Through Recruiting
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SEPTEMBER 2. 2011 SPORTS B7 FOOTBALL OPINION Rollins stands out INJURIES TAKE TOLL ON MLB AND NCAA ARMS through recruiting Green \'\'ave has helped me a bunch in re- cruiting. I'm a guy who they assistant holds a trust and they know will take crucial role for the care of their guys:· football program Recruiting at New Orleans area schools often pits Roll- By RYAN JONES ms against top BCS-quality SENIOR STAFF WRITER teams, battles he openly ad- mits Tulane often loses. Rol- lins, however, relishes in the It's not Ja on Rollins fault opportunity, saying that Tu- that he's more popular among lane can be an attractive op- Green \Vave fans for his re- tion for even the top recruits. cruiting ability rather than "Not only are you in prob- his coaching ability. Enter- ably the most unique c!ty ing his fourth year at Tulane, in the world, you get an Ivy the defensive backs coach League education and also oversaw a secondarv that led have the comforts of home;' Conference USA an'd ranked Rollins said. 28th in the nation in pass- "And a whole bunch of jng defense last season. ln other things to go with it. It's fact, Tulane has ranked To. the city along with the uni- l in conference passing de- versity. It's just a hand-in- fense every year under Roll- glove fit for a lot of guys:· in' watch. He isn't crossing anyone The succe s Rollins has ex- off of his list just because they perienced off the field, how- have offers from a Southeast- ever, has just been too tough ern Conference team. COURTESY OF 1CT CA !PUS to ignore. After contributing "We recruit them all be- Fonner Cubs pitcher Mari< Prior pitches in a July 2006 game, his last significant MLB action due to multiple injuries and surgeries. heavily to a 2011 recruiting cause I don't want to lim- dass with 11 Louisiana na- it ourselves; Rollins said. pecially on those cool Octo- and pulling them from their third inning and no further. tives, the Tew Orleans re- "(Take freshman defensive By MAX RESNIK ber nights. However, what starts after only several in- Need more be said? cruiting head ha helped col- back] Renaldo Thomas. He ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR makes this difficult is know- nings. 1he mental reper- Right here on campus lect nine 2012 Green Wave had LSU, Tennessee and Ar- ing which rookie phenoms cussions aside, Chamber- last year, Green Wave fans football commits, impressive kansas offers, but there was a In the early 2000s, Mark will become the Roy Halla- lain had looked like a prom- were subject to the hype of results deep in SEC recruit- connection there that made Prior was as exciting as any davs and Tim Linceucms, inent reliever before get- Robby Broach, Conrad Fly- him want to choose us. So we ing territory. young pitcher, with an elec- and which will be Mark Pri- ting injured this season, and nn and Randy LeBlanc as The secret to Rollins' ef- may not get them all, but if tric repertoire of fastballs or. And in recent seasons, Hughes managed 18 wins top-notch pitchers, and yet iectivene is simple· in state we get one or two, you keep and breaking balls. There managers and general man- last season. Other than that, just Flynn managed to stay relationships coupled with doing it . and pretty soon, was, however, something agers alike have tried to pro- they have not lived up to ex- healthy through the entire "'hat he calls "the easie t sell you're going to have 15 or not quite fluid in his throw- tect their young arms with pectations or managed to season, with LeBlanc suc- in the world." "[I have] rela 20 on your team. If you don't ing motion. It couldn't nec- pitch counts. innings limits stav on the field despite all cumbing to Tommy John tionships in the city relation- shoot at them, then you won't essarily be seen by the ca- and shutting pitchers down the" attempts made to pro- Surgery-an arm surgery ship in the state of Louisi- have a chance at all. All they . ,, sual baseball observer, but before the season even tect their arms. with a lengthy recovery ana," Rollins said. "I've lived can say is no. can explain why he hasn't comes lo a close. Previouslv known as an time. LeBlanc could go on Freshman Wave running in Louisiana for 26 years of appeared in a Major League As a Yankees fan, I have offensive ｪ ｾ ｧ ｧ ･ ｲ ｮ ｡ ｵ ｴ that to ｦ ｬ ｯ ｵ ｲ ｩ ｾ ｨ here and in the my life. I went to school in back Robert Kelley, who game since August of 2006. v.itnessed two pitchers, could not pitch. Well, when Major Leagues one day, just Louisiana at McNeese. Be- starred at local high school Ever since it has been pulls, still in their early twenties, all-time strikeout king No- as many pitchers have been ing that it's such a small.state, O.P. Walker, is another re- strains, surgeries and a prove that those steps tak- lan Ryan (himself a Hall of able to do following their you pretty much know ev- cruiting success story. Kel- touch of bad luck that has en to prevent injuries have Fame pitcher with seven no- recoveries. erybody, whether you went ley was torn between Big prevented Prior from living failed-failed miserably. hitters) took over the reins Injuries are a part of the to school or coached with Ten school Minnesota and up to the potential he once Joba Chamberlain, who has as team president, he imple- game, especially with the them." Tulane, not completely sure embodied. bounced back and forth oe- mented policies that have physiologically-unnatu- His relationships are what where he would commit un- Pitching wins champi- tween starter and reJie\·- \'ielded tremendous results ral motion of throwing a l-@ve turned local schools til sigmng day. Ultimately, onships, as the saying goes. er since his triple digit fa t- in a small amount of time, baseball. Anybody who has such as St. Augustine into re- Rollins' connection made the This has been exemplified balls excited Yankees fans exemplified with last sea- pitched in little league base- cruit pipelines for the Green difference. tremendously over the past four years ago, has never son·s American League pen- ball has heard from one Wave. Tulane'.s 2010 recruit- "He treats you not like a decade, starting with Ran- found consistent success in nant. The philosophy? Sim- source or another "don't rng cla s included three Pur- friend but a mentor," Kelley dy Johnson and ·curt Schil- any role and is currently re- ple: Let pitchers throw. Don"t throw curveballs; and there ple Knights, and this year's said. "He'll tell you the truth. ling dominating the Yankees covering from Tommy John baby them. Exceptions are certainlv is a correlation be- dass alreadv has one com- He won't try to sell you on in the 2001 World Series, sure to exist. but through- tween ignoring those warn- ｦ ｲ ｾ ｭ Surgery. mitment St. Aug wide some other stuff that's not through the San Francisco Phil Hughes was sup- out the Rangers' organiza- ings and future injury. just receiver Lorenzo Doss. going to happen when you Giants taking the crown last posed to be an ace-type tion, pitchers are taught and as running backs aren"t tak- "[St. Augustine] is a very get here:' year, \\ith the likes of Matt starter, and has been on the trained from a voung age to en out after being tackled disciplined school with great Kelley said that he's hap- Cain and Tim Lincecum Disabled List several times, be able to go o{tt and throw a certain number of times, athletes; Rollins said. "They py about his decision to join defeating the powerhouse including earlier thi · sea- nine innings of baseball on pitchers should not be tak- respect disc.ipline, and they the Green Wave. With the Texas offense. The formu- son with ｾ ｡ ｲ ｭ weakness." any given day. joba Cham- en out of games based on understand the importance continued efforts of Rollins la is simple: the best of hit- Both of these pitchers were berlain's first major league pitch count alone. Let pitch- of education They know me on behalf of Tulane, Kelley's ters can be shut down dur- subject to innings limits as start was defined by a num- ers throw. In the end, ifs a as Jason and not just that story might become more ing any given game by dom- starting pitchers, skipping ber: 60 pitches. And in that game-let those playing it coach from Tulane, which commonplace. inant pitching rotations, es- starts late in the season first start he made it to the have some fun doing so. 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