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Men UConn Baseball and the transfer portal

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Current:

Christopher BrownConnecticut
Samuel FavieriConnecticut
Mitchell PascarellaConnecticut
Phoenix BillingsConnecticut
Bobby McbrideConnecticut
Jackson FerrignoConnecticut
Craig PihlkarConnecticut

They list Bonvicini but he’s been off UConn roster for a bit. Up till yesterday they still had Zach Donohue listed.

Kevin Ferrer is now on the D1Baseball.com transfer portal listing as well. Oh well, I was hoping he would stick around.

 
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Kevin Ferrer is now on the D1Baseball.com transfer portal listing as well. Oh well, I was hoping he would stick around.

Wow, a little upset that he’s thinking of taking his talents elsewhere considering he’s always had pop in that bat. Was imagining him being a potential starting outfielder or DH but injuries have hampered him significantly. He could be exploring his options and could come back to UConn but you never know. As always, wish him and the other transfers the best.
 
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Wow, a little upset that he’s thinking of taking his talents elsewhere considering he’s always had pop in that bat. Was imagining him being a potential starting outfielder or DH but injuries have hampered him significantly. He could be exploring his options and could come back to UConn but you never know. As always, wish him and the other transfers the best.

Additional thought. Ferrer did graduate from UConn, so that is good. Some speculation here, perhaps he was looking for some scholarship money to stick around Storrs. However, due to the various injuries that have happened with him throughout his UConn career that have kept him from getting a lot of playing time, perhaps he wasn't seen by the coaching staff as a good productive risk for getting such scholarship money.
 
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Latest Transfer Portal Update from D1Basball:

Reginald CrawfordConnecticut
Ramsey CollinsConnecticut
Zach StephensonConnecticut
Brendan O'DonnellConnecticut
Kevin FerrerConnecticut
Christopher BrownConnecticut
Samuel FavieriConnecticut
Mitchell PascarellaConnecticut
Phoenix BillingsConnecticut
Bobby McbrideConnecticut
Jackson FerrignoConnecticut
Craig PihlkarConnecticut
Matthew BonviciniConnecticut

Getting crowded.
 
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Latest Transfer Portal Update from D1Basball:

Reginald CrawfordConnecticut
Ramsey CollinsConnecticut
Zach StephensonConnecticut
Brendan O'DonnellConnecticut
Kevin FerrerConnecticut
Christopher BrownConnecticut
Samuel FavieriConnecticut
Mitchell PascarellaConnecticut
Phoenix BillingsConnecticut
Bobby McbrideConnecticut
Jackson FerrignoConnecticut
Craig PihlkarConnecticut
Matthew BonviciniConnecticut

Getting crowded.
Sad to see O’Donnell in there
 
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Latest Transfer Portal Update from D1Basball:

Reginald CrawfordConnecticut
Ramsey CollinsConnecticut
Zach StephensonConnecticut
Brendan O'DonnellConnecticut
Kevin FerrerConnecticut
Christopher BrownConnecticut
Samuel FavieriConnecticut
Mitchell PascarellaConnecticut
Phoenix BillingsSonnConnecticut
Bobby McbrideConnecticut
Jackson FerrignoConnecticut
Craig PihlkarConnecticut
Matthew BonviciniConnecticut

Getting crowded.
Anyone surprised by Brendan O'Donnell entering the portal? He had meaningful opportunities at high leverage moments in their NCAAT run and was a regular out of the pen.
 
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O'Donnell certainly a surprise to me, but with the new transfer rules and such, the transfer portal is going to have a lot of entries, and for for many teams, not just UConn. It's turning into the new reality, that's for sure. Also think it is possible that some players may enter the portal as a way of keeping their options open, but not actually leave their current school. Whatever the case, we'll see what happens.
 
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The thing about the portal (I believe) is that there are no guarantees you will be welcomed back. Or that your a scholarship (if you had one in baseball) will still be guaranteed.

You had better be good at communicating with your coach and have a high trust level both ways.

For example, if Piath from the wbb team wanted to return (she is still in the portal) is there a spot for her?
 
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The thing about the portal (I believe) is that there are no guarantees you will be welcomed back. Or that your a scholarship (if you had one in baseball) will still be guaranteed.

You had better be good at communicating with your coach and have a high trust level both ways.

