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Texas A&M baseball got a huge boost on Tuesday with an announcement from slugger Jace LaViolette. After briefly flirting with a transfer, he’s pulled his name out of the portal.
The sophomore helped lead his team to a national title appearance last season by belting a team-high 29 home runs. It looks like that production will stay put in College Station!
It’s been a whirlwind of an offseason for the Aggies, who saw archrival Texas swipe head coach Jim Schlossnagle less than 24 hours after losing a decisive Game 3 in the College World Series final.
The decision came shortly after Schlossnagle pledged his loyalty to A&M in a postgame press conference, ripping a reporter to shreds in the process for the insinuation that he might leave for Austin.
“I think it’s pretty selfish of you to ask me that question. I left my family to be the coach at Texas A&M. I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again.”
-Jim Schlossnagle on Texas interest
With news that his head coach was on the move, Jace LaViolette entered the transfer portal alongside a number of teammates. From there, he awaited on a successor to take over at the helm.
Texas A&M hired Michael Earley as its next baseball coach.
Earley, who was an assistant on last year’s Aggies staff, had planned on following Schlossnagle to Texas as hitting coach. Texas A&M was able to convince him to reconsider.
Though there are questions about experience, the move helped the program retain players on the roster and keep the recruiting class largely intact.
Earley had full support of the team, LaViolette included. The slugger commented on the hire Tuesday while pulling out of the portal. He threw a bit of shade Schlossnagle’s way in the process!
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After calling Michael Earley the “best coach in the nation,” he spoke further on what he means to the program moving forward.
“I cried when I heard that Mike was our new head coach because that’s how much this man means to me and means to our team. He’s our rock, he’s our foundation, he’s why – one of the reasons why – we were even in Omaha last year…”
LaViolette says it was Earley, not Schlossnagle, who was the foundation of the team. That may be a feeling shared by a number of players – particularly those critical of their old leader following his departure.
I guess we’ll soon see!
The roller coaster ride came to an end for the Texas A&M baseball team this week. Now, it can get back to focusing on the future.