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Cotton talks GCU on national radio
1/13/2019 9:00:00 AM | Baseball
Interview with junior to air on MLB Network radio on Sunday
Grand Canyon junior outfielder Quin Cotton joined Daron Sutton on Perfect Game's MLB Roundtrip Show on Sirius XM's MLB Network radio to talk about the Lopes program on the national stage.
Cotton was named to the Preseason All-American second team by Perfect Game last week, and his interview will air live at 4 p.m. (Phoenix time) on Sunday.
Here are some excerpts from the interview.
DS: When we talk about GCU ... when you go to your basketball games or your baseball games, it doesn't feel like a mid-major level does it?
QC: No, not at all. The energy is definitely palpable. Every game is pretty much sold out. There's a lot of people who like to come out and see us and support us.
...
DS: Why, in fact, when you were a couple years younger, did you choose Grand Canyon University?
QC: I would say that overall it was the best fit for me. I knew that I would have a lot of opportunities here that I might not have if I went somewhere else. Obviously Coach Stankiewicz, Coach Wallis, our entire coaching staff and our support staff here is tremendous. And I felt like I could really get in on the ground floor of something that was going to become pretty special.
...
DS: Describe your conference, the level of baseball as it has evolved, and your program overall as it fits into the conference. Simply put, you're one of the babies at the Division I level, finally becoming eligible for postseason play.
QC: That's right. Last year was our first year of postseason eligibility. Of course we've been at the DI level for, I believe, five years now. For awhile all we could do is we could go out and win our conference regular season. For us, that was like the College World Series. But last year we were playing for a little bit more. We had a chance to go to our conference tournament ... We're gearing up for this year. We have a tough nonconference schedule ... That's another reason why I'm here is just that challenge. Being able to go up against some of the best programs in the country.
...
DS: Your "mid-major" program, which plays athletically above that outside of the WAC, has a ballpark that is second to none. Please give us your visual display of what it's like to play at your GCU Ballpark, your gorgeous Grand Canyon stadium. What's that park like?
QC: I'll tell you what, it definitely took some getting used to. It's incredible. You can see it from pretty much anywhere on campus. We're so grateful to the university for making that investment in us. Man, it's a blast. We get a lot more seating, we get a lot more fans to come out, an improved fan experience that is a lot closer to the field, and the energy is always great there. It's very loud. It's a top-tier facility, it really is. It's about as grand as any field we've played at, whether we're traveling in conference, out of conference, just about anywhere in the country.
...
DS: What's it like to play for Andy Stankiewicz? I've been close with him at the USA Baseball level doing a ton of behind-the-scenes media, certainly I enjoyed that experience. Introduce us to him as a head coach and his expectations of you.
QC: He's probably one of the most invested people I've ever met at any level of baseball. He lives and dies with this program. He loves every one of his players so much. He's so invested in our development both on the field and off the field. He's very interested in our development, not only as players but as people. He cares a lot how we're doing off the field, how we're doing on the field. He can give us some tough love at times but it's all coming from a place of compassion and care. He wants us to be successful. He wants his team to win. That's what's really rubbed off on us: he's a winner. He wants us to be winners. That sort of attitude is really infectious. Since the moment I walked on campus, since the moment I had my first visit here, I could tell that this guy is special and he really cares about his program, he really cares about his players. That's something that you want to go to battle for every day.
The interview is available in its entirety here:
Cotton was named to the Preseason All-American second team by Perfect Game last week, and his interview will air live at 4 p.m. (Phoenix time) on Sunday.
Here are some excerpts from the interview.
DS: When we talk about GCU ... when you go to your basketball games or your baseball games, it doesn't feel like a mid-major level does it?
QC: No, not at all. The energy is definitely palpable. Every game is pretty much sold out. There's a lot of people who like to come out and see us and support us.
...
DS: Why, in fact, when you were a couple years younger, did you choose Grand Canyon University?
QC: I would say that overall it was the best fit for me. I knew that I would have a lot of opportunities here that I might not have if I went somewhere else. Obviously Coach Stankiewicz, Coach Wallis, our entire coaching staff and our support staff here is tremendous. And I felt like I could really get in on the ground floor of something that was going to become pretty special.
...
DS: Describe your conference, the level of baseball as it has evolved, and your program overall as it fits into the conference. Simply put, you're one of the babies at the Division I level, finally becoming eligible for postseason play.
QC: That's right. Last year was our first year of postseason eligibility. Of course we've been at the DI level for, I believe, five years now. For awhile all we could do is we could go out and win our conference regular season. For us, that was like the College World Series. But last year we were playing for a little bit more. We had a chance to go to our conference tournament ... We're gearing up for this year. We have a tough nonconference schedule ... That's another reason why I'm here is just that challenge. Being able to go up against some of the best programs in the country.
...
DS: Your "mid-major" program, which plays athletically above that outside of the WAC, has a ballpark that is second to none. Please give us your visual display of what it's like to play at your GCU Ballpark, your gorgeous Grand Canyon stadium. What's that park like?
QC: I'll tell you what, it definitely took some getting used to. It's incredible. You can see it from pretty much anywhere on campus. We're so grateful to the university for making that investment in us. Man, it's a blast. We get a lot more seating, we get a lot more fans to come out, an improved fan experience that is a lot closer to the field, and the energy is always great there. It's very loud. It's a top-tier facility, it really is. It's about as grand as any field we've played at, whether we're traveling in conference, out of conference, just about anywhere in the country.
...
DS: What's it like to play for Andy Stankiewicz? I've been close with him at the USA Baseball level doing a ton of behind-the-scenes media, certainly I enjoyed that experience. Introduce us to him as a head coach and his expectations of you.
QC: He's probably one of the most invested people I've ever met at any level of baseball. He lives and dies with this program. He loves every one of his players so much. He's so invested in our development both on the field and off the field. He's very interested in our development, not only as players but as people. He cares a lot how we're doing off the field, how we're doing on the field. He can give us some tough love at times but it's all coming from a place of compassion and care. He wants us to be successful. He wants his team to win. That's what's really rubbed off on us: he's a winner. He wants us to be winners. That sort of attitude is really infectious. Since the moment I walked on campus, since the moment I had my first visit here, I could tell that this guy is special and he really cares about his program, he really cares about his players. That's something that you want to go to battle for every day.
The interview is available in its entirety here:
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