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Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska are states that aren’t huge in populations, compared to some of the coastal states or other “hot spots” of softball such as Southern California, the Southeast and parts of Texas, but universities and colleges in the “middle of the country” still do well on the field and in recruiting talent.
Recently Extra Inning Softball correspondent Joy Roeder had the chance to catch up with a quartet of D1 coaches from these states to get their perspective on the recruiting process and how it’s unique for their situations.
Here’s is a quick bio on each of the four college coaches who talked about what they offer:
Kristi Bredbenner, Head Coach, Wichita State
Coach Bredbenner is responsible for two of the program’s three conference tournament championships—in 2016 and 2021. She had a history of winning both as a player and a coach and the 2021 campaign will go down as one of the best seasons in school history. Under Bredbenner’s guidance, Wichita State tied the school record with a 13-game win streak during the season; and broke several single season records. Wichita State shattered the single season record for home runs with 103, while also setting new marks in RBI, runs scored, total bases and slugging percentage.
Jen Daro, Assistant Coach, University of Nebraska Omaha
Coach Daro is an Omaha native and had a successful playing career at Creighton University. She enters her first season with the Maverick softball program as an assistant coach beginning September 2021. She joins UNO following a three-year stint as an assistant coach with Pitt State where she helped eight players to All-MAIA honors and one player to All-Region recognition. Prior to Pitt State, Coach Daro served as a graduate assistant coach at St. Cloud State. The Huskies posted a 42-18 record during her tenure and qualified for the NCAA Division II softball tournament.
Jamie Pinkerton, Head Coach, Iowa State
Coach Pinkerton has an extensive coaching background. From 1994 to 1997 he was an assistant coach at Tulsa; in 1998 he was an assistant coach at Louisiana-Monroe; from 1999-2000 he was an assistant coach at Virginia; in 2001-04 he became the head coach at Tulsa, from 2005-09 he was the head coach at Arkansas; from 2010-13 he was an assistant coach at Iowa State; in 2014-17 he was the head coach at Montana and since 2018 he’s been the head coach of Iowa State. Coach Pinkerton has served on the NCAA Division I Softball committee (present), on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Committee from 2008-09 and 2015-2017 (chair in 2017), the NFCA Coaches Committee as Big Sky representative from 2016-2017. He was also a voting member on the NFCA / USA Today poll and worked as a NCAA Softball West Region Committee member (2003-04).
Rhonda Revelle, Head Coach, University of Nebraska Lincoln
Coach Revelle is no stranger to the recruiting process both as a player and a coach. She is among the top coaches in the country and some of her coaching accolades include: National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Nebraska Softball Hall of Fame, winningest coach in Nebraska athletics history (male or female), winningest coach in Nebraska softball history, four-time NFCA Midwest Region Staff of the Year, Midwest Region Coach of the Year, four-time Conference Coach of the Year, Big Ten Coach of the Year, two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, winner of four NCAA Regional Championships and coach of three Women’s College World Series teams.
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Extra Inning Softball: What are specific things you immediately look for when choosing players to pursue for recruiting?
Rhonda Revelle (Nebraska-Lincoln): Something to keep in mind when talking about recruiting and looking at the final roster for each season is the names on the team roster aren’t able to tell the individual stories of each player’s journey to earning a spot on our roster. So many people have opinions about who should be on the roster but they don’t know all the time spent investigating each player, the connections players have to the school and how we made the decision to offer a player an opportunity in our program.
As for the process itself, there are so many facets of recruiting that it’s hard to give a short answer! The most basic things—like batting average, speed, throwing arm, level of competition they’ve faced and knowledge of the game—are important. Pitchers and catchers have a different set of skills we look at. But things like attitude, how they interact with teammates, relationships with family, what their coaches have to say about their character and coachability are equally as important.
Kristi Bredbenner (Wichita State): Overall, we look at athleticism, demeanor and character and if a player is a well-rounded athlete with the desire to compete and the willingness to grow and desire to get better every time they are on the field. That goes a long way in our program. We want the players who can be put into multiple positions, can make adjustments based on what we need as a team and will buy into our team culture.
Jen Daro (Nebraska-Omaha): Of course, we take many things into account when looking at a player but for me the two things that all players need to possess are athleticism and versatility. We need players that can play multiple positions and be flexible about our decision to try them out in positions they may not consider their primary position.
Jamie Pinkerton (Iowa State): There are several things we look at when considering players: the club and high school coaches’ opinions of the player; their grades, what is reported on them with the 20/80 ranking system or the 5-star athlete ranking system; the “eye test” where—when watching live games—we look to see how they look as a player, how they respond if they make an error, how they interact with teammates, how well they take instruction and even how they interact with their parents. At Iowa State, we to find the right players, which means the recruiting process can take longer but is worth the extra time to get the right one!
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Extra Inning Softball: What is one misconception players and parents have when in the recruiting process.
Jamie Pinkerton (Iowa State): One thing to remember is that there are very few softball players who get a full athletic scholarship. There simply isn’t the money available within softball programs to hand out full rides. Players need to realize academic scholarships are paired with athletic scholarships to help players get the best financial assistance for their education. Another misconception we face that is specific to our region of the country is often players do not want to play in Iowa or other Midwest states because they think it’s too cold, but what they don’t realize is that colder climate teams travel and play in warmer states more often.
Rhonda Revelle (Nebraska-Lincoln): They don’t realize that, each year, teams have limited spots available. Not to mention that the year a player graduates from high school there may be only two or three positions to fill on a team and those spots may not be their position. Also, players and parents need to remember that scholarships are re-evaluated every year— they are not guaranteed for all their years of college.
*** Scroll down to read more great insights from these successful Midwest coaches…