Ron Prettyman takes over as the head of college baseball for the NCAA. (Indiana State)

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NCAA’s Prettyman Discusses The Issues

Ron Prettyman wants to move the needle for college baseball.

For years, Dennis Poppe led the charge for college baseball in the NCAA hierarchy, doing his very best to take the fast-growing sport to levels some never saw coming. Then, the NCAA replaced the now-retired Poppe with Ivy League graduate Damani Leech, who vacated his post this past summer for a can’t-turn-down type of opportunity with the NFL.

That set of events brought the NCAA to a familiar face in Prettyman. Prettyman has had a long-standing relationship with college baseball. His son, Ronnie, was a standout player at Cal State Fullerton, was a volunteer coach at Fullerton, and is now an assistant coach on Jason Gill’s staff at Loyola Marymount.

Ron Prettyman loves the current setting of the College World Series.

Prettyman also showed a strong commitment to the sport while spending 11 years as Indiana State’s athletic director. He hired Lindsay Meggs from Chico State, who parlayed his success with the Sycamores into a gig at Washington. He also hired Rick Heller, who had created a strong reputation at Northern Iowa, and continued his successful ways with the Sycamores before working his magic with Iowa the past couple of seasons.

Beyond those examples, Prettyman has served on the Division I Baseball Committee and knows the pulse of coaches, players, administrators and fans, among others. Ironically, Prettyman gained personal interest in the opening when he called the NCAA to recommend someone else for the job. It was then that he and the NCAA’s Mark Lewis realized that a lot of the things the NCAA was looking for, he was qualified to do or had the ability to fulfill.

“You know, it’s funny. I had originally called executive VP Mark Lewis on someone else’s behalf to find out a bit more about the job. But then he started going through all of the things they were looking for with the job, and a lot of it were things I had in my background,” Prettyman said with a chuckle. “I thought at that point, I should at least show some sort of interest. I loved being an athletic director, but I also loved college baseball. I wanted to continue my career in college athletics, while also being able to have an impact on a sport I love.”

Prettyman will have quite the unique perspective with this job. He was an athletic director who hired college baseball coaches, while also being able to adequately budget and fundraise for the program. He also was the parent of a college baseball player, who dealt with the draft and the agent-advisor debate that goes with it. He also knows the lay of the land from a postseason standpoint as a former committee member.

“I’m pretty proud of the fact we hired good people at Indiana State and put that program back on the map a little,” he said. “It’s been fun to watch. I’ve got one of those unique situations where I’ve been the father of a player, an administrator, a spectator and a member on the committee. Now, I’m sitting in this seat.

“My goal is just to continue building this sport to higher levels and find ways to make this an increasingly quality experience for everyone, namely the student-athletes,” he continued. “During my tenure, I want people to look back at what we did and see an annual improvement of the sport. I want to leave this sport in better shape than when I took it over.”

Let’s introduce Prettyman:

Question: When you think of the last decade or so in college baseball, what stands out to you the most?

Prettyman: I love the fact that more coaches, players and especially media than ever are embracing the strides the sport is making, while also embracing some of the changes that have been made, whether it be the bat for safety purposes, the lower-seamed baseball, or whatever else. The lower-seamed baseball actually concerned me a bit at the beginning because of the effect it might have on pitchers, but that move, along with the bat, have proven to be great technological innovations in the game. I’ve also really liked the new stadium in Omaha. I’m pretty nostalgic and I still miss Rosenblatt sometimes, but the new stadium is beautiful and it’s been great for the City of Omaha.

Question: Just off the top of your head, what’s the most immediate issue that comes to mind facing college baseball?

Prettyman: I think one of the things we have to take a hard look at, having been part of the committee and all, is trying to do some things to make the game more television- and spectator-friendly. We have to look at the timing between pitches, particularly in Omaha, as we saw in the championship games last year. Those need to be addressed quickly, especially in the technological era that we’re in right now. I’ve got some personal ideas on the issue. For instance, I think the pitch clock is a pretty interesting concept to ponder. I’ve never really seen it in action, but overall, all of the rules need to be enforced, especially stepping in and out of the box, and so on. We’re seeing way too many instances where a rule is interpreted differently in Omaha than it was during the regular season. We need to enforce those rules.

