Heard that also. The other two I've heard about (not sourced for attribution) are not a great loss. We could miss Decker, though. She had her moments.
Over the years I have read College Softball message board and found it to be reasonably accurate, or at least as accurate as a message board is going to be. They too mention Decker and speculate that the other two are Buffano and Pittman. This is speculation at this point.
My take on Decker is she must’ve not been happy with limited time once being cleared. I think she’ll be a big loss if she reaches her potential, but if she doesn’t want to be here then that doesn’t do anybody any good.
Can't blame Decker for leaving as Walton continually played a catcher who couldn't hit a lick and wasn't exactly Aubree Munro behind the dish.
I agree, if they don't want to be here, let them go. Don't want to risk losing the locker room over playing time disagreements.
Her leaving UF is going to cut into the profits from her Name, Image and Likeness merch store: Cali Decker – Make Your Move (gomym.com) Personally, I will miss her coming out of the dugout after every inning and doing a chest bump with someone. It was odd and quirky. She seemed on the corner of being really good -- I was hoping she'd turn the corner next year with us. She really didn't turn the corner this year -- especially against ranked teams.
TW pinch hit for Wilke with Thomas 090 BA in the latter innings of the Oklahoma State game as opposed to using Decker 375 BA. I can understand why she might want to leave.
Or maybe, in a game that was out of reach and the end of the season, let a player who has been grinding for 4 years in the program get an at bat in the CWS.
I usually agree with what you post but in this case I don't think being down by two is a game out of reach.
That's true, but I think the sense was probably the only chance was for somebody to run into one and hit it out....she was pitching to good otherwise. Thomas probably gave as good a shot in that regard as Decker. And Decker got to PH in the UCLA game with similar result. She may just simply not see a path to the field next year. Not beating out Roe or Charla at 3rd. 1B would seem to be the best, maybe only option. Goelz really surged at year end.....and if Walsh and Pollard can play the middle you might see Wallace back to 1B. No idea what Gigante will bring as a 1B option. OF projects well with Falby, Kistler, Goddard, Egan Wish we could see some patience and waiting their turn, but the portal has changed that dynamic
She was injured from the fall and apparently was not completely cleared till later in the season around when Adams went out and she started some. Walton said as much that she was just getting fully back in the swing of things. Catcher is not a position you change that late in the season unless it was an established catcher already. If she was expecting to start right away and not happy because of it then oh well.
I think the portal is breaking all college sports, and I don't think anything is suffering as much as softball. As good as she is, Gasso's use and exploitation of the portal has been every bit a reason for her success as her coaching. She has the ability to go to anyone of talent who is even a bit dissatisfied and offer them the clearest road to a title available. This is making it nearly impossible for a program to actually build, because as soon as a girl develops some recognition, she can switch to a higher profile team. Watching the WCWS for the last week, I was amazed by the pure number of key players -- especially pitchers -- who were not grown by the program they were in but were "poached" by the bigger, better schools, who then rode them to the tournament.
Portal has definitely changed everything. Consequently, it requires enough behind the scenes staff (See Coach Napier with football) to manage the data and maintain awareness of the various players capabilities and the potential for moving.
Absolutely. I think it is going to become the path in all sports at least for the short term. Truth be told, it will likely help UF in a number of sports as well....including softball. UF W Track won an indoor title on the back of transfers already. NCAA is going to have to limit he portal in some capacity or the gap between the haves and have nots will render many sports uninteresting.
The ability to openly pay players through boosters (NIL) is also increasing the gap between the haves and have nots. That's another thing the NCAA needs to limit to keep a level playing field and the games interesting. Between the portal and NIL, I worry that we are seeing the twilight of the golden age of college sports. I can't imagine any casual fan or channel surfer landing on the Oklahoma WCWS game and not moving on to the next channel. That's a sad commentary on what is supposed to be the sport's premier event.
Last night was pretty good through four. Maybe even five. And Texas at least tried at the end. But I also don't know what point there'd be in watching the majority of their games -- not a lot of drama when you have 4 All-Americans leading off your 9-hitter lineup.
I haven’t heard of any transfers but in this day and age you can expect any player in the bottom third of a teams roster vulnerable for transfer. Walton has done a good job recruiting but as young as they used to commit before the rules changes some players did not continue to develop as projected. Also, any current player who is sitting on the bench that has knowledge of our next couple classes has to see the handwriting on the wall.
