Kansas State baseball interested in Rick Heller?
- Thread starter AuroraHawk
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Why don't the Iowa Western coaches get mentioned for these job openings? Seems like they are in the Junior College post season just about every year and have seen lists of kids they have coached to either large school scholarships or pro signings. Serious Question.
Rardin is being mentioned for the vacated Illinois State job.
Not sure what to think about Heller for Kansas State. That tweet is from last week and there hasn't been much info since.
Thanks 2 Bagger. I hadn't seen that. My son attends the 12 week clinics in the winter at Iowa Western and Coach Rardin seems like a really good guy and has assistants that really know their stuff. He would be a very good high level coach in my opinion. Lots of connections for recruiting for sure.
All the respect in the world to Kendall Rogers, but unless things have changed considerably in the last 3 weeks I don't think Coach Heller is going anywhere (at least for the time being). From what I was told, promises have been made. And while the administration has been slow to deliver on the next phase of improvements, a plan/new timeline is in place that Coach can live with.
Flash forward 2 seasons---If upgrades haven't been made to the stadium and player facilities, then yes, I think Iowa baseball fans might have justifiable concern when his name comes up for other positions.
In all candor, if I had the choice between either Heller staying at Iowa or Cook coming back to play hoops next year, I'd take Heller staying at Iowa. No brainer.
As it stands now, KSU would be a lateral move at best. I'd argue Iowa is in better shape right now than KSU.
Iowa can seize momentum and win the B1G any given year now. I don't see KSU topping the Texas schools in any instance.
Iowa can seize momentum and win the B1G any given year now. I don't see KSU topping the Texas schools in any instance.
Tointon Stadium was remodeled in the early 2000s. It has a much nicer grandstand and pressbox than Banks Field.
While the weight room, indoor cages and training room are all located in one spot, they are not any more functional than what Iowa has. From a player standpoint, it is not any better than Iowa's.
Recruiting to K-State is more difficult than Iowa, simply from a competition standpoint. It will take a special coach to make the program competitive on a regular basis.
While the weight room, indoor cages and training room are all located in one spot, they are not any more functional than what Iowa has. From a player standpoint, it is not any better than Iowa's.
Recruiting to K-State is more difficult than Iowa, simply from a competition standpoint. It will take a special coach to make the program competitive on a regular basis.
The potential fly in the ointment is the current moratorium on new building projects at the university due to budget concerns. Any new construction projects have been put on hold. The North EZ was already underway at Kinnick, so it can continue. Even though general fund money is not being used for athletics facilities upgrades, it doesn't show well to have athletics start new projects while the rest of the university cannot. Hopefully that construction ban can be lifted soon so progress can be made on the baseball facilities side. The time to improve is now while the team has some momentum and the right coach is in place.
I can shed some light on Kstate. My son just finished his sophomore and final season for Kstate baseball. Kstate is not harder to recruit too. You just need a coach who wants to work at it. After being around the program the last 3 years, Coach Hill was just putting in his time. I will not go into all the details but lets just say his recruiting and retention efforts were like Tom Davis last few years. Kstate will be doing a 13 million dollar renovation for Tointen Family Stadium over the next two years. They are putting money into the program. If they get a coach who works hard they will be much more competitive real soon. With a better staff this years record could have been reversed because the talent was there.
My son is moving on from baseball as he is very gifted in computer science and AI and has an internship now going into his junior year and with baseball being a full time job almost the two could not be done together. He was a walk-on his first two years and pitched alot and loved playing for the Cats but you have to look out for your future. He finally was offered a substantial scholarship for next year but the situation with school and such just does not allow it. He is an excellent college pitcher but draft prospects were low thus the concentration on school. Coach Hill and staff messed up other wise i think he would still be playing. A new coach was needed and we will see if they replace assistants as well, which needs to be done.
I think both Iowa and Kstate can have alot of success and Coach Heller is where he needs to be.
My son is moving on from baseball as he is very gifted in computer science and AI and has an internship now going into his junior year and with baseball being a full time job almost the two could not be done together. He was a walk-on his first two years and pitched alot and loved playing for the Cats but you have to look out for your future. He finally was offered a substantial scholarship for next year but the situation with school and such just does not allow it. He is an excellent college pitcher but draft prospects were low thus the concentration on school. Coach Hill and staff messed up other wise i think he would still be playing. A new coach was needed and we will see if they replace assistants as well, which needs to be done.
I think both Iowa and Kstate can have alot of success and Coach Heller is where he needs to be.
Naz--I know who your son is. He was going to be a success even without baseball.
One of the great things about my profession is getting to meet a lot of different coaches, their staffs and players and administrators at various institutions (ranging from the smallest in the middle of the Midwest cornfields to the largest in major metro areas). Unlike many on social media, I am not about tearing into/smearing any of those mentioned above. However, with so much partial information that gets floated around...and opinion often stated as fact...I do think honest answers are deserved when I post.
