Riley Presnell

We're seeing a lot of decommitments in college baseball. I think it's important to understand WHY. This didn't happen overnight. Follow the dominoes. 👇 2020: COVID. The NCAA grants spring athletes an additional year of eligibility. Players stay in college longer. Rosters get older. Opportunities for incoming freshmen become more competitive. Then the professional pipeline changes. MLB cuts its draft from 40 rounds to 20. Affiliated minor league teams shrink from 162 to 120. Fewer traditional opportunities to enter professional baseball. Now look at the roster math. Before COVID, D1 baseball operated with a 35-man roster limit. During the eligibility crunch, temporary allowances eventually expanded rosters to 40 players. Beginning in 2025-26, programs participating in the House settlement moved to a 34-man roster limit, with exceptions for certain players. That's SIX fewer standard roster spots compared to the temporary 40-man allowance. Now add the transfer portal. Nearly 2,700 D1 baseball players entered the portal during the June 2026 window alone. Programs have access to thousands of experienced college players competing for opportunities. Throw in NIL, revenue sharing, and the shift from the old 11.7-scholarship model to the possibility of funding scholarships across all 34 roster spots at participating programs. And now the NCAA's new age-based eligibility model can allow qualifying athletes up to FIVE years of competition within a continuous five-year window, replacing the traditional four-seasons-in-five-years model. Think about what all of this means. A college coach can genuinely believe in a high school prospect when he commits. But by the time that player arrives on campus, the roster, budget, available transfer talent, and immediate needs of the program could look completely different. College baseball has become an increasingly competitive roster-management business. And the pressure to WIN NOW is real. Does that excuse every decommitment? Absolutely not. But I also don't believe every decommitment represents a lack of loyalty. Here's what concerns me most. We're asking teenagers and their families to make decisions about their futures in a system that can change dramatically before they ever step foot on campus. The rules changed. The economics changed. The roster math changed. But the hopes and dreams of those kids haven't. And somewhere in the middle of all this change, we cannot lose sight of the people affected by it. @prepbaseball

One thing baseball taught me that took years to fully appreciate... Not everyone who works hard gets rewarded right away. Not every talented player gets an opportunity. Not every good person catches a break. And sometimes, the people doing everything right are the ones struggling the most. That's life, too. Keep showing up. Keep treating people right. Keep doing the work. Just because the results haven't caught up to your effort doesn't mean they never will. 👊

Good morning. ⚾️👇 Somewhere this fall, a player who sat the bench last spring is working like he plans to take somebody’s job. If you’re that player, keep going. If you’re the starter, understand that last year’s lineup doesn’t guarantee next year’s spot. Get to work 💪