summer and travel coach for the very best and most talented local high schoolers for years.
Those kids literally grow up being coached by him and wanting to play for him at ICC but then they are treated unfairly and don't get to play...

That's very sad. I don't think jucos were ever meant to be "recruiting nationally" and truly that is doing a disservice to the in district kids. Don't our tax payer dollars fund ICC just like we do high schools?

[tornado]

here's more from the PJ Star

http://blogs.pjstar.com/wessler/2011/02/20/icc-baseball-lost-focus-of-schools-core-mission/

[Da Coach]

Seems like a bit of a different viewpoint regarding ICC sports (forget about winning and just give oppotunities to local kids) vs. some of the recent opinions regarding Bradley (winning is all that matters).

[BradleyJD]

here's more from the PJ Star
http://blogs.pjstar.com/wessler/2011...-core-mission/

Another great piece of work by KW.

[Disturbed]

That's an excellent article. I agree with most of what he says.

[Disturbed]

Seems like a bit of a different viewpoint regarding ICC sports (forget about winning and just give oppotunities to local kids) vs. some of the recent opinions regarding Bradley (winning is all that matters).

Shouldn't it be different? No one said that ICC should "forget winning." It can be done here with local kids just like everywhere else.

[Da Coach]

I have no stake in ICC, so it is entirely up to the administrators and coaches there how they run their programs.
But it sounds like they did initially make a committment to improving the baseball team with recruiting the southern kids. Every recruiting trip, and scholarship given was agreed to by the head coach and administrators. Then they realized in midyear, before they ever played a game, that they didn't want to follow through on the commitment they made to those kids, and pulled the rug out from under them. That is what I see as the problem. They can do what they want. If they want a high-school level baseball program, then that's fine. But the way this comes off makes ICC look like they really screwed this up (despite what the blog says), and screwed up a few of those kids who would be happily playing baseball somewhere else if they hadn't been recruited then dumped by ICC. What did those kids do wrong to deserve this? Why didn't the school keep their promises to them?

[Disturbed]

I agree that the group of kids who left had some very bad decisions put on them and were treated poorly. That's now water under the bridge and you can't do much about it. But I maintain that ICC baseball can be much better that a "high school level" program if they decide to stay with primarily local talent. Just needs some investment from the college and the right coach, maybe Lorene Ramsey.

[canadian]

Seems like a bit of a different viewpoint regarding ICC sports (forget about winning and just give oppotunities to local kids) vs. some of the recent opinions regarding Bradley (winning is all that matters).

I have no problem with Bradley being about equality and giving opportunities to local kids...as long as we go Division III. ICC is a D2 JUCO...Bradley is D1 Basketball..not even in the same stratosphere.

[jrish12]

Seems like a bit of a different viewpoint regarding ICC sports (forget about winning and just give oppotunities to local kids) vs. some of the recent opinions regarding Bradley (winning is all that matters).

Big difference between a local junior college and a local Division 1 sports program.