the "class that is going to turn the program around" has (basically) all cycled through. Riley King and Mason Meadows redshirted in 2017. Justin Glover was in that class and may be back next year. I think that's everyone, off the top of my head.
First, the program obviously made a huge turnaround from where it was when Cam and his class arrived here. After three straight losing seasons under Stricklin, I thought there was no way that he'd hold that class together. I'm glad that I was wrong.
What's interesting to me is that it seemed like the four "cornerstone" (for lack of a better term) position players in that class were Cam, Aaron Schunk, Austin Biggar, and Tucker Maxwell. That's who I remember hearing the most about. Stricklin talked about how Cam was one of the first guys that he really worked hard on recruiting when he got the job. I know they put a lot into Maxwell's signing. Biggar had a very strong profile, as did Aaron Schunk.
I'm not trying to be negative when I say this, but of those four, only Schunk turned into an elite college player. I think Maxwell's size and speed made everyone see him as a leadoff, drag bunt, slap hitter. He wound up hitting a lot more HRs here than I would have predicted and I think that he would have hit even more if they really let him swing. I think that we never really saw what he COULD do at the plate, because we wanted him to do something else. Just my thought. It seemed like we had a run there in 2016 through the fall leading into 2018 where the #2 catcher was the guy all the pitchers wanted to throw to. Biggar benefited from that as a freshman and suffered from it as a sophomore, I think. I'm glad that he got that moment against LSU last year. I was sad, but not stunned, to see him move on after last season.
Then there's Cam. I said that only Schunk (of the four) turned out to be an elite college player. I hate saying that. Nobody has posted more about Cam's ability than I have. I thought that he was the best player on our team in 2017, when he was a freshman. He was an outstanding defensive SS all through his career. He always had the tools and always had the mentality. At the end of the day though, he hit .261 here. I was surprised when I saw that today.... off the top of my head I knew that he wasn't going to be in .300 range, but I thought it'd be closer to .280. When he signed here and especially after his freshman year, I don't think many people would have predicated that he would hit .261 for his career (though his OBP was much stronger).
I'm sad to see him go (though as a Braves fan I'm happy that if he was going to leave, he signed with Atlanta). I really enjoyed watching him play and always thought he was going to get to that All American level at the plate. Maybe he would have had we kept playing in 2020. Who knows. I wish we did.
i just find it interesting how things shook out when you look back now at the 2017 freshmen group. It's fair to say that the turnaround didn't happen exactly as imagined. And that's ok.... the end result is the most important thing. They definitely left program in a better place than they found it.
First, the program obviously made a huge turnaround from where it was when Cam and his class arrived here. After three straight losing seasons under Stricklin, I thought there was no way that he'd hold that class together. I'm glad that I was wrong.
What's interesting to me is that it seemed like the four "cornerstone" (for lack of a better term) position players in that class were Cam, Aaron Schunk, Austin Biggar, and Tucker Maxwell. That's who I remember hearing the most about. Stricklin talked about how Cam was one of the first guys that he really worked hard on recruiting when he got the job. I know they put a lot into Maxwell's signing. Biggar had a very strong profile, as did Aaron Schunk.
I'm not trying to be negative when I say this, but of those four, only Schunk turned into an elite college player. I think Maxwell's size and speed made everyone see him as a leadoff, drag bunt, slap hitter. He wound up hitting a lot more HRs here than I would have predicted and I think that he would have hit even more if they really let him swing. I think that we never really saw what he COULD do at the plate, because we wanted him to do something else. Just my thought. It seemed like we had a run there in 2016 through the fall leading into 2018 where the #2 catcher was the guy all the pitchers wanted to throw to. Biggar benefited from that as a freshman and suffered from it as a sophomore, I think. I'm glad that he got that moment against LSU last year. I was sad, but not stunned, to see him move on after last season.
Then there's Cam. I said that only Schunk (of the four) turned out to be an elite college player. I hate saying that. Nobody has posted more about Cam's ability than I have. I thought that he was the best player on our team in 2017, when he was a freshman. He was an outstanding defensive SS all through his career. He always had the tools and always had the mentality. At the end of the day though, he hit .261 here. I was surprised when I saw that today.... off the top of my head I knew that he wasn't going to be in .300 range, but I thought it'd be closer to .280. When he signed here and especially after his freshman year, I don't think many people would have predicated that he would hit .261 for his career (though his OBP was much stronger).
I'm sad to see him go (though as a Braves fan I'm happy that if he was going to leave, he signed with Atlanta). I really enjoyed watching him play and always thought he was going to get to that All American level at the plate. Maybe he would have had we kept playing in 2020. Who knows. I wish we did.
i just find it interesting how things shook out when you look back now at the 2017 freshmen group. It's fair to say that the turnaround didn't happen exactly as imagined. And that's ok.... the end result is the most important thing. They definitely left program in a better place than they found it.
