With the 2011 season opener less than a month away, it's time to show some love to our Georgia State Baseball team. Here are a couple points to recap the last few month happenings:
- Back in September, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper reported their baseball recruiting class rankings and Georgia State landed in the "Other Top Recruiting Classes" ranks. Old Dominion and James Madison were the only other CAA teams mentioned in the rankings.
- In a recent CAA Coaches Poll reported by CAASports.com, Georgia State was picked to finish 2nd in the CAA behind 1st place vote winner James Madison. Defending CAA Champion VCU was picked to finish 3rd. Georgia State and James Madison both received four first place votes. Out of these top three schools, Georgia State returns the most starters with seven while James Madison and VCU are both returning five starters.
Our Panthers baseball team enters the 2011 season seeking the CAA tournament for a 3rd year in a row. The Panthers won the CAA Championship in 2009 and suffered a first round defeat by later champs VCU.
To close this article, here's a quick thought on Georgia State baseball recruiting and our stadium situation. There is no doubt the recent on-field success has tremendously boosted our recruiting abilities and I would be willing to bet starting a football program has proven to be a benefit for baseball recruiting. Anytime a university can increase the prominence of their athletics as a whole, all sports will realize the benefits. What better way to do so than to start football in a football crazed region. I believe one of the last major hurdles our baseball program faces is the fact that our stadium is not on or near campus. It's no secret that recruits consider the facilities when choosing a school. I have faith that the GSU administration has plans to relocate the baseball complex closer to campus if not on campus. With the amount of baseball talent located in the state of Georgia (look at your top two MLB rookies from the 2010 season for proof...Heyward and Posey) and the growing appeal in attending the university, GSU has the ability to become a perennial baseball power. My opinion is the final piece of the puzzle is a more desirable baseball complex.
Our football team plays in the Georgia Dome, I hear Turner Field is empty for a large part of the GSU baseball season. OK, that was a joke.
The baseball program has suffered long enough with unfavorable facilities. This program has not yet reached its potential
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