Trouble in Harker's House

[Jasper]

Don't run out to the local emergency shrink's office over this though. It's just the way things are in college athletics now. Kids come and go on whims. Besides, Berea is a gun isn't it?

[The Jackal]

Ben Anderson (Freshman All-American) has left the program. Understand 5 or 6 additional other players are leaving. Bad reflection on coaching staff!!

Maybe, maybe not. Soccer has lost big time recruits to transfer. The coach is a great recruiter but the kid gets here and finds out that the school is not a good fit. Doesn't mean the coach isn't a good coach.

Some may find this hard to believe, but a small school in Berea may not be a good fit for everyone.

Fair points. It stinks that Anderson is leaving, but I understand if he wants to test himself at a higher level. In college baseball, which conference you're in is not super important to getting drafted, but can certainly help you get drafted higher. Although there are always exceptions to the rule RE: Lewis from Mercer in 2017.

I will push back a bit that 5-6 players leaving in one year isn't a big deal. That's a significant percentage of a college baseball roster. Looks like 33 players were on this year's team, you take away 5-6 guys on top of the 6 seniors graduating, and you're replacing a third of the team. Now if you're telling me that the guys leaving batted .100 or had a 9.00 ERA, it might not hurt the team on the field, but it could be an issue in the clubhouse.

Do you know that 5-6 players are leaving?

Good point. I don't. I was just going off of the first post, which is hearsay. So hopefully it's wrong. Still a bummer about Anderson though.

Anderson leaving: Comes with the territory. It's the curse of being a Furman fan.

Should instead have said: it's the curse of rooting for a small college. Players or coaches leaving FU scarred my childhood.

I'd love to get back to a place where other programs wanted our coaches. That's a good problem to have.

[MetroMizzy]

I was told by a very reliable source that of the 5-6 players leaving the program, Harker wanted at least half of them gone as they weren't the right fit for the culture that he is trying to build. Apparently Anderson loves his GF very much and is transferring to the school she attends. If that is the truth and I have no reason to believe it's not, that's a terrible reason to leave.

[Fessor]

I was told by a very reliable source that of the 5-6 players leaving the program, Harker wanted at least half of them gone as they weren't the right fit for the culture that he is trying to build. Apparently Anderson loves his GF very much and is transferring to the school she attends. If that is the truth and I have no reason to believe it's not, that's a terrible reason to leave.

I'm guessing that if someone knows that level of detail then the GF's school is also known?

[Fessor]

I was told by a very reliable source that of the 5-6 players leaving the program, Harker wanted at least half of them gone as they weren't the right fit for the culture that he is trying to build. Apparently Anderson loves his GF very much and is transferring to the school she attends. If that is the truth and I have no reason to believe it's not, that's a terrible reason to leave.

Agreed. Might actually be bad for the relationship too.

[Jasper]

Very astute observation. The "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing, right?

[Paul C]

I thought it was “absinthe makes the heart grow fonder”

[The Jackal]

Unrelated, but just so you know it isn't just a weird thing with Furman, this is from last night's game recap from the College World Series elimination game between UNC/Oregon State:

Oregon State's Andy Armstrong pinch ran and pinch hit during the same inning (8th) of Game 9 ... Armstrong
pinch ran for the first hitter in the inning (Zak Taylor) ... He then pinch hit because that spot in the order was due
up as the 10th hitter of the inning ... Ended the inning by leaving the bases loaded with a pop-out bunt.

You read that right. Oregon State, with two outs in a 1 run ball game with the bases loaded in the 8th inning of a College World Series elimination game, ended an inning on a pop up bunt on a 1-0 count.

[Jasper]

I stand corrected. And it sure do.

[MetroMizzy]

Yes the school is known. Not sure if it's public knowledge or official yet or what so I don't really want to say much more than it's an SEC School.

[apaladin]

Yes the school is known. Not sure if it's public knowledge or official yet or what so I don't really want to say much more than it's an SEC School.

Wow, that is interesting. Not sure he can handle SEC pitching every day. Against the "big name" teams(SC, CU, MSU, NCSt, Illinois, Wichita St.) on this years schedule, he was 6-36, .167. Three of those hits came in the same game. Doubt any SEC school has any scholarship money lying around, not being used either. Wherever he goes I wish him the best.