Cannizaro looks to sell college game to recruits
Cannizaro tries to pitch best case on why players should attend State
Two years in a row saw Mississippi State's baseball program become a heavy influence in the Major League Draft.
Last year, MSU's Southeastern Conference championship team was picked apart by the draft as a school-record 11 players were drafted, and 10 of those players signed, all of which were underclassmen. The only returnee was sophomore Brent Rooker who went from a 38th round pick in 2016 to a first round pick as a junior improving his draft stock exponentially.
While the Bulldogs took their lumps this season as well with the current roster losing two star juniors in Ryan Gridley and Rooker, it was the recruiting class that drew the MLB's attention.
There were 10 players taken out of MSU's 21-player class. Of those 10, six signed pro contracts with four being junior college athletes and two from high school. Four more were drafted but decided to come to school instead.
Junior college players Tyreque Reed, Pearson McMahan, Troy Bacon and Reynaldo Rivera all decided against continuing their college careers next season. Additionally, high schoolers Quentin Holmes and Bryce Hutchinson followed suit.
The good news for the Bulldogs was getting top 100 outfielder Jordan Anderson to school. They also beat the draft with athletes Tanner Allen
and Josh Hatcher as well as Alabama pitcher Chad Bryant who could all help the team next season.
MSU head coach Andy Cannizaro personally got commitments from just three players in this year's class as it was virtually put together when he arrived in the fall. He didn't feel like there were any surprises at the end of the day as they expected most of those players drafted to sign pro contracts.
He understands it is what it is.
“The struggle is dealing with the draft every year,” Cannizaro said last week. “There's no other sport that has to deal with a draft that has to do with incoming players. The frustrating part is you can spend two years to get a commitment and get him to sign and then the June draft roles around and that kid gets over a million dollars and he elects to sign.”
This is Cannizaro's third season on this end of the spectrum. For several years, he was the scout pursuing the talented talent from schools. Now that he needs to keep that talent in school, his approach doesn't change. He continues to sell his product.
In this case, he feels from personal experience that college baseball is once in a lifetime.
“You just can't every stop selling your program,” Cannizaro said. “You can't stop selling Mississippi State University and the benefits of coming to school to earn your degree which will give you a lifetime of earning power. You have to continue to sell the benefits of playing at Mississippi State and in the SEC and using this to prepare yourself
for playing in the big leagues while also wanting to achieve an SEC championship and national title.”
The first-year head coach had plenty of success keeping players on campus and getting them to school in Baton Rouge as an LSU assistant. Now as the head man, he's following the same approach with his current players as he is incoming freshmen and juniors.
Relationship building is his first priority with his players. After that, it's all about preparing them for their professional careers.
“The biggest thing you do is continue to build trust in your players that you have their best interest in mind,” Cannizaro said. “Their ultimate goal is playing in the big leagues but their ultimate goal should not be to be a professional player or to be drafted, it should be that they're ready for professional baseball when they enter the pro game.”
Seeing the return on investment won't happen in year one and might not happen in year two, but Cannizaro feels he will put the talent on the field at Dudy Noble Field.
While eight players that could be playing in maroon and white next season are instead in the midst of their first weeks in the minor leagues, he's preparing his program for the future.
“It takes time,” Cannizaro said. “It takes trust. It takes preaching to those guys every day and allowing them to see that I really do have their best interest in mind. If your goal is to play in the big leagues one day, we still have work to do.
“The draft isn't a once in a lifetime opportunity. The once in a lifetime opportunity is playing here at Mississippi State in front of 10-15,000 people in a brand new ball park.”