Murray coach recruiting character

Thursday, December 04, 2008

With college basketball season now in full swing, creating baseball buzz can be difficult, but Murray State University coach Rob McDonald tried to do just that by speaking Wednesday afternoon at the Madisonville Lions Club weekly meeting.

McDonald addressed the crowd about the importance of drawing in players with good character and a desire to learn in the classroom as well as on the baseball field. McDonald even mentioned he instructs his players how to stand properly during the national anthem to show respect.

The coach admitted he’s more comfortable conducting clinics rather than standing behind a podium and addressing an audience, but McDonald still had a clear directive for his speech.

“The first thing is just to tell these business leaders a little bit about Murray State and what we try to do, the people that we try to get into the program,” McDonald. “That’s the main thing – to spread the Murray State message a little bit, but then also I will try to mention a few things we do motivationally.”

McDonald will enter the 2009 campaign in his fifth year as the Thoroughbreds head coach. As a former catcher who played for Murray from 1982-84, McDonald said former players of his position understand the game in a unique way and pointed to the success of Major League Baseball managers Joe Girardi (New York

Yankees) and Mike Scioscia (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim).

“I always tell people, the catcher is the only guy that sees everything else,” McDonald said. “You’re facing out and seeing everybody. The catcher has to know pretty much everything, more so than anybody else on the field.”

Just like the majors, McDonald said he has noticed some differences in the way the college game has developed since his time at Murray.

“The biggest changes are the athleticism of the athletes continues to always get better and the bats have changed a lot,” he said. “For a while in the 90s the bats were so loaded that offense was just incredible with all the home runs, but now they’ve brought the bats to a more reasonable standard where they’re not quite so light and explosive.”

For McDonald, the Madisonville area is not unfamiliar territory because the coach recruited former Hopkins County Central player Will Cartwright, who is a sophomore at Murray.

Last season Cartwright redshirted in order to postpone the start to his eligibility.

“It’s fair to say a guy is going to be better in his fifth year than his first, so in some ways you’re trading a season,” McDonald said of the rationale to sitting out.

Cartwright has not seen any live action against opposing teams yet, but he has already made a solid impression on his coach.

“He’s won academic awards and he’s just a real top-notch young man,” McDonald said.

During Murray’s annual Navy-Gold World Series in October, Cartwright also left his mark on the field by blasting a home run off the scoreboard.

“Will swings the bat really well and he’s gotten stronger,” McDonald said. “He got ahold of one and really ripped it. I thought when he hit it – I was over in the dugout – that it was probably gone. It just kept going and going and banged off the scoreboard. I think everybody was glad to see it.”

Joining McDonald at the meeting was Paul Bubb, Murray’s associate athletic director for external affairs. McDonald noted it was Bubb’s second day on the job. Bubb joins the school after serving as athletic director at Idaho State University.

The Thoroughbreds will open up the 2009 season at 2 p.m. on Feb. 20 when Murray plays host to South Dakota State.