2023 Recruiting: TJ Power wants to play baseball and basketball

[UconnU]

 

[bendm]

in before palatine says if we'd stayed in the aac he'd be ours cause it has better baseball than the BE (maybe? idk anything about college baseball). does the baseball season start in/before march? how would that work?

 

[JMick]

when is the last time we had a two sport athlete? that would be pretty cool and we're a great option if Penders and Hurley are both on board.

 

[navery12]

in before palatine says if we'd stayed in the aac he'd be ours cause it has better baseball than the BE (maybe? idk anything about college baseball). does the baseball season start in/before march? how would that work?

AAC does have better baseball. Baseball season typically starts in mid February for college, and for UConn specifically those series are most 3-4 days in the south where it's warmer and the fields aren't covered in snow. Seems like it would be tough to make work

 

[HooperScooper]

I've seen him pitch a few times for St. John's. I don't remember him batting and I think he just pitched at St. John's. He was not a great pitcher. He looks more intimidating than he pitches because of his height. Maybe he got better but as far as I know St. John's didn't play this past spring and my son, who played Legion this past summer and knows every baseball player in the area, says he's pretty sure Power didn't pitch this past summer either. I can see BC taking him for baseball. They took John West in the 2020 class, another 6-8 kid from Shrewsbury who pitched and was a basketball player, who is a similar type pitcher but better. D1 schools will take a chance on a 6-8 pitcher thinking they can work with that kind of height to increase their velocity.

I don't even understand the basketball hype either. I've seen him play at least 5 times and he didn't impress me. Kids who played against him say he's soft and I saw that first hand last winter. But what do I know? I'll be very interested to see what he does in college. He is repeating his sophomore year so he has another 3 years to get stronger and improve.

 

[huskymedic]

Seems like it would be tough to make work

It would require concessions by both coaches. Football/Baseball is more common.

Back when... Dave Winfield and Kenny Lofton both played college basketball & college baseball.

There's more and more interest in Power

SHREWSBURY — There’s been a massive surge in interest in T.J. Power since the start of the summer....

www.telegram.com

 

[Fatroony5]

Gotta be tough to do both. Interestingly he mentioned Iowa who currently has a player that plays both basketball and baseball. Conor McCaffery, coach Frans son, plays both sports. Really good two sport athlete, it’s doable. But these days it’s definitely asking a lot for a kid to play both.

edit: realize he said that in the video, whoops lol. Still doable, always interesting to hear good athletes who want to play multiple sports.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Isn’t he the guy who rates cars and dishwashers?

 

[UconnU]

I've seen him pitch a few times for St. John's. I don't remember him batting and I think he just pitched at St. John's. He was not a great pitcher. He looks more intimidating than he pitches because of his height. Maybe he got better but as far as I know St. John's didn't play this past spring and my son, who played Legion this past summer and knows every baseball player in the area, says he's pretty sure Power didn't pitch this past summer either. I can see BC taking him for baseball. They took John West in the 2020 class, another 6-8 kid from Shrewsbury who pitched and was a basketball player, who is a similar type pitcher but better. D1 schools will take a chance on a 6-8 pitcher thinking they can work with that kind of height to increase their velocity.

I don't even understand the basketball hype either. I've seen him play at least 5 times and he didn't impress me. Kids who played against him say he's soft and I saw that first hand last winter. But what do I know? I'll be very interested to see what he does in college. He is repeating his sophomore year so he has another 3 years to get stronger and improve.

I always found very tall pitchers easier to hit because you get such a long look at the ball in their hand. I remember when I was in high school Newtown had this pitcher who must have been 6’10+, I think he was also the QB on their football team, I must have batted .800 vs this kid.

 

[rollskies]

My brother had a friend from UConn who was on the baseball team and wanted to play football as well and Penders wouldn’t let him, so he transferred out. I’m curious to see where this kid ends up. I think it would be cool to have a 2 sport athlete but we will see. Football is also more of a contact sport so it could have been for that reason as well, who knows.

 

[cohenzone]

My brother had a friend from UConn who was on the baseball team and wanted to play football as well and Penders wouldn’t let him, so he transferred out. I’m curious to see where this kid ends up. I think it would be cool to have a 2 sport athlete but we will see. Football is also more of a contact sport so it could have been for that reason as well, who knows.

Interesting because Tom Penders played both for UConn in the mid 60s.