Question: West Virginia’s Randy Mazey created plenty of buzz last year by proposing a late April start date, thus pushing the end of the season back into the summer. Where do you stand on the start date debate?

Prettyman: I think Randy’s idea had and still has a lot of credence, and it’s interesting. As an athletic director at Indiana State, one of the concerns I had with the proposal was we’re supposed to be doing this sport for the university, students and student-athletes. If we change the bulk of our season to the summer time, there aren’t students on campus, students aren’t going to come to games, and there’s a little concern for that reason. With that said, there’s even more. For instance, as a former athletic director at a school that isn’t in a Power Five conference, and not in the FBS, there are cost factors associated with keeping teams on campus the entire summer beyond the regular academic year.

With that said, there are some options out there to consider. When I lived in California, I always wondered why those people in the Midwest were complaining about the weather all the time. Well, after a few weeks in the Midwest at ISU, I started to change my tune quite a bit. I think one of the things to potentially address is the idea of playing some of your 56 games in the fall, and possibly take a look at reducing the size of the regular season, perhaps not having as many midweek games. If we do that, it allows us to push the start of the season back a couple of weeks, but there are other options there, too. For instance, some talk about having the same setup as softball in the fall, but when you already play a 56-game schedule, adding more games in the fall brings up the idea of student-athlete welfare.

Question: It’s like a broken record, but everyone is always wanting to know when college baseball will increase scholarships. What’s your feeling on that situation right now?

Prettyman: I don’t think (increasing scholarships) would carry much weight right now, at least from an administrative perspective. I feel like we should attack something different right now, such as how the allocations of the scholarships are done. For instance, we should allow the coaches to have a little more autonomy, allowing them to look at their scholarships, and divide those out to the players where they have the most strengths and needs, not necessarily governed by a minimum percentage of a scholarship (minimum is 25 percent per player right now).

Question: One of the burning questions in college baseball right now is the issue of institutional (need-based) aid and how that creates advantages and disadvantages. What’s your approach on that issue?

Prettyman: You’re right, it’s a big issue, and that’s a great observation. I think there needs to be some rules in place there, but I honestly haven’t monitored that as closely in the past as I am now. But, I agree, there needs to be some sort of consistency across the board from that perspective. I want to make sure some of the loopholes are either limited or completely closed off, making it more difficult to do some of those things that creates advantages. Some things, though, will be harder to push through than others. I don’t really have a firm stance on that issue more than that for now.

Question: The agent-advisor relationship with student-athletes has been a hot topic, particularly in college baseball. What’s your feeling on that issue?

Prettyman: I think that’s something we most certainly have to take a long, hard look at. When a young man is talented enough to have the opportunity to play at the professional level, any level of information is very valuable. I know after going through this issue with my son (a 10th-round pick in 2005), I can tell you how important it would have been to have valuable information from trusted sources throughout the decision-making process.

Question: There’s been limited discussion on the potential of eventually going to a 3-3-3 postseason format instead of the current regional/super regional format. Where do you come down on that?

Prettyman: We’ve definitely talked about that format, but I really like the way the current postseason is formatted. I can absolutely see the argument for going with that postseason model, but I’d like to see it vetted much more before we seriously consider it. For now, I really like what’ve got.

Question: Many college coaches have wondered when they might be able to hire another full-time coach. Do you see that in the near future?

Prettyman: I have mixed emotions about adding another full-time coach, to be real honest with you. My son was a volunteer coach when he got out of baseball, so I see the “dad” side of it with me. But I also see it from an administrator’s point of view. Getting additional funding for another coach won’t be easy some places, when you consider the salary, benefits and more. Those things are tough to do right now from a financial standpoint.