You HS players out there that are being given attention now....and as you especially showcase in your summer leagues...yet unsigned. Beware of the "style" that coaches like from Louisburg use:

"Not bad kid....how'd ya like to compete for a starting spot on one of the best Jr college teams on the east coast?" "Yea, sure you can." "Huh, ah no we have all the scholarship spots filled ....but, not to worry...show up and I'm sure you'll earn one by your second year."
"Ok....now sign right here." "Whats that?", the 18 year old asks. "Thats your $20,000 bank loan to come here." "Whew, I'cve never spent money like this before."

3 months elasp. "Hey coach, remember when you said I'd be competing for a starting spot?" "Uh...what.....get out there and get busy son...." Yea but...you put me in with this JV team the day I arived."

"Hey, your in college aren't ya?" "Well what are you complainin about....go on get busy."



Beware....one year of Louisburg JV will cost you an entire year of your eligibility!

Sounds like a bad "gig"...seeing this as a first post, I would think that anyone with any considerable amount of time in this site would not have been "swayed" so easily in this situation...the old safety slogan "Stop, Look and Listen" could have really helped here, huh?

Sounds like another troll and one with a bone to pick---

I'd like to hear if there are any other similar stories. A player that graduated from our school last year is there this year and starting every game. This is the first negative comment I have heard about this program.

It was someone that was a member of this site unfortunetely. The problem was...the player was led to the Louisburg sojourn by way of his HS coach. The HS player had nothing but "trust" in his eyes as he ignored his father's leading, trusted his HS coach and the "trollings" as carefully perceived by JR's keen eye that subsequently happened at his summer American Legion games.
All is not lost....after regrouping, the player's Dad was once again was "intrusted" with his son's faith. Result: then player is playing (starting actually) in Division I bcollege baseball and is currently battling over .300 in his first year in a major conference.

Nobody loves you like your Dad....kids

Good for that player that is starting there. But remember this: If Louisburg doesn't put any money on the table (scholarship).....stop! don't do it!

May I ask then--why the smear????

Smear?

TR, this post is for any player out there that is looking to the next level....and is approached by Louisburg. If they don't offer a scholarship offer for you, beware.
It is important that this is made public....because another player that has now moved on would have vastly benifited from had he known more about this school before being cost a year if eligibility on a JV experience that meant absolutley nothing. Now, in hindsight.....a player with DI starting talent was squandered by some program that simply do not have the evaluation skills to manage and develop young players.
Trying to be clear....trying to warn others so that they don't get sucked into a situation they would be sorry for a year or two later.

My son was at Louisburg last year. While the facts ring true, I would differ with the tone.

My son was told going in he would have an uphill battle to get on the field with the A team. He thought he'd made it in the fall and was told it looked that way, but come spring it did go against him.

I agree the B team is a waste of time. It could have been a little different, had the coaches worked more with those kids. But that was not the case.

He transferred to a DI and is playing this season, although he has been through the slump of his life and is now, some 50 at-bats later, only beginning to come out of it.

Those things said, the school academically was exactly as advertised. And that did help him in his transfer.

So I would say overall that it is buyer beware. But isn't just about anywhere that way?

eyesmears

Why are you into getting them smeared?

Have you been burned?

Do you have all the info in hand or is it hearsay?

Thank you for sharing your story VAman. May your son experience improved success. If I were to give one hitting tip....it would be "have your bat speed good to go". Don't come away from the fast cage until you make consistant contact on 8 of 10 pitches 92-94 mph. One of my simple formulas.
As far as the "buyer beware" tip....yes. You are right. We didn't compain one eyeotta about them not offering in any scholarship money (although it was an indicator...for me of something being awry). It was only the fabricating of the "your going to compete for a starting spot" that was 100% illegal, as far as I am concerned. We weren't even aware of this socalled JV team til we heard it on the phone.
IE....telling graduating HS player that he will compete to start only orients a young man's mind to think he is a part of a group that he will get to prove his chance with.
To uncerimoniasly dispatch him to some newly informed of JV team that was kept under wraps and in the shadows....with only one objective: to enhance the student attendance numbers etc etc.
I'm sorry TR. I believe this site is much more important to the young players.....rather than a vessel for coachs to feed off of. Lets face it....they(the coaches) hold all the cards in their hands, and in their favor, the more we can empower the kids with information and filtering strategy, the less you'll hear of stories like these.

