📡 Without lottery, Alabama and Auburn baseball futures are bleak

[By Justin Graves Sports]

College baseball and bragging rights.

These days, in Alabama, there just is not a whole lot to brag about.

Alabama is experiencing a coaching transition after the mediocrity that was the Mitch Gaspard era.

Auburn is a little further along in its coaching transition, with Butch Thompson preparing for his second season as he attempts to repair the comedy of missteps taken by predecessor Sunny Golloway.

And as College World Series games air on television, the state’s SEC fans wonder when Alabama or Auburn will ever be good enough to compete on the national stage.

Here’s the cold, harsh truth:

Probably not soon.

It’s not a talent issue.

During the past few years, the high school baseball talent has been at a high level, and the current class of rising high school seniors is one of the deepest classes the state has produced in decades.

Several of the top recruits in that class are headed to state schools, too. Cullman’s Owen Lovell and Brewer’s Dakota Bennett are Alabama commitments. Decatur’s Tanner Burns and Cullman’s Carter Bowen are headed to Auburn.

Those signing classes will help, but there still is a bigger issue.

When it comes to filling rosters, the state’s major Division I baseball programs are at a significant disadvantage.

Let’s call it the Lottery Letdown.

According to NCAA rules, Division I baseball programs are allotted just 11.7 scholarships to divide among 35 players. This means coaches have to be creative when extending athletic scholarship offers to prospects.

Top-tier prospects may receive an athletic scholarship that covers 80 percent of a player’s tuition, while others may receive 20 percent, or then again, just enough to cover books.

And when the scholarship money runs out, the rest of the roster is filled with walk-ons.

But teams located where there is a state lottery have a solution to this issue. Because lottery money is used to provide financial aid to college students, teams located in lottery states use that money to help in-state players cover their costs, saving much of the 11.7 athletic scholarships for out-of-state prospects.

How big of an advantage does this create?

Just look at this year’s College World Series.

The six public schools in the eight-team field come from lottery states. The other two teams are private schools that can be a little more creative with how they apply academic scholarships.

This is not a new trend, either.

Programs from lottery states have dominated college baseball’s national stage. Meanwhile, Alabama's and Auburn’s baseball programs have significantly declined during the past decade, struggling to qualify for the SEC tournament, much less make postseason appearances.

Currently, there only are six states that do not have a lottery: Alabama, Mississippi, Utah, Nevada, Hawaii and Alaska.

Until Alabama adds a lottery, don’t expect the state’s Division I baseball programs to climb the national hierarchy and become College World Series contenders.

It doesn’t matter who is coaching Alabama and Auburn’s programs, or how well they recruit within the state. Until a lottery is added, or the NCAA changes it scholarship limitations, the system is not in their favor.

When you can’t recruit regionally, much less nationally, becoming a national power in big-time college sports is not possible


Decatur Daily—Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

The six public schools in the eight-team field come from lottery states. The other two teams are private schools that can be a little more creative with how they apply academic scholarships.

:smh:

 

[OldPlayer]

If the argument is to use lottery money to boost athletic scholarship distribution, it's failed. Those who fight the lottery due to their "higher moral character" won't want lottery money for athletic scholarships. They will argue that it would be better served to develop communities, improve highways, support social programs, etc. If anybody promotes the lottery to improve athletic scholarship distribution, it will never be passed.

 

[TUSKtimes]

If the argument is to use lottery money to boost athletic scholarship distribution, it's failed. Those who fight the lottery due to their "higher moral character" won't want lottery money for athletic scholarships. They will argue that it would be better served to develop communities, improve highways, support social programs, etc. If anybody promotes the lottery to improve athletic scholarship distribution, it will never be passed.

The narrative has always been that alumni are far more generous to academic and other "lesser" athletic programs when their football program is winning. Given the SEC contract that generates millions more these days, is this a lot more about how the university chooses to distribute the wealth?

As great as Florida's All-Around sports trophy looks annually, their football complex is lagging behind at a time when the western side of the conference looks like a nuclear explosion.

 

[UAgrad93]

If the argument is to use lottery money to boost athletic scholarship distribution, it's failed. Those who fight the lottery due to their "higher moral character" won't want lottery money for athletic scholarships. They will argue that it would be better served to develop communities, improve highways, support social programs, etc. If anybody promotes the lottery to improve athletic scholarship distribution, it will never be passed.

