In recent years, West Virginia baseball has seen the rise of true freshmen making an impact on the field for the Mountaineers. However, a big part of that on-field success has been the help they’ve received off the field.
Whether it be Gavin Kelly, Spencer Barnett, Chase Meyer, or even JJ Wetherholt, West Virginia has increasingly relied upon freshmen to help lead them on the field in recent years. One of the things that has helped this group and now the most is WVU’s summer bridge program, designed to help the adjustment to on-campus life, well before the adjustment to baseball being played.
“Every incoming freshman gets on campus six weeks early and just gets acclimated to college life. So I think some programs take for granted that these guys know what they’re doing, but they’re just great athletes that want to be great, but a lot of them don’t know how to do laundry or crack an egg yet. It’s just truth,” West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins said on the 3 Guys Before The Game podcast.
This program, which is currently being held for the incoming class of Mountaineers, teaches players how to cook for themselves, how to get in the routine of being a student-athlete, as well as just getting them around their teammates.
“We start with basic life skills. Come in, we’ve got burners set up and pans, and guys are making omelets and breakfast burritos in the morning, like a class, like a cooking class almost. And then they’re going to lift voluntarily. They’re learning how to take care of their arms and their body. They’re going to a class every day,” Sabins said.
West Virginia’s incoming freshman class features 14 players from 11 states, and this allows Sabins and his staff to get them familiar with Morgantown and being away from home.
“They’re just getting acclimated at a very slow period, but more importantly, just building relationships with their boys. They’re far away from home, they never lived on their own. So they’re getting a group of kids and players that they can rely on. They can have rides, they know how to use their swipe card access. They’re figuring out where the hell they are. A lot of them came on a visit and we’ve rushed them around and taken places and they still don’t know really where they’re living,” Sabins said.
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