By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

With the fall signing period over, many of the remaining unsigned seniors are still trying to decide their future college destination. While there may be a few more players sign with Division I programs in the spring, many Division I programs have their recruiting classes set for the Class of 2013. The remaining players in the class of 2013 are focused on marketing their attention to Division II, III, NAIA, and JUCO programs. At the same time, prospects in the Class of 2014 are at the beginning of the recruiting cycle and identifying potential colleges of interest.

Matt Tyner is in his second season as the head baseball coach at Bellarmine University.  Prior to coaching at Bellarmine, Tyner was the associate head coach at Butler University.  He had a decorated playing career, leading the University of Miami to 3 college World Series appearances in his 4 years, and was a 9th round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 1980.  

Recently, he sat down with PBR Kentucky Scouting Director Chris Fuller to talk about his program, the recruiting process at the Division II level, and the difference in the level of play between Division I and Division II programs.  

PBR: As a Division II program, what is your approach to recruiting? What type of player are you looking for?

Coach Tyner:  Please try not to confuse DII as being a step child to DI.  We take a very aggressive approach to our recruiting and we recruit the best baseball players that we believe can help us win.  As a collegiate baseball player I was lucky enough to play in 3 NCAA DI College World Series.  As a coach at any level, DI, DII, or DIII, that will always be my goal-get to the World Series.  To accomplish that goal, myself and my staff will continue to recruit the best possible impact players that we can.  Therefore that player needs to possess some tools and the will to win.  He also needs to be coachable and be able to handle himself in the classroom.  Regardless of the talent level he is at, if he is recruited by me or a member of my staff he will be expected to graduate.   

PBR:  How is the 2013 recruiting class shaping up for the Bellarmine baseball program and what needs are you still looking to fill?

Coach Tyner:  Our early signee’s are off the chart.  We signed the starting catcher for Team Alberta, a power hitting first baseman from Champaign, IL and a middle infielder that has speed, soft hands and hits from the left side.  We had a very good recruiting class last year and we were able to sign quite a few pitchers.  Due to graduation we need to replace some pitching.  We offered a couple impact and power arms this fall but did not get the commitments.  Therefore we will be recruiting through the spring and looking for quality pitching until we find the pitching that we need.  That will bring us to near capacity, but there will always be a couple spots available for good baseball players that might come via our open tryouts in the fall. 

PBR: Obviously, many kids have the desire to play at the Division I level. How do you help them understand the advantages of playing DII baseball at Bellarmine?

Coach Tyner:   First let’s qualify the difference in DI.  There are a certain number of DI programs that are simply put, very good.  Of the 300 or so DI programs that annually play a portion of those programs are elite programs and schools you will see in the NCAA Tournament year in and year out.  If a young man can play for one of those programs then my hat is off to him.  Let’s take a look at the rest of DI, this is where I came from, the middle of the pack to the back of the pack.  During the year when DII’s play DI’s usually the number one, number two, or number three pitcher rarely ever pitches, maybe the closer will get an inning.  But because conference play necessitates that you save them you end up facing each other’s non-weekend guy.  I would love to see the number one pitcher from the University of Southern Indiana, University of Indianapolis, Grand Valley State or Westchester on the hill against the number one from a bottom third RPI ranked DI team.  I believe you would see one heck of a game.  So what I am saying is that in reality, there might not be that much of a difference between the latter half of RPI ranked DI teams verses the top flight DII teams and a recruit needs to understand it from that perspective.

To conclude, if there is a young man that has DI talent but might have to sit for a year or two before he sees the field, or go to a DII school that annually competes in post season I would tell the young man to take the DII opportunity.  There is no substitute for playing time.  So a fringe DI, or DI development player would be wise to explore DII opportunities prior to commitment.  And if their opportunity at a DI is a walk-on opportunity it would be very wise to explore their DII opportunities.

PBR: Before coming to Bellarmine in 2011, you were the associate head coach at Butler University.  What is the biggest difference between Division I and Division II programs?

Coach Tyner:  I will comment based on the teams and schedules that I have been a part of either playing or coaching.  For example, I coached against and watched the Northern Kentucky team play in DII last season, and to me that was a fine DI team. It will be interesting to see how they do in the Atlantic Sun Conference. We all knew they were going to D1 and they had the advantage of recruiting to it, but that team was as tough as they come. Another team that plays at that level year in and year out is Grand Valley State. All they did against us was run 3 starting pitchers that filled the zone up at 88-92mph. Not wanting to hit the “rant” button, but I was very impressed with the overall play of our conference and the outside competition that we faced. DII is good baseball. Just like DI, there is a group of elite teams and after that, things get a little more equalized. We want to be in that elite group and I think it might be a little easier to compete at that level because in DII we all face pretty much the same hurdles.  Whereas getting to that elite level in DI is a very, very difficult task because to me there is not a level playing field when it comes to finances and facilities.  So to me, it comes down to what that recruit understands and where he sees himself playing. At this level it comes down to the player-it’s very pure.  If a player is completely hung up on DI, then we probably are not going to be able to explain that the spread between I and II may not be that big. When and if that happens we have to move on because we want to be a fixture at the DII Series and be mentioned in the same sentence with the teams that I mentioned above.

We’re headed to Texas over our spring break and the coach at Angelo State let me know that the Texas starting SS was transferring in. Abilene Christian is another opponent that we’ll play in Texas and wouldn’t you know it, they’re going to DI next year.  I’ll let you know the state of DII baseball when I return from there. In conclusion, if you think you’re going get drafted simply by going DI, I don’t think that is the case anymore. Scouts are looking for the best 1200 players that they can find and if our stands were any indication they’ll find in you in DII as easy as they do in DI.

PBR: What do you feel sets Bellarmine apart from other Division II programs?

Coach Tyner: The atmosphere of the University.  We are led by a President that is a visionary and that trickles down to our athletic director, staff, and our academic arena.  There is not a status quo at our University.  We won the DII basketball championship and the race to do it in all of our sports is on.  When I met the President he told me not to bring him any hats, t-shirts, jackets or sweat shirts, but he wanted me to know that he was particularly fond of jewelry.  He held up his hand and that huge diamond studded 2011 National Championship Ring won by our basketball team was very prominently displayed.  I believe we began to communicate on the same page right then and there.  At Bellarmine we strive to win in everything we do, but we do not compromise our performance in the classroom to achieve this.  You hear that everywhere you go but we live it here.  Throughout our 21 sports we have +/- 465 athletes competing on an annual basis, and this year I believe we had 4 kids that were in jeopardy of academic probation. 

I have instilled in our coaching staff to look for the complete package.  A young man that can get it done on and off the field because I believe we have a responsibility to the parents and the player to make sure that he graduates and has a good experience on the field. 

PBR: Prep Baseball Report is well established in many nearby states and arrived on the scene in Kentucky a few months ago.  How have you been able to utilize the information that Prep Baseball Report offers to your advantage?

Coach Tyner:   The reputation of PBR is known throughout the Midwest as a very informative and trust worthy service.  We value your ranking system and the ability to use it.  The state of Kentucky is loaded with good baseball players and they will gravitate to your organization.  As we continue to grow this program into a force to be reckoned with, we can’t be everywhere when it comes to recruiting and evaluating talent.  With the inclusion of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, we will have the ability to utilize a recruiting source that we can trust when it comes to their evaluation and ranking system.  PBR gives us that.