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re: Why didn't Ben Sheets go to LSU?
Posted on 1/26/10 at 9:15 pm to LSUnowhas2
Posted on 1/26/10 at 9:15 pm to LSUnowhas2
maybe andy was close to laval and told ben what way to go 
2
Posted on 1/27/10 at 6:38 am to tigermike200444
quote:
Bob Lemons
Posted on 1/27/10 at 6:44 am to tigermike200444
Andy Sheets that played SS for LSU was Ben's brother and Skip did not want to waiste a partial scholly on him because he did not think his stuff was good enough to go to LSU at the time. LSU played them at the Box I believe it was 1998 and he beat LSU that night, I do not recall how bad but I remember listening to it on the radio. When Skip told him that he did not think he was good enough for LSU that is when it started his haitred for LSU and to set out to prove Skip wrong. Skip to this day still thought that at the time he graduated from HS that he was not a top notch prospect. One of the wrong decisions that Skip made in all his years at LSU. This is what I remember from back then.
Posted on 1/27/10 at 7:46 am to BengalBrian
quote:
A couple of you are correct. Smoke coached him up at ULM. His fastball in high school was only in the low 80's. The coaches at ULM put some weight on him, some muscle and improved his velocity over 10 mph during his career at ULM.
He was not a serious candidate to play for most college teams coming out of high school as a pitcher, so noone missed on this one. It was just a college success story and maybe the best job of coaching ever done by Smoke Laval...if he even gets the credit for it.
Wrong. In his senior season state tournament appearence he was clocking 92 on the gun. Saw it myself. I graduated from St. Amant with his older brother. LSU didn't offer. He was mostly a relief pitcher until late in his senior season. St. Amant was loaded back then and won 4 state championships in the span of 5 years.
Posted on 1/27/10 at 8:02 am to CaseyMc2
quote:
Andy Sheets that played SS for LSU was Ben's brother
I think Wikipedia says 2nd cousins, but whatever...
quote:
Skip to this day still thought that at the time he graduated from HS that he was not a top notch prospect. One of the wrong decisions that Skip made in all his years at LSU.
It's really hard to rate HS baseball recruits, though. I think in the early to mid 90's Skip started going fishing in the same pond a little bit too much with his CHS-BR connection, to the exclusion of some other guys that might have deserved a spot more.
Posted on 1/27/10 at 8:09 am to Doc Fenton
Honestly, Ben just didn't play that much or show enough in high school to warrant a top level D1 scholarship, especially considering where LSU was in the mid '90s. I was surprised that MSU offered a half scholarship, honestly.
Anybody who had ever played against Ben, since he was about 10 years old knew he could pitch, but I don't think anyone ever thought he would be starting an All Star game in Yankee stadium.
There were a hundred better "prospects" for the top program in the country to chase then. I don't think Skip missed at all.
Ben just developed later.
Anybody who had ever played against Ben, since he was about 10 years old knew he could pitch, but I don't think anyone ever thought he would be starting an All Star game in Yankee stadium.
There were a hundred better "prospects" for the top program in the country to chase then. I don't think Skip missed at all.
Ben just developed later.
Posted on 1/27/10 at 8:12 am to Sheep
quote:
There were a hundred better "prospects" for the top program in the country to chase then.
I don't pretend to know how good Sheets was at St. Amant HS, but I suspect that you're overestimating the talent of college recruits in the mid-90's. It was not the best of times for college pitching, for a variety of reasons.
Posted on 1/27/10 at 8:20 am to Doc Fenton
Not necessarily pitching prospects, just prospects in general. In the mid '90s, LSU could pick and choose.
And scholarships were still limited then. Nothing Ben had done warranted being offered a full scholarship at the biggest program (by far) in the country at that time.
He took a free ride at a D1 school (albeit a lower level) and made the absolute most of it. Good on him.
And scholarships were still limited then. Nothing Ben had done warranted being offered a full scholarship at the biggest program (by far) in the country at that time.
He took a free ride at a D1 school (albeit a lower level) and made the absolute most of it. Good on him.
Posted on 1/27/10 at 8:27 am to Sheep
quote:
a full scholarship
Well of course not. I don't think even Todd Walker got that much.
Still, a lot of LSU pitchers recruited in the mid-90's were known to lack talent. Given NCAA scholarship limitations, the only schools that could reliably recruit top pitching talent back in the late 90's were typically schools that could sell the value of their academic degrees (e.g., Stanford, Rice, Vanderbilt, Tulane, etc.). When it came to pitchers, LSU was in a pinch same as everyone else.
Posted on 1/27/10 at 8:34 am to CaseyMc2
quote:
Skip to this day still thought that at the time he graduated from HS that he was not a top notch prospect
obviously
Posted on 1/27/10 at 8:35 am to Doc Fenton
Ben did not pitch that much at st. Amant, he was a better position player. He pitched alot during legion ball . He really developed his soph yr of college, he got bigger and stronger 
Posted on 1/27/10 at 1:29 pm to TheCaterpillar
..he was decent, but really just a so-so talent out of HS, with possible "up side" potential for sure, but not a big time prospect . More of a "small school" kind of guy...he made his big development AFTER he got to ULM...who could know?...those things happen some times... 
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