For example, if Piath from the wbb team wanted to return (she is still in the portal) is there a spot for her?

I agree with the above. However, while in basketball and football most players are on full scholarship, while I expect many (obviously, not all) of the baseball players in the transfer portal are getting nothing or very little scholarship money.

I noted this previously. Todd Petersen was in the transfer portal last summer, but he was back with UConn baseball for fall ball. He did disappear from the UConn baseball roster after fall ball, and was not on the spring roster. But based on this, have to think there is a possibility of players having a chance to come back to their previous team.
 

hardcorehusky

Lost patience with the garden variety UConn fan
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In college baseball with the scholarship situation, you never know how that plays into decisions. Sometimes kids need new starts, sometimes the need more scholarship money, sometimes the coach says we are moving on from you. The only one off is Reggie, who I think is using scholarship and NIL as a bargaining tool for the draft.
 
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I believe the deadline to enter the transfer portal is July 1 so I would be hard pressed to see many more UConn guys enter the portal. A note about O’Donnell, I was a big fan of his throughout the year with his high energy and intensity, I think may return but it’s no secret he has to improve against righty hitters. Gonna be a lot of opportunities for these incoming freshman that’s for sure
 
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Kevin Ferrer is now on the D1Baseball.com transfer portal listing as well. Oh well, I was hoping he would stick around.
He could be exploring his options and could come back to UConn but you never know.
Additional thought. Ferrer did graduate from UConn, so that is good. Some speculation here, perhaps he was looking for some scholarship money to stick around Storrs.

Just posted an article in the 2022 Summer Ball thread - there is mutual interest in Kevin Ferrer coming back to the Huskies - it appears the transfer portal entry is a hedge against grad school acceptance.
 
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With the July 1 deadline past (and assuming any two business day post holiday paperwork entry has been taken care) - the list as is per D1Baseball Tracker:

Brendan O'DonnellConnecticutHouston
Reginald CrawfordConnecticut
Ramsey CollinsConnecticut
Zach StephensonConnecticut
Kevin FerrerConnecticut
Christopher BrownConnecticut
Samuel FavieriConnecticut
Mitchell PascarellaConnecticut
Phoenix BillingsConnecticut
Bobby McbrideConnecticut
Jackson FerrignoConnecticut
Craig PihlkarConnecticut
Matthew BonviciniConnecticut
 
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Reggie is in the portal simply because of NIL. If he doesn't get his asking price in the draft, he will go to an SEC school (believe he was at Tennessee this weekend and LSU today) and not only make a ton off an NIL, but improve his draft stock if he does well against better competition than the BIG EAST has to offer. He has no ill will toward UConn or the coaching staff. This is simply a case of him trying to capitalize on his potential, and sadly, he has outgrown UConn (simply because of the competition - or lack thereof).

If UConn is left out in this new round of realignment, it will be a dagger to the baseball team. Guys like Reggie simply won't stick around for two years, as good as a coach as Penders is. The BIG EAST is great for our basketball brand, but it is horrendus for sports like baseball. You can't have a three horse race in an eight team conference year-after-year and expect top talent to stick around.

Even a watered down ACC with schools like NC State, VaTech, L'ville, Pitt and BC is better than what we currently compete against. And no, the answer wasn't to stay in the AAC. That dumpster fire will keep getting bigger year and year.
 
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Reggie is in the portal simply because of NIL. If he doesn't get his asking price in the draft, he will go to an SEC school (believe he was at Tennessee this weekend and LSU today) and not only make a ton off an NIL, but improve his draft stock if he does well against better competition than the BIG EAST has to offer. He has no ill will toward UConn or the coaching staff. This is simply a case of him trying to capitalize on his potential, and sadly, he has outgrown UConn (simply because of the competition - or lack thereof).

If UConn is left out in this new round of realignment, it will be a dagger to the baseball team. Guys like Reggie simply won't stick around for two years, as good as a coach as Penders is. The BIG EAST is great for our basketball brand, but it is horrendus for sports like baseball. You can't have a three horse race in an eight team conference year-after-year and expect top talent to stick around.

