Former pitchers Sam Coonrod and Nathan Dorris, and former Saluki catcher Matt Jones all intend to finish their education through SIU.

The Chicago Cubs drafted left-handed pitcher Dorris in the 17th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, after his junior year at SIU. Dorris has been playing professionally since, and decided to return for classes this semester.

“Baseball is not going to last forever,” Dorris said. “That’s why I decided to come back. I wanted to get my foot in the door with the Cubs and have a few good years under my belt before I decided to come back.”

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Dorris had a late start to the semester. He played for the high Single-A Daytona Cubs, which made the postseason and played its last game Sept. 8. He said the university faculty cooperated with him while he played baseball.

“I still did schoolwork at the field when I had the chance,” Dorris said. “Or in a hotel room, or at our house. Whenever I had something due, I still had to buckle down and do it.”

Dorris said hardly few on campus know he plays professionally, but he doesn’t want extra attention. He said there’s an expression in the minor leagues he lives by: “The humble pie is always cooking.”

“I’m not that cool yet,” he said. “I don’t think anybody really has any idea.”

Saluki baseball