College influencer Noah Sharp of JBB is the voice of junior college baseball and answers some questions about Houston's new baseball coach, Will Davis. Sharp informs Houston fans on what's to come as the Cougars head into the Davis era.
Q: Is this a home run hire by Houston?
A: I think going into the regionals and being able to get a coach that knows how to recruit the Houston area and has turned the tables there in Beaumont is him going to a bigger school with more funding. It is going to be something big for them. Now how he fills up the rest of the coaching staff is going to be interesting.
Q. What does Will Davis bring to Houston & what can the Cougar fans expect from him?
A: I think they can expect him to do what he did to Lamar. A slow first year maybe, but once he gets his guys in there and turning, I would expect Houston to start climbing back to the regional picture like they used to.
Q: Recruiting is big in college athletics, especially with NIL. How do you see Davis being able to recruit?
A: I could see him doing a lot of what the Kansas staff did on that turn around. Now, Houston is a much more prime spot to recruit the Houston high school fallen. But Will has always been big on the junior college guys just like with the old staff. But He has seems to have hit on a bit higher of a clip there at Lamar. If he can do that the same way that he did at Lamar then it should flip quick.
Q: Houston is rich in talent when it comes to HS baseball; do you think Will will be able to keep those kinds of players home?
A: I think he should. I know he has kept guys at Lamar. So I would only imagine he is going to use those same connections to bring guys to Houston. Now with the way the college game is shaping up, recruiting a big high school class is not always the way to go. But I would expect him to try and keep that talent-rich area back to Houston instead of going to Rice or the other smaller schools in the area.
Q: What do you think the next steps are for Will & trying to make a staff and possibly getting players for next season?
Will probably fill out the staff and bring in his right guys. I wouldn't be surprised if he brought some of his staff over from Lamar. But he knows how to find coaches and players, so it’ll be a fun year or two while it starts building.
