How A Community College Became A Baseball Powerhouse

Long a mediocre program, Western Oklahoma State has won at least 50 games and appeared in the national junior-college Division II World Series each of the last four seasons, winning its first national championship in June. Russell’s baseball program has blossomed despite some initial hostility from the community. Some of its members were opposed to the college’s awarding scholarships to athletes out of the area — or out of the country, in some instances. He capitalized on a quirk in the American collegiate baseball system that other junior colleges have exploited for years: if a student accepts a baseball scholarship to an N.C.A.A. Division I university, he cannot enter the Major League Baseball draft for three years. If he attends a junior college, however, he does not forsake any eligibility and can enter the draft after one season. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/sports/baseball/for-latino-baseball-players-in-northeast-an-opportunity-in-oklahoma.html?_r=2&hp