re: Remove

quote:

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Better programs?

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Bingo! That's the winner

smp4lsu GREAT QUESTION. My 1 cent:

NIL?
--NIL has started to play roles in college softball more, but not even close to what's occurring for women n say basketball (Reese, Clark or Johnson) or gymnastics (think Dunn). Latest Top 50 rankings for women only had 4 softball players on the list (MsSt Brylie St Clair, NB's Jordy Bahl, UCLA's Maya Brady and OU's Jayda Coleman). There are a few select schools who have distinct NIL advantages with OU being the mothership given their access to booster funds others don't have. So most decisions aren't driven by NIL. I'd say this has little to no impact on our 2025 failures so far.

BETTER PROGRAM?
Depends on what you mean by "better program". If based on history/legacy of program, I'd think we should stack up okay--no we aren't say OU or maybe UCLA tall but definitely a program of choice historically. Now if you mean what I think you mean---State of the Union: Then you may have a point. And as one contributor stated you may have one of the winners here. Coach Torina has won every year, but hasn't won enough in the post season by the very lofty standards being set by the other programs at the school of late. So yes, this probably plays a role. The kind of kids we chase are extremely gifted and typically driven and from high level travel ball teams that compete at the highest levels and usually one of the last teams at the park. No surprise they would like to be in an environment that is one of the last teams playing at the next level too. Yes, it is vehicle for an education but reality is most of these kids start with the feel of the program then move on to the feel of the school. We have to win more late in the year if we want to win more in recruiting. Not a huge seller to kids what you did 6 years ago.


INSTABILITY OF STAFF?
Another likely "Bingo". Woodard is going to do what it takes to have successful programs. How success is defined is the question, along with how much grace will be given before it is attained. Adding Coach Neal is a big plus, as I've seen what he can do with kids at Louisville as well. Although kind of odd that Dobson remained given his concentration on hitting. I think there was an expectation that there would be some changes. Will this be enough?? Depends on what happens this year. But the rumors are rampant about Coach Torina and that surely plays a role in recruiting too. I think there are some who would like to see her go, but I do know that there are some freshman and committed players that might reopen their recruitment if she is fired too--well unless of course the replacement is a homerun. Regardless, the fact that all these questions swirl around suggest "instability in staff" and I know these kids discuss it, along with their parents and coaches too.

FACILITIES?
I actually think this one is a strength of ours. Stadium could use some minor upgrades but it is still one of the best in the country. And our facilities compared to others are much nicer than most all out there competing against us for talent. IMHO LSU's facilities trump all the schools listed next to the 2025 commits I named above and trump some of them by a wide margin. The Mike is one of the best facilities in all of college softball.


CLOSER TO HOME TO PLAY? In limited instances I think this matters. Elsa has been recruited by TN since she was a young travel baller and partly because of its proximity to her residence she's attended a ton of camps there. Even for us this will always play some factor, but I don't believe it has been a major factor in our missing out.

Hoping this season is good enough to wipe all the concerns away. And happy the 2023 and 2024 classes were so strong or I think we'd live in the portal.