Ben Jordan
- Thread starter RogerIndy
- Start date
I believe baseball practices started on Friday. Jordan was still with the basketball team on Saturday.
I have heard that he may be sticking with basketball through the end of their season, but won't get that confirmed until we start the actual baseball season I guess.
As far as I know, he still planning to stick with basketball till the end. Ben and I are both from Olive Hill, I know him and his family well.
Thanks. That is my understanding as well, but I have no inside tract to really be certain. Can't say I blame him.
Drewuk & CB3...is Jordan not on a baseball scholarship? If so, how can he not go back to baseball team now?
I imagine that he is. Still, he got permission from Mingione to do the basketball thing and I have to imagine that Ming at least knew this was a possibility. Also, it might not be so much of a scholarship that Ben is afraid of losing it. It might only be the minimum 25 percent. If that is the case, it is possible Ben's family isn't worried about covering the instate tuition.
So, really, the question is why he let him do it to begin with. In some ways it makes me think that Mingione did not anticipate Jordan being a major factor in our bullpen. If he was going to be a major factor or a weekend starter then I don't think Mingione nor Ben would have wanted to go play basketball. Instead, they focus would have been on baseball and preparing for a major role. Since it happened, I tend to believe that Jordan was still only going to play a more minor role. Of course, this is just a guess. For all I know, Ben could have been penciled in as our Friday starter and he just decided this would be fun and couldn't pass up on the opportunity as a Kentuckian to play for UK basketball.
He probably decided to not hurry back to play for a team that may only win 15 games total. Instead, heopted to play for a team that has already won 15.
This hurts. It may be true, but it hurts. lol
I sure hope I am wrong! I love this program as much as anyone....but I just do not see many winnable games on that schedule.
I agree, I hope I am wrong as well, but I just don't see any big time superstars waiting in the wings to take weekend spots and to give us a chance. So, that means our offense has to be outstanding in order to win games. It wasn't last year, and I don't have a ton of hope that it is going to suddenly burst open.
I really disliked Henderson, but for all his faults, he always had at least one stud weekend pitcher. You can go through the years he was here and we always had at least one guy (Thompson, Reed, Meyer, Cooper, Hjelle, etc.) The list goes on. We didn't always have the best bullpens, but we at least seemed to have starters that were highly competitive. This year... I think that streak may end and we then have to really be worried about the future of the program and the recruiting.
Of course, we have a new pitching coach, so we will see what effect that has. I have heard good things.
I can't remember where I heard this but I thought that part of the deal with Mingione was that Ben went on Basketball scholarship?
This was win/win. Basketball gets the big athletic practice body.
Baseball gets Ben's full ride back to bolster what they can commit to other players.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
This was win/win. Basketball gets the big athletic practice body.
Baseball gets Ben's full ride back to bolster what they can commit to other players.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
No clue, but it is certainly possible. There is a rule of some sort that, essentially, states if you are on scholarship for a minor sport then you cannot play the major sport. So, the point of that is to keep football teams or basketball teams from using say the tennis team's scholarships to get more scholarship players then they are allowed. So, it may very well have been that Ben had to use a basketball scholarship rather than a baseball one.
From KSR: https://kentuckysportsradio.com/main/takeaways-from-baseball-media-day-2020/
The biggest story with the baseball team this winter was pitcher Ben Jordan walking-on with the basketball team. Mingione made it clear that Jordan will finish the season on the hardwood before joining the baseball team this spring. “He’s throwing bullpens with us once a week,” Mingione said. “Just to see his body, how changed he is, and to be around a hall of fame coach and coaching staff, it’s made Ben better.”
Why this is important: Jordan will return in (hopefully) early April. He will return as a reliever and give Mingione a talented piece out of the bullpen.
Why this is important: Jordan will return in (hopefully) early April. He will return as a reliever and give Mingione a talented piece out of the bullpen.
The negativity of this board about Ming sounds like the football board in year two and three of coach Stoops. Building a SEC contender takes time at places where they have never won a SEC championship.
I can fully admit when I am wrong, and I was wrong about Stoops. However, there is a difference between Ming and Stoops and that is that Mingione basically had a made team in 2018 and he flopped horribly. An indication of that is that he had the most MLB draft picks of any team that year. Despite all that talent UK finished 13-17 in conference and 34-22 overall and failed to make the NCAA tournament.
That season made me lose a whole lot of faith in him.
This is now year 4. We will see if he turns things around, but things are pretty scary at this point. I would love nothing more than for him to turn it around, and I will be tuning in on Friday and waiting anxiously to see how this team will do, just as I will be doing with every single game.
Kentucky is working with 3 top 15 recruiting classes. So, there should be the talent there to compete and not finish last in the SEC East as predicted.
Big difference in what each coach inherited . Fans have every right to be upset with this staff. Last year was pathetic! There can be no more excuses.
Looks to be a real bad hire - that cornball personality is ok if you win - can’t recruit or evaluate talent. Same issues with poor pitching - errors galore - no hitting = loses
We all thought Hendo was a bad coach, but he brought in a lot of talent and Mingione can't seem to do either...watched a little of U6 game yesterday and just imagined what the atmosphere would be like at KPP if we had a team that good.
The main difference between UK and UofL is pitching. Hands down. You look at the staff Louisville has had recently. They don’t fall off. You go from McKay to Detmer, who I actually think may be a better pure pitcher than McKay was, and the rest of that staff is one of the best in the country. When was the last time you felt confident in the entire UK staff? 2017? But those were Henderson’s guys and I think Kentucky caught lighting in a bottle that year. I have zero optimism when it comes to the pitching staff that Kentucky has.
Their pitching is not up to par. Agree. I also know they’ve lost some guys to the draft that they didn’t expect to lose and they’ve had a couple arms get injured. The new pitching Coach, Roszel is one of the best in the country. Look at his staffs at East Carolina. He’s old school in his approach and I think will pay huge dividends. Especially next year. I disagree with some of you guys on Mingione. I think he’s a great Coach and perfectly aligned with what Mitch wants in terms of values. I was disappointed in last season as well. I think many of the factors were beyond Mingiones control. He’ll improve this year somewhat and make great improvements next year. Let’s show up next weekend and support this program!!
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