 

[huskymedic]

My brother had a friend from UConn who was on the baseball team and wanted to play football as well and Penders wouldn’t let him, so he transferred out. I’m curious to see where this kid ends up. I think it would be cool to have a 2 sport athlete but we will see. Football is also more of a contact sport so it could have been for that reason as well, who knows.

Penders has evolved (at least on the surface) ?

Journal Inquirer

Serving towns east of the Connecticut River

www.journalinquirer.com

-> Drew Kron likes to keep his options open as the quarterback of the Xavier High of Middletown football team. As a sophomore a year ago, he accounted for 20 touchdowns and 2,099 yards passing and running.

As an outfielder and Class of 2022 commit to coach Jim Penders’ University of Connecticut baseball team, that is also the case for Kron the person.

“Right now it’s probably something I wouldn’t do,” Kron, a Hebron resident, said of playing football in Storrs. “But the baseball coaches at UConn said they would let me play two sports. So if the football side works for me …”<-

 

[Spaceman213J]

Yes, it's a tough thing to do, but it's the kids decision. Let him try. If he fails, he fails, but he won't have any regrets.

 

[UconnU]

Hurley doesn’t seem to mind dual sport athletes. Remember we recruited Longino when he was considering playing 2 sports. My gut instinct is that Hurley may even prefer these types of kids because he places such a high value on competitiveness.

What was Calhouns take on dual sport athletes? I don’t think we had too many?

 

[HooperScooper]

Hurley doesn’t seem to mind dual sport athletes. Remember we recruited Longino when he was considering playing 2 sports. My gut instinct is that Hurley may even prefer these types of kids because he places such a high value on competitiveness.

What was Calhouns take on dual sport athletes? I don’t think we had too many?

Did Scott Burrell ever pitch at UConn? He was a first round draft pick out of high school and played 2 summers in the minors while he was at UConn. Can't imagine that ever working out in today's environment.

 

[navery12]

Did Scott Burrell ever pitch at UConn? He was a first round draft pick out of high school and played 2 summers in the minors while he was at UConn. Can't imagine that ever working out in today's environment.

Pat Connaughton did the same thing a few years ago for Notre Dame and the Orioles

 

[HooperScooper]

Pat Connaughton did the same thing a few years ago for Notre Dame and the Orioles

Excellent point.

 

[huskymedic]

Did Scott Burrell ever pitch at UConn?

No...

 

[Watchdog]

Rollie Sheldon: Rollie Sheldon – Society for American Baseball Research

 

[Goatmeat]

I always found very tall pitchers easier to hit because you get such a long look at the ball in their hand. I remember when I was in high school Newtown had this pitcher who must have been 6’10+, I think he was also the QB on their football team, I must have batted .800 vs this kid.

Did you also score four touchdowns in a single game while playing for Polk High?

 

[ucjoet]

Did Scott Burrell ever pitch at UConn? He was a first round draft pick out of high school and played 2 summers in the minors while he was at UConn. Can't imagine that ever working out in today's environment.

I don’t believe Scott Burrell pitched at UConn. The only person I can think of is Randy LaVigne in late 70’ / early 80’s. Solid hoop career at UConn, then played minor league baseball.

Not sure if anybody has done this since, but Scott Burrell is only person to be drafted in first round of NBA and MLB draft.

 

[mauconnfan]

I don’t believe Scott Burrell pitched at UConn. The only person I can think of is Randy LaVigne in late 70’ / early 80’s. Solid hoop career at UConn, then played minor league baseball.

Not sure if anybody has done this since, but Scott Burrell is only person to be drafted in first round of NBA and MLB draft.

Dennis Long on the same team as Randy and very good friends, both played both. Obviously Randy a much better hoops player but both good players on the baseball team.

 

[McLovin]

How would the scholarship situation work with a 2 sport athlete? Could he take a baseball scholarship and walk-on the basketball team / the other way around? Or would the scholarship count against both sports?

 

[scotty0330]

There are far fewer scholarships to go around in baseball so I can promise you the scholarship won’t be coming from baseball for a part time player.

 

[uconngb]

Did Scott Burrell ever pitch at UConn? He was a first round draft pick out of high school and played 2 summers in the minors while he was at UConn. Can't imagine that ever working out in today's environment.

No. Scott Burrell was a pro pitcher while at UConn