Even a watered down ACC with schools like NC State, VaTech, L'ville, Pitt and BC is better than what we currently compete against. And no, the answer wasn't to stay in the AAC. That dumpster fire will keep getting bigger year and year.
I was saying this during the CWS it almost makes sense for the BE and B10 to create some sort of scheduling alliance purely for baseball to better compete with the SEC/Pac 12/ACC. The difficult thing is that other than UConn, BE baseball stinks comparatively (I know it was a down year for all teams but us mostly) so there really isn't any appeal for the B10 to help out per say, but the B10 is essentially a 2-3 bid league which isn't great for them. Last NCAA tournament appearance for each BE school:

-UConn: 2022
-Creighton: 2019
-St. John's: 2018
-Xavier: 2017
-Seton Hall: 2011
-Butler: 2000
-Nova: 1991
-Gtown: Never

BE being a one bid league is tough -- fortunately we've been able to win the BE tourney the last two years, but it's scary to have a CWS-level program but miss out on the tournament completely simply if we falter in the BE tourney. If we were a 3 seed this year with the auto bid, what would have most likely been out of the NCAAs all together without it.

Would love a Hockey East approach with baseball to capitalize on talent with the BE and some other Northeast teams and/or the B10. I'd even consider the A10 or even the American (I laugh and cry at the same time) who are essentially a one-bid league as well now and going in the wrong direction with their departures.
 
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Isn’t the answer to schedule as many top programs out of conference as possible?
I wonder how difficult it is to do and how far in advance teams schedule baseball series
 
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Isn’t the answer to schedule as many top programs out of conference as possible?
I wonder how difficult it is to do and how far in advance teams schedule baseball series
This is the answer, but the problem is when you schedule teams you have no indication on how good they actually are/will be. For example this year, we scheduled USC who were ranked when we played them early on. They ended up last in the Pac-12. I think this season's OCC schedule was plagued by similar examples (played teams that even were NCAAT teams the year before and had down years).
 
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Isn’t the answer to schedule as many top programs out of conference as possible?
I wonder how difficult it is to do and how far in advance teams schedule baseball series
That's a solution but it's very tough. If you look through posts on this board at this time last year you'd see mention of a strong OOC schedule. We had a bunch of historically good teams on their who had down years. It's also compounded by the lack of good midweek options in the northeast. There's a handful of good teams but the majority are RPI killers
 
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Folks were down on the AAC because of the travel. But if UConn is going to have a strong OOC schedule in baseball, we will have to travel extensively.
 
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I was saying this during the CWS it almost makes sense for the BE and B10 to create some sort of scheduling alliance purely for baseball to better compete with the SEC/Pac 12/ACC. The difficult thing is that other than UConn, BE baseball stinks comparatively (I know it was a down year for all teams but us mostly) so there really isn't any appeal for the B10 to help out per say, but the B10 is essentially a 2-3 bid league which isn't great for them. Last NCAA tournament appearance for each BE school:

-UConn: 2022
-Creighton: 2019
-St. John's: 2018
-Xavier: 2017
-Seton Hall: 2011
-Butler: 2000
-Nova: 1991
-Gtown: Never

BE being a one bid league is tough -- fortunately we've been able to win the BE tourney the last two years, but it's scary to have a CWS-level program but miss out on the tournament completely simply if we falter in the BE tourney. If we were a 3 seed this year with the auto bid, what would have most likely been out of the NCAAs all together without it.

Would love a Hockey East approach with baseball to capitalize on talent with the BE and some other Northeast teams and/or the B10. I'd even consider the A10 or even the American (I laugh and cry at the same time) who are essentially a one-bid league as well now and going in the wrong direction with their departures.
This is well said and well put. My biggest fear too. We won .697% of our regular season games and we wouldn't have made the Tournament if we didn't win the BET!

The problem with a BE/BIG Ten partnership is the BIG Ten doesn't want it. It's why UConn doesn't play Rutgers or Maryland in the regular season. Those teams are content with the weekday matchups being a guranteed W. Plus, they don't want it for recuriting purposes. In a hypotethical scenario, if UConn and Maryland were both in the BIG Ten, then Savacool, Shliger, Losrusso and Zmarkzlak are probably taking the field against Maryland in the Regional rather than for the Terps.
 
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Folks were down on the AAC because of the travel. But if UConn is going to have a strong OOC schedule in baseball, we will have to travel extensively.
So true. Especially if we stay in the BE.
 

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