Bringing in 21 new players is a definite way to give a team a whole new look.
And that is exactly what the Saint Louis University baseball team will have when they take the field this season.
“Twenty one new players is a high number,” head baseball coach Darin Hendrickson said. “We are in a situation right now where we are trying to rebuild a program that needs to get better athletically, continue to do well academically and improve our depth positionally.”
To put the number of new recruits coming in into perspective, that leaves only nine spots on the roster for returning players. Teams are forced to cap their number of players at 30 total.
Hendrickson said he feels this recruiting class, the first under his reign as head coach, meets the needs that his team had heading into this upcoming season.
“I don’t think we have any holes in our line-up to be honest, but you never know until they get here and start playing,” Hendrickson said. “We have a good group of core players here–veterans who understand what we’re trying to do. Now we surround them with new players.”
The 21 new recruits are, Hendrickson said, the foundation for the future of SLU baseball.
He said it’s always a little bit of an unknown, but this group is much better athletically than what SLU has had in the past.
“They have a much better baseball IQ, and I think they will represent us well in the classroom as well,” he said. “When we recruited this group, we had to get them to buy into what SLU is all about; it’s more than just baseball.”
Hendrickson sees this recruiting class as being able to step in and contribute right away.
“I anticipate several players to play right away, some of them to start and some of them to have some growing pains,” Hendrickson said. “The key is getting them all to play together. We need to get them to bond in the fall. The coaches have to create an environment that says baseball is important so the players can feed off that.”
This recruiting class comes from a very widespread area.
“Get a globe, and they are all over the place,” Hendrickson said. “The bulk of the recruiting class has Midwest ties.”
Hendrickson noted that the Atlantic 10 Conference is a conference in which a team can rebuild in a hurry, and with this recruiting class, the Billikens have a chance to do just that.
The Billikens ended their 2008 season 24-29 overall and 9-17 in the A-10 Conference. It is just the second time since 1996 that the Bills posted at least 24 wins. Last season’s win total is also the most in school history for a first-year head coach.
