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Texas Tech Baseball: The juggling act of scholarships and talent

By Stephen McLellan

Jun 23, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; The Texas Tech Red Raiders bench looks over the field after the loss against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at the 2016 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Coastal Carolina defeated Texas Tech 7-5. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; The Texas Tech Red Raiders bench looks over the field after the loss against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at the 2016 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Coastal Carolina defeated Texas Tech 7-5. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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Despite Texas Tech Baseball’s disappointment of 2017, Tim Tadlock is doing an amazing job on, and off the field–especially with recruiting.

In years past, a 45-17 finish for Texas Tech Baseball, playing in June, and falling one game short of a Super Regional would be considered an amazing season.  However the fact the heartbreaking losses to Sam Houston State on back-to-back days felt so bitterly disappointing, speaks to the program’s expected status.

In Just five seasons, and after two College World Series appearances in three seasons, Tim Tadlock has built a program that expects to be in Omaha on an annual basis.

What continues to blow my mind,  is how Tadlock not only gets productive players to campus on a consistent basis, but how this is done with limited scholarships. Unbeknownst to many, of the 27 players typically in uniform, very few–if any–are on full scholarship.  In fact many of the players who Tadlock recruits to Lubbock must agree to play while receiving only a quarter of a scholarship.

In addition Coach Tadlock may recruit a high school or junior college player who signs with Texas Tech, only to go pro after the June MLB Amateur Draft, instead of enrolling.

NCAA Division I Baseball Scholarships 101

We all know scholarships can be problematic for any school (it is why we have the “Baker Mayfield Rule,” after all), however, when laid out, the numbers detail a painful reality. According to Baseball Scholarships.net, “There are approximately 299 NCAA Division I baseball programs with each team being allowed to offer a maximum of (11.7) scholarships.”

“Under NCAA rules,” the website explains, “these 11.7 scholarships can be divided between a maximum of 27 players, with all players on athletic scholarship having to receive a minimum of a 25 percent scholarship.”

Marketing is critical in the digital era of collegiate recruiting, so a huge part of earning a scholarship is at the hands of the players themselves. They become students, and marketers in the process, but as they forge bonds with players through camps and summer leagues, if they have a close relationship with certain coaches, players become recruiters, too.

It’s a tall order to task kids with.

With the guaranteed signing bonuses now available to high school prospects, a coach is playing with fire using a commitment on one a player projected to be drafted in the first couple rounds of the annual draft.

More from Texas Tech Baseball

A coach may identify this player as filling a need, only to have that player never show up on campus.

Giving credit where it’s due, TCU and Coach Jim Schlossnagle have recently convinced several first round talents to put professional baseball on hold.  In cases such as this, athletes should be commended for pursuing education, and the privilege of college baseball prior to going professional.

As far as Tadlock goes, he has done a fabulous job of identifying players who will not only show up on campus,  but also stay for four years, as opposed to going pro early.

A perfect example of Tim Tadlock identifying “Good Program Players” would be Eric Gutierrez.

In fact, I would argue that there hasn’t been a player who has contributed more to Texas Tech Baseball as a player than Gutierrez, who started from day one as a freshman, and was part of teams that made the College World Series twice in three seasons.

The bottom line is Texas Tech has a gem in Tim Tadlock, who knows the business of College Baseball.  And because of the way Coach Tadlock has operated, we have seen baseball’s proverbial “promise land,” and have also identified the destination; which is entirely tangible with the amount of talent Tech has.

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