re: Remove

Any idea why we missed on so many?

NIL? Better programs? Instability of staff? Facilities?

Closer to home to play?

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I'm not sure how much scholarship money is truly available for this class or how much they want to save for potential transfers, that said few of those prospects who visited elected to stay home which is understandable and for top programs. I think LSU will have no choice but to use the portal next offseason more extensively because you aren't replacing Pleasants, briggs, Coffey, Newland, Gutierrez, Carson, Lynch etc production in one recruiting class, you will have to go get experience and some type of proven production. That said there are factors above that are giving some recruits doubts. LSU has not made it past regionals the last couple years and there are rumors in the travel ball circuit about the future of particular coaches on staff. That could change one way or the other pending how this season plays out.

Torina has signed top classes most of the time at LSU, mostly top 10 but I think this 2025 class will be a bit weaker than usual for their standards. Hope with that this means better evaluation of particular players talents. Neal identified some very under the radar players at Louisville and molded them into some of the top hitters in the conference/country. Time will tell if he can make something happen here as well with the offense. That said, I think this years success will come down to pitching more than anything. Our pitching has been a mess in our last two regionals, giving up quite a few runs.

smp4lsu GREAT QUESTION. My 1 cent:

NIL?
--NIL has started to play roles in college softball more, but not even close to what's occurring for women n say basketball (Reese, Clark or Johnson) or gymnastics (think Dunn). Latest Top 50 rankings for women only had 4 softball players on the list (MsSt Brylie St Clair, NB's Jordy Bahl, UCLA's Maya Brady and OU's Jayda Coleman). There are a few select schools who have distinct NIL advantages with OU being the mothership given their access to booster funds others don't have. So most decisions aren't driven by NIL. I'd say this has little to no impact on our 2025 failures so far.

BETTER PROGRAM?
Depends on what you mean by "better program". If based on history/legacy of program, I'd think we should stack up okay--no we aren't say OU or maybe UCLA tall but definitely a program of choice historically. Now if you mean what I think you mean---State of the Union: Then you may have a point. And as one contributor stated you may have one of the winners here. Coach Torina has won every year, but hasn't won enough in the post season by the very lofty standards being set by the other programs at the school of late. So yes, this probably plays a role. The kind of kids we chase are extremely gifted and typically driven and from high level travel ball teams that compete at the highest levels and usually one of the last teams at the park. No surprise they would like to be in an environment that is one of the last teams playing at the next level too. Yes, it is vehicle for an education but reality is most of these kids start with the feel of the program then move on to the feel of the school. We have to win more late in the year if we want to win more in recruiting. Not a huge seller to kids what you did 6 years ago.


INSTABILITY OF STAFF?
Another likely "Bingo". Woodard is going to do what it takes to have successful programs. How success is defined is the question, along with how much grace will be given before it is attained. Adding Coach Neal is a big plus, as I've seen what he can do with kids at Louisville as well. Although kind of odd that Dobson remained given his concentration on hitting. I think there was an expectation that there would be some changes. Will this be enough?? Depends on what happens this year. But the rumors are rampant about Coach Torina and that surely plays a role in recruiting too. I think there are some who would like to see her go, but I do know that there are some freshman and committed players that might reopen their recruitment if she is fired too--well unless of course the replacement is a homerun. Regardless, the fact that all these questions swirl around suggest "instability in staff" and I know these kids discuss it, along with their parents and coaches too.

FACILITIES?
I actually think this one is a strength of ours. Stadium could use some minor upgrades but it is still one of the best in the country. And our facilities compared to others are much nicer than most all out there competing against us for talent. IMHO LSU's facilities trump all the schools listed next to the 2025 commits I named above and trump some of them by a wide margin. The Mike is one of the best facilities in all of college softball.


CLOSER TO HOME TO PLAY? In limited instances I think this matters. Elsa has been recruited by TN since she was a young travel baller and partly because of its proximity to her residence she's attended a ton of camps there. Even for us this will always play some factor, but I don't believe it has been a major factor in our missing out.

Hoping this season is good enough to wipe all the concerns away. And happy the 2023 and 2024 classes were so strong or I think we'd live in the portal.

Thanks for the great info.

I did read where Coach Neal and Dobson were both working with the hitters and things seem to be going well. I guess we will see this month.

And hopefully our 2 transfers pitchers will surprise.

If we get back on track, the Beth rumors will die down and our recruiting will rise again. I do like Beth's philosophy of building team with high school players and only filling weaknesses with portals. I would think HS recruits would like that too.

100% agree. I personally love Coach Torina and her devotion to the players that play for her. I'm rooting for a turnaround for her. Coach Neal seems like a great guy on top of a great hitting coach and I heard the same thing--he and Dobson are meshing well. But you're so right---win and all the noise quiets.

Looks like multiple commits per Coach Neal’s tweets.

Tuua is a 2026 class kid, next year to see if this scoop happens????