All you have to do is look at how far K-State has dropped in the last 5 seasons. Going from a packed stadium and winning a regional to finishing dead last in the conference 4 of the next 5 years...only reaching double digit wins in the Big 12 once during that time. From a competition standpoint I am not the only person who thinks it is more difficult to recruit to the Big 12 than it is the Big 10. I was surprised at how nice the KSU campus and facilities were when I first visited, but they do not outshine anyone in particular. And I do think recruiting to Iowa City is at least moderately easier than doing so to Hutchinson.
All that said, there is now a very strong, forward thinking, aggressive and respectable Athletic Director at the helm who I think will make a good hire. But make no mistake (just as you said) the new staff will really have to roll up their sleeves and work to rebuild the program. Both to get the current roster to buy in, as well as future recruiting efforts.
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This person was more than a little irritated because the renovations to Finkbine were basically 100% already (privately) raised, but now had to wait.
It sounds like fundraising efforts are continuing for Banks Field, but it will still take a significant donation/startup amount (seven figures) to really bump it up the list of priorities.
I spoke with a high level administrator earlier this month. This person said they expected the building moratorium to be lifted in approximately 6 months--give or take a month or two.
This person was more than a little irritated because the renovations to Finkbine were basically 100% already (privately) raised, but now had to wait.
It sounds like fundraising efforts are continuing for Banks Field, but it will still take a significant donation/startup amount (seven figures) to really bump it up the list of priorities.
Well said non-poster. I do not mean to disparage anyone personally anytime, but kstate the last couple of years has just been real hard to watch. there is and was talent at kstate, certainly not big 12 championship material, but way better than last place. TO be clear, my son had up and downs just like any college athlete, but the time and energy he put into playing ball for Kstate was enormous and it was tough as a parent to see what was going on. Know player is perfect but roles must be defined and if not leaves everyone guessing. Just alot of real odd decisions made many times in games and off the field. I know many felt the same. My wife and i let him make the decision to play another year or not, but the way stuff was handled early on in the season on a variety of issues and the timing of him getting the job offer later in the season really just made the decision for him.
If the entire staff at Kstate is gone after a new coach is hired i wish them all the best. I hope they all fine new jobs with a keener understanding of what to do better in the future.
I appreciate your comments about Our son. He is a great kid who really would have liked to continue with ball, but he knows where his life is going and AI is it.
I am curious just from my own standpoint who you might be. Any clues. R u a parent of a player. Just curious how you know of our son.
I understand if you want to remain anonymous. I like any person never has all the facts and as a parent i know we can get focused on only the stuff that might be affecting our son. Everything i have said in the past two posts i think applies to many players on kstate, not just our son. I try and be as open eyed as i can, but sometimes is hard. Any way look forward to hearing your thoughts and any clue who you might be.
If the entire staff at Kstate is gone after a new coach is hired i wish them all the best. I hope they all fine new jobs with a keener understanding of what to do better in the future.
I appreciate your comments about Our son. He is a great kid who really would have liked to continue with ball, but he knows where his life is going and AI is it.
I am curious just from my own standpoint who you might be. Any clues. R u a parent of a player. Just curious how you know of our son.
I understand if you want to remain anonymous. I like any person never has all the facts and as a parent i know we can get focused on only the stuff that might be affecting our son. Everything i have said in the past two posts i think applies to many players on kstate, not just our son. I try and be as open eyed as i can, but sometimes is hard. Any way look forward to hearing your thoughts and any clue who you might be.
No problem Naz. Never took anything you said as vitriol, nor do I disagree. I always am a little disappointed when I see athletes (no matter the sport) either burn out or have to make the decision to hang 'em up.
It sounds like you and your wife took a good approach to your son's situation. The casual fan generally only sees the glamour end of playing sports. There is a much tougher and sometimes uglier side to it. It takes a great amount of focus, dedication and time management to be a truly good student-athlete. I have seen it from personal experience. While it is often a challgenge, and many times difficult, I will say this--I could only dream of having the support systems that today's student-athletes have when I was that age! Laptops allow for academics to be completed remotely and in real time. Travel rules in many cases have been relaxed/adjusted. Nobody likes a 9 hour bus ride that had to start at 4:00 so a teammate could take a test (that an anti-sport professor refused to allow him to take earlier).
Regarding knowing your son---I only met him in passing when KSU was on the road. Not uncommon for my line of work. But I can assure you, the good ones always stand out. That goes for DIII and JUCO just as much as those at a Power 5 institution.
