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New baseball roster rule may limit opportunities
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wright State University baseball coach Rob Cooper is not happy about an NCAA mandate to limit roster spots to 35 players.
"As far as I know, we're the only sport that has roster limitations," Cooper said. "I understand limiting scholarships, but not walk-ons. As it stands, we were going to have a walk-on tryout on Sept. 22, but now we might not be able to do that. I have 34 on the roster and the possibility of another player joining the team before school starts."
Cooper said he has had as many as 20 players try out for the team. Some of them are good players, too.
"Andrew Burns made the team in 2006," Cooper said. "He was a transfer who played one year and was third on our team in pitching appearances. And Kris Steffen played with us the last two years.
"This year, guys like that won't have a chance to make the team."
Scholarships for Division I schools are limited to 11.7 per year, and can be split among several players, although not as previously configured. Each player who obtains a partial scholarship must have at least 25 percent of a scholarship, and no more than 29 players can obtain scholarship money. Next year, that number drops to 27.
Cooper said if the walk-on rules had been in force when he left Sacramento to play at the University of Miami, he wouldn't have two degrees from the Florida school or had a chance to play there.
"That's where I wanted to go, and I got a chance to play there a year and be an undergraduate coach," Cooper said. "If they had limits, there was no way I would have been welcomed as a walk-on."
Raider notes
• While school at WSU doesn't start until Sept. 9, fall schedules are well under way. Highlights include the men's soccer team playing in the Marriott Classic at UD on Friday, Aug. 29, drawing Wisconsin at 5:30 p.m., followed by UD vs. Denver at 8. WSU meets UD at 2:30 p.m Sunday.
• Wright State volleyball begins this weekend in the State Farm/Vernon Manor Bearcat Invitational at the University of Cincinnati. The team plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday vs. UC; at 10 a.m. Saturday vs. Marshall; and at 4 p.m. Saturday vs. Tennessee Tech. The team hosts the Raider Challenge Sept. 12-13 with Niagara (N.Y.), Florida State and Morehead State (Ky.).
• Bob Grant kiddingly calls himself "the dean of local college athletic directors," what with Sinclair, Central State and UD naming new ADs this summer. Grant took over his job from retiring Mike Cusack on July 1.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157
or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
