It isn’t that high school student-athletes – in particular those about to sign a college scholarship – forget who helped them get to the dance, it’s just that with all bells and whistles going on as part of the celebration, more often than not, they forget.
Not Ben Gibbs.
“If you’re here,” he said Thursday as he scanned the Veterans High cafeteria room filled with coaches, family and friends. “You’ve done something to get me to this spot. For that, I can’t thank you enough. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
The 6-foot-5 right hander’s scholarship is to Yale. He’ll be playing baseball for a Bulldogs team that finished 34-18 this past season and first in its conference.
That’s just one accolade, Coffey said. “Over the years, we as coaches have been able to recognize where the athletic side has paid off, but ultimately (this is a case – with reportedly tens of thousands of applicants coupled with an acceptance rate of 7 percent – Coffey said he thought he was like their 24th signees eight years) where his academics has paid off.”
“He has a bright future,” Coffey continued. “And again, it shows not only what hard work can do, not only on the athletic field, but in the classroom.”
That’s what made Yale the right choice, Gibbs said. “I wanted a place I could go and play baseball and get a good education. (And), I think it’s one of the best places in the world (for that).”
As far as the future, Gibbs said he would be majoring in chemical engineering. Both of his parents are engineers and, “It’s just kind of the way I think, so something I wanted to do,” he said.
There’s also baseball (of course). One of the skills he said the coaches liked best about his game is his change-up. “They said I have college command of my fastball and my change-up. They liked the off speed I have but the change-up is really what they liked best.”
And, with it being a smaller recruiting setting – less guys in the class (another thing that made Yale the right choice) – he said he would get an opportunity to play right away. (This Warhawk season being the primary focus, right now, of course.)