It sounds like you and your wife took a good approach to your son's situation. The casual fan generally only sees the glamour end of playing sports. There is a much tougher and sometimes uglier side to it. It takes a great amount of focus, dedication and time management to be a truly good student-athlete. I have seen it from personal experience. While it is often a challgenge, and many times difficult, I will say this--I could only dream of having the support systems that today's student-athletes have when I was that age! Laptops allow for academics to be completed remotely and in real time. Travel rules in many cases have been relaxed/adjusted. Nobody likes a 9 hour bus ride that had to start at 4:00 so a teammate could take a test (that an anti-sport professor refused to allow him to take earlier).
Regarding knowing your son---I only met him in passing when KSU was on the road. Not uncommon for my line of work. But I can assure you, the good ones always stand out. That goes for DIII and JUCO just as much as those at a Power 5 institution.
Thank you non-poster. First there are a multitude of reasons he is stopping this year, one of which how stuff was handled and the other one the job/internship. he is graduating in December 2019 so he needed to get experience to go with the grades. Also, he pitched this year with a 30% tear of his rotator cuff, so it had its own challenges. This is where his use and when and how much in games had us baffled by the coaches.
. I agree with you on when it is time to give stuff up. I would have given anything to be in his shoes. I played D3 and had some minor leagues tryouts, but nothing as what chances there are today. I think my wife and i are as sad as he is that it is over, but like anything in life you look to the future. He is grateful for the chance to play, even more proud of himself that he proved he could do it and also have success with it. More importantly, he had made great friends that he will have for a lifetime. That is not going away.
One last thing. I have no idea if you are a scout or if you saw him pitch, whether it was a good day or a bad day if you did. Just wondering from an outside perspective if you had the same thoughts as me his dad, that he was a very good D1 pitcher. Always like to think i look at things with proper perspective, but being a father that is many times hard. I would value your opinion, but if you do not i certainly value the great talk here about baseball.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I hope we can meet in person one day.
Hopefully that is the case. Athletic department will feel ripples if projects are not able to get started due to the budget issues. Even though as you said no general fund monies are used for the athletic department projects.
I don't know all the specifics, but my understanding is if ground was already broken or contracted to be done, then it can continue. Don't know the specifics of when it started or the pharma and psych buildings.
no big deal non poster. this now just for fun. But this year his record unfortunately was 2-6 with 2 saves. He pitched 50 innings with a 3.89 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 19 walks, two intentional. His batting average against him was .243. He started 4 games with two compete games, one a six hit 2-0 road loss at Oklahoma and the other was a 5 hit 1-0 shut out home win against kansas. He had a couple of rough games in the beginning of the Big 12 season which we feel were from over use and the rotator cuff, but the stats still count. What is interesting is last year, his Freshman season, he had 38 innings pitched with a 4-1 record with a 4.03 ERA, and a .209 batting average against.
Thanks for your input on this. More of an after the fact thing. The bottom line is that with all the chaos at Kstate, and after the above two seasons, Kstate finally offered a very nice scholarship offer, so we finally feel like they saw his value. But, on with school.
After this discussion, i would like to discuss with you overall your thoughts on the student in student athlete. I have some stories from Kstate which also played into our sons decision. Just curious on what you hear or see and if close to what we encountered at kstate.
I saw some film from that OU game. He was masterful. Just couldn't get one guy out! ; ) Pitchers in the Big 12 could form a support group to vent about Kyler Murray. As you can imagine, every scout I talk to thinks his future should be in baseball. He is a tremendous athlete. We'll see how high his stock rises this fall on the gridiron.
I would be happy to hear more about your son's experience, but it sounds like it would be better to keep that private.
Feel free to use the conversations feature to contact me.
I would be happy to hear more about your son's experience, but it sounds like it would be better to keep that private.
Feel free to use the conversations feature to contact me.
thanks non-posters. I will try the conversations feature. Have never done it. Yes, to say Kyler Murray was a pain is an understatement. 3 of the Ou 6 hits were his, though one was an infield single that he was jammed on, great pitch and location, but man speed kills. I told my wife he was going to beat that one out and sure enough he did. The funny thing is, our son threw 97 pitches in that game in 8 innings, but we were even more shocked when be was even better the next Saturday against KU when he threw the 9 inning complete game in 89 pitches. His last game at San Francisco was not a great one, 4 earned runs in 3 innings, but the streak had to come to an end sometime. We were proud of him this year for battling through the injury and finishing the way he did. we felt all along he should have been the Saturday or Sunday starter, and he proved that the last 3 weeks of the season. Would have helped him for his injury to throw once a week and get the rest in between. the coaches did not see it that way. Oh well. thanks for your conversation on this.
i will try the private conversation on the next topic. Go hawks.
Interesting thread, thanks guys. Sorry to hear about the newest obstacle to Banks improvements. Seems like the continued requirement for a big lead donor to emerge before the Athletic Dept. will act makes the building moratorium moot anyway. Guessing this might be starting to sound to Heller like his time at UNI. Wouldn't blame him if he starts listening to other schools.
Don't say that. Heller is a god sent to Iowa baseball.
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