The lottery is set up in those states to give all in state kids a chance to go to college. It isn't designed for athletic scholarships, baseball just has to make the best with what resources they have at their disposal. If the coach is smart, evidently those coaches were smart enough, offer the best in state kids these lottery funded scholarships and use the 11.7 to go recruit nationally. The NCAA doesn't help with their 11.7 number. Most other sports are a "head count" scholarship number.

 

[OldPlayer]

The lottery is set up in those states to give all in state kids a chance to go to college. It isn't designed for athletic scholarships, baseball just has to make the best with what resources they have at their disposal. If the coach is smart, evidently those coaches were smart enough, offer the best in state kids these lottery funded scholarships and use the 11.7 to go recruit nationally. The NCAA doesn't help with their 11.7 number. Most other sports are a "head count" scholarship number.

Here in Georgia, the lottery funds the Hope Scholarship. The original intent was to help kids go to school. Prior to the lottery, almost anybody could get into UGA. Now with the Hope, more students have a way to go to college and there is a battle to be accepted into UGA. Students now need to be near the top of their class (more students applying means the seeks to award admittance to the "best" in academics). The result of this is that many will go to another state school (GA Southern, GCSU, Valdosta) for a year and then transfer into UGA.

The lottery scholarships are not controlled by any coach or team and they cannot request a number of scholarships to be applied to athletes. If the athlete is first admitted to the school and then meets the Hope requirements, they get it. If their GPA falls below a certain level (I think 3.0), they lose it.

 

[bradenob]

Here in Georgia, the lottery funds the Hope Scholarship. The original intent was to help kids go to school. Prior to the lottery, almost anybody could get into UGA. Now with the Hope, more students have a way to go to college and there is a battle to be accepted into UGA. Students now need to be near the top of their class (more students applying means the seeks to award admittance to the "best" in academics). The result of this is that many will go to another state school (GA Southern, GCSU, Valdosta) for a year and then transfer into UGA.

The lottery scholarships are not controlled by any coach or team and they cannot request a number of scholarships to be applied to athletes. If the athlete is first admitted to the school and then meets the Hope requirements, they get it. If their GPA falls below a certain level (I think 3.0), they lose it.

Are you guys missing something? In Georgia, for instance, it's not that there are 'lottery scholarships' in and of themselves. The point of the article is that, in lottery states in general, TUITION is FREE. That's one of the biggest selling points to getting the lottery passed. And tuition is the largest part of college cost each semester. If tuition is waived and the kids' parents have a bit of money, one 'scholarship' from the 11.7 might have to be only enough to cover room and board. IF a total scholarship is, say, worth $10,000 at both Alabama and Georgia for a semester (room, board, books, tuition) and $5100 is for tuition, the in-state player in GA only needs $4900 more. So if the kid has been on a travel ball team, guess what - his parents have some money. The kid is given a 'scholarship' of $3000, and his parents foot the $1900 balance, making college very affordable. At Alabama, that same $3000 'scholarship' means the parents have to come up with $7000 a semester!!! So one scholarship at Georgia can help at least 3 kids pretty well, and then the coach can use $8000 of another [$10,000] scholarship to get that same Alabama kid. Why? The kid will pay $6000 a semester to play for GA, even with out of state tuition, in that scenario. Because that allows Georgia to recruit better, they have a better team, and the decreased cost ($6,000 vs $7,000 a semester), combined with the better team, makes it very tempting to go to UGA over UA. And even then, UGA didn't dole out a 'whole' scholarship - $2000 can be put toward recruiting still another kid!

 

[OldPlayer]

Are you guys missing something? In Georgia, for instance, it's not that there are 'lottery scholarships' in and of themselves. The point of the article is that, in lottery states in general, TUITION is FREE. That's one of the biggest selling points to getting the lottery passed. And tuition is the largest part of college cost each semester. If tuition is waived and the kids' parents have a bit of money, one 'scholarship' from the 11.7 might have to be only enough to cover room and board. IF a total scholarship is, say, worth $10,000 at both Alabama and Georgia for a semester (room, board, books, tuition) and $5100 is for tuition, the in-state player in GA only needs $4900 more. So if the kid has been on a travel ball team, guess what - his parents have some money. The kid is given a 'scholarship' of $3000, and his parents foot the $1900 balance, making college very affordable. At Alabama, that same $3000 'scholarship' means the parents have to come up with $7000 a semester!!! So one scholarship at Georgia can help at least 3 kids pretty well, and then the coach can use $8000 of another [$10,000] scholarship to get that same Alabama kid. Why? The kid will pay $6000 a semester to play for GA, even with out of state tuition, in that scenario. Because that allows Georgia to recruit better, they have a better team, and the decreased cost ($6,000 vs $7,000 a semester), combined with the better team, makes it very tempting to go to UGA over UA. And even then, UGA didn't dole out a 'whole' scholarship - $2000 can be put toward recruiting still another kid!

I looked it up and a student can get a max of $3,495 per semester to go to UGA from the Hope.
https://apps.gsfc.org/Main/publishing/pdf/common/FY2017 Award Charts Combined.pdf

The in-state tuition and fees is approximately $11,600 (total tuition, room and board, books, etc exceeds $25k). While lottery sponsored scholarships sound appealing, they only cover a small portion of the costs. Georgia would generate much more in lottery sales than Alabama since the population is much bigger. So funding scholarships for attendance at any Alabama state school would probably have similar limits.

Hope Scholarship requirements: GAcollege411 - Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program Overview

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I looked it up and a student can get a max of $3,495 per semester to go to UGA from the Hope.
https://apps.gsfc.org/Main/publishing/pdf/common/FY2017 Award Charts Combined.pdf

The in-state tuition and fees is approximately $11,600 (total tuition, room and board, books, etc exceeds $25k). While lottery sponsored scholarships sound appealing, they only cover a small portion of the costs. Georgia would generate much more in lottery sales than Alabama since the population is much bigger. So funding scholarships for attendance at any Alabama state school would probably have similar limits.

Hope Scholarship requirements: GAcollege411 - Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program Overview

A lottery isn't a complete bonanza for all states. If a state uses lottery funds to replace a portion of its education budget (like Florida did years ago), the money gets frittered away. I will say that Georgia benefits from Alabama residents buying lottery tickets in Georgia. Georgia receipts would decline marginally should Alabama join the ranks of lottery states.

@TerryP , you mentioned a bit earlier in this thread that folks waiting in line were just jealous of the winners, not because they were inconvenienced. I never know if someone is buying or cashing in when I'm behind them, or if they're having to lead the cashier on an odyssey to find their favorite cigarette brand/length/hard-soft pack/etc. - I just want out of that store. I've never bought a lottery ticket other than the two big games and that's always quick pick, so I'm not familiar with the other games or the scratch-offs.

RTR,

Tim

 

[psychojoe]

I just don't see a connect the dots way that a state lottery provides such a bonanza for baseball. By NCAA rule any scholarships or other benefits must be available to all students, not just athletes, else it counts against the allocation for the sport. All the lottery scholarships that I know about have an academic requirement both to earn and to keep it, so we can't just go out and sign up the next Shoeless Joe Jackson if he is an academic zero. If you look at the lotteries of Tennessee and Georgia, there isn't much correlation at all between their lotteries and baseball success.

The best thing that I saw in the posts above about the lottery is the post which stated that the Hope scholarship made college n option for kids who could not otherwise afford it, and it has made it more difficult to get into UGA. Sounds like that is working as intended.

 

[OldPlayer]

Guess what?

BREAKING: Governor Robert Bentley proposes statewide lottery

 

[TheChief]

States With Lottery Have Bleak Football Future

Let's face it. If you have the lottery in your state, chances are football titles will be few and far between. Five of the last seven titles have been won by teams without a lottery in their state.

Sure, maybe you can play for a title in one of the lesser sports (and if it's not football, it IS a lesser sport). But football? Fuggetaboutit.

Jim Beam, a guy I bumped into outside the local package store in Birmingham, says to expect this trend to continue. "Ain't nobody gonna beat 'em, not now not ever," he slurred. "I mean, it's boring in the spring, at least until the spring game. But if I gotta choose between football and one of them other sports, it's football. All day man."

There you have it. The stats don't lie. You can bet on it. At least I think you can.

 

[OldPlayer]

You mean 5 of the last 7 teams were from a single state that didn't have a lottery - Alabama. With UA in the equation, I think the results are biased and therefore not valid.
:bamadance:

 

[TheChief]

I told myself I wouldn't do it. I told myself I wouldn't care about Bama baseball anymore. I told myself I wouldn't even reply any more. Yet, here I am.

Alabama had Gaspard and we're blaming the lottery for losing. smh