Illinois State has probably lost the top baseball recruit in its incoming class.
Decatur MacArthur High School standout Blair Springfield is likely turning pro after being taken in the seventh round of the first-year player draft by the Chicago Cubs.
Teams do not select a high school player that early without the intention of offering enough bonus money to keep them from going to college.
It would have been intriguing to see Springfield in an ISU uniform. There is a good chance he would have started immediately.
But it’s also encouraging for Coach Mark Kingston he was able to sign a player of Springfield’s caliber. That will be noted around the state by top prospects and their coaches.-
No ISU or Illinois Wesleyan players were picked in the first 30 rounds. The draft concludes with the final 20 rounds on Thursday.
Has there been a media release of the incoming recruits for this fall? If so, where can I find it. I don’t recall seeing one & have not been able to find one.
It will be a loss but what about Chad Hinshaw and other area players going elsewhere. ISU Baseball has been pathetic for years and yet they continue to ignore local and area talent. This is true of Wesleyan as well. Wesleyan can at least use their HUGE costs as somewhat of an excuse but ISU consistently ignore players in all sports and many times those same players have come back to haunt them. Instead of the good ole boy network and dismal salaries paid to assistants its time to concentrate on the quality of the persons who actually do the recruiting. There is no excuse not to aggressively go after some of these athletes. A prime example is zero interest from ISU for the NCHS Quarterback, who rapidly became the starter at UNLV. There is a high level of competition in the intercity and area, an often some outstanding athletes. Sadly, the majority of them never get a look from our local schools.
Joe: http://www.goredbirds.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/111308aaf.html
It is always nice to see Intercity players come to ISU and have success. I do know ISU baseball recruited Blake Brown very aggressively before Blake decided to go to Missouri.
As far as football, ISU has more Intercity players than it has in a long time: Marcus King, Mike Cross, Brent Holtz, Austin Davis, Cody White, Jake Detmers, Billy Dickson, Zach Liming, Nathan Rebholz.
And Travis Mullen would also be a nice addition if both sides decide to go in that direction.
Omar Clayton was a miss. But Omar’s talents would fit much better in Brock Spack’s offense than Denver Johnson’s and Denver was the coach at the time.
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