Kevin O’Sullivan is the R. Kelly of college baseball coaches.
Like the freakin’-weekend-loving R&B sensation, Florida’s coach does not worry about age when choosing among his stable of talent.
Look at UF’s catcher, shortstop and third baseman. Look at two-thirds of the starting rotation. Look at the DH.
All freshmen.
Playing for a top-5 program, these first-year players have faced essentially the same questions over and over.
Is it possible to have an immediate impact in the Southeastern Conference? What do you think it will be like to play in your first SEC series? How big of a help has (insert upperclassman’s name here) been?
The answers, like the questions, are consistent. “I’m just here to work hard.” “Playing in the SEC is going to be tough.” “The older guys have been incredibly helpful.”
Bull.
Freshmen don’t need that much help. The No. 4 Gators did not have to overcome their youth to win the conference championship this season; they had to embrace it.
Nolan Fontana anchored the team’s defense at shortstop, committing just two errors in 200-plus chances. Hudson Randall led the starters with a 2.99 ERA. And pitcher/designated hitter Brian Johnson did it all, throwing in 13 games and slugging .571.
The concept of a small-town legend adjusting to the big time is dead. Players who come to Florida, a haven for top-10 recruiting classes in every sport, have already competed at the highest levels for their age groups.
Gators home-run leader Austin Maddox played on the USA National Team in high school, traveling to Alberta and Venezuela. Do you think he was intimidated by that trip to Lexington, Ky., in April?
Freshmen tennis players Allie Will and Lauren Embree competed in tournaments in Italy, France and Australia before coming to Florida. Now they’re both ranked in the top-10 in singles competition.
Midfielder Erika Tymrak played in the U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. She adjusted to the SEC easily, finishing her freshman campaign third on the team in points scored while displaying the best touch.
And yet, people are still surprised each time this happens. How are you doing this? This is the SEC!
A paradox exists in college sports. We – fans, coaches, the media – anoint every blue-chip prospect as the team’s savior, until he or she arrives on campus.
Just ask Bob Knight, who compared every newcomer to a young Isiah Thomas, then convinced himself those same recruits couldn’t even dribble a basketball once they became Hoosiers.
But if a player like Maddox is considered the gem of the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, we should be ready for him to lead the team in slugging.
A freshman’s success can also be surprising because the newcomer himself lowers expectations. Players like Maddox are trained by the UF media relations team to feign open-eyed wonder, for good reason.
The truth – that freshmen are recruited to put points on the board immediately – currently comes across as brash.
But if people realized how experienced first-year players really are, the truth would not lead to unfairly negative comparisons to R. Kelly, who in 2007 said:
“I’m the Ali of today. I’m the Marvin Gaye of today. I’m the Bob Marley of today. I’m the Martin Luther King.”