I am having a little trouble following the story here. You state that

quote:

It was only the fabricating of the "your going to compete for a starting spot" that was 100% illegal, as far as I am concerned"

That is why I am confused with your post. Every player competes for a starting spot on EVERY year at EVERY school. All schools have more players than they have starting positions, and the players compete for those spots.

The competition is often fierce. A handful of players will win the competition and the rest will not earn one of those coveted spots. There is nothing unusual in this practise, and certainly it is not a lie to tell a player he will be competing.

It is really too bad your son mistook the statement "your going to compete for a starting spot" as a guaranteed he would win one of those spots, It is a good thing to be confident in your abilities, however this is a whole new level of competition.

I am certainly glad he is happier at his new school, you might want to warn him though that his days of competing for a starting spot are not over. A hot new freshman may come along even in his senior year and the competition continues. The starting spot is never a guarantee.

eyes ears
Sounds like you should have done your homework.

eyesears

I have had three boys play college ball-- every year was a new challenge regardless of what they did the year before--and for a freshman to go into a program thinking he had a starting job locked up means that he "heard what he wanted to hear" when the coach talked to him.

Yes --this is a site where kids and parenmts can gain knowledge but not when it comes from a poster who smears without even knowing what the process is all about--I am sorry but you are way off base.

the following comments are not regading Louisburg, as I don't know them, but TR the above mentioned player (or dad) is grumpy because the coach stated the player would compete for a spot - no guarantee was mentioned on my screen, anyway - then his story was basicly backed up with firsthand experiece by a longtime poster ??

if the player was buried somewhere on a jv squad with little or no coaching or opportunity, the guy has a legit gripe

and little talked about secret

"some" schools have a policy requiring (actually forcing) the coach to fill out his roster with an additional dozen or so paying customers who will likely never get a chance to see the light of day or compete for anything -

let's see, at a DIII an extra 12 players at $36K = a cool extra half million for the school by the time it's all said & done - good job coach!

just do alot of homework where you see 40+ rosters and/or JV teams and you won't be surprised later

Anytime someone has a legitimate complaint or an unpleasant story to tell, then they have an "axe to grind" or are starting a "smear campaign". They could be sharing an actual experience that may contradict certain appearances but only TRHIT knows the difference between the truth and lies and he will be the first to tell you so.

Having recently gone throught he recruitment process, I would only like to add this. It was our experience that most college coaches were up front about where my son into thier program and plan...even if it wasnt always what we wanted to hear.

Good Luck

quote:

"Huh, ah no we have all the scholarship spots filled ....but, not to worry...show up and I'm sure you'll earn one by your second year."

My son heard this from a recruiting coach, too. The coach he's actually playing for now said "Why would you give a worm to the fish that's already on the hook?"

If scholarship money is important to you, beware of any coach that says no money, but maybe next year.

First of all I can not speak of this situation because I have no knowledge of it. What I do know is that Coach Godwin is a class act. He runs an excellent program at Louisburg and it is an excellent school. They have an excellent track record of sending kids on to major baseball programs after one and two years there. They have opened up their field for use to area HS for several years now going back to Coach Frazier. This is one negative story and I am not saying that you dont have a legitimate grip or not because I dont know. What I do know is I could bring several kids and parents on here and they would tell you nothing but great things about the coaches and program. Couldnt that be said about alot of places? When you say Beware! of Louisburg College! Shouldnt you be saying beware of this situation. Not Beware of Louisburg College.

So there is no mistake here, I do not know the original poster.

Frankly, I have mostly talked about my son's experience at Louisburg in private messages, because I didn't want things to be taken out of context. But now that accusations have been made, I'll say that while my son's experience wasn't entirely positive, it wasn't entirely negative, either.

What rang true in the original post was that the coaches will not allow themselves to be wrong on scholarship players. The place my son felt he was wronged was that he was told he rated X at his position after the fall season, but his position fell to Y when he returned. And I agree with the original post that the B team situation is not as good as the school would have you believe. But it is better than not playing at all.

I've said it privately, but to answer the original post, I'll say it here: If Louisburg gives you athletic money, you will probably have a very good experience. If you don't get money, even if you are a good player, you will have a lot of trouble getting on the field.

That's not uncommon to a lot of places.

My son loved the ballpark there and he IMs former teammates all the time. When he got to work with the coaches, he felt really good about what was happening. He did well in school.

Was it the right move for him? I don't know. It was financially difficult and he'll have some work to do when his college days are over.

But I give him credit for making the best of his situation. Going there didn't hurt him.

the coach bascially asked you to walk on, if they did not have a JV team you would be playing softball right now. Transfer to a school where you can play