Sacbunt2...
My son is the one lafmom mentioned who has a son at NKU.
He was at a juco in AZ the last 2 years and could have stayed there(or gone to 6 other programs this fall) but he didn't want to lose a year acedemically staying at a juco. He was red-shirted his freshman year and he obtained his associates degree last June.
After making 3 visits/workouts at different schools. When he did his visit at NKU the players were already gone and he really didn't know anything about their "make up". The players were going to be a huge part of his decision making procedure. He wanted to make sure that they were as dedicated and worked as hard as he did to be successful. When he talked to me about NKU he said.." I have a very good feel for the coaches. They were honest, direct and made no promises other than I would be on the team and have an "opportunity". Other schools made promises based on his workout...which said he wasn't necessarily his best.
He took approx 3 weeks to make his decision after his last visit, NKU was his first. Coach Asalon would answer his questions but never pressured him and told him to make his decision on what he felt was "best for him". During that 3 weeks he got calls from 4 other schools about playing their and "possibly starting"...a couple hadn't even seen him and were making promises.
Orignally he made his decision to go to NKU based on 2 things and 2 things only.
1) He respected the coaches and he liked their honesty about where he stood. They told him they had people in his position but if he was willing to "move" around to a variety of positions, he would have an opportunity
2) They play in a wood bat conference, and he has played only wood bat since he left high school and didn't want aluminum in his hands full time. He passed on offers from 1 other D2 programs, 1 D1, 1 D3, 2 NAIA and 2 juco's, one juco was 3rd in the nation last year and 5th the year before.
Now that he is their, and has been with the team, he says he could never have invisioned a "better place to be". He still loves the coaches because they are still direct and honest. The players have turned out to be a bunch of great guys who work "as hard as he does". They take the game serious and there are "no head cases". He also has fallen in love with the school itself. He didn't apply to NKU until June 15th. With the transfer of his transcripts and application review he didn't hear about his final acceptance to the program of his choice until July 20th. He didn't get the housing he was hoping for, but he has adjusted to "sharing" a room after having his own for a few years. He has sinced been asked to move into townhouse with a few of the team captains, has been invited to be their "travel roommate" when on the road. The coaches have told him that he is even better than they thought and to keep working hard because he will be on the field if he does. He has held up his portion of the deal playing ss, 2nd, 3rd and rf. He has offered to play 1st (but they have 3 guys there), he has even offered to throw a few innings if they need.
My wife and I haven't heard the happiness in his voice since the summer after high school and before he went off to college. He also is in a conference where he knows approx. 12 players from his high school days and travel baseball days in the Chicago area.
We are very happy to be followers of the NKU Norse and would recommend the progam to anyone who wants to work hard and play the game the way it should be played...with wood bats.
lamom...thanks for the insight many many months ago
Best of luck to him in the spring. There's a catcher on the team from a Lexington HS that my son knows (well he caught in HS - don't know if he's moved), but son said he was a great kid. Keep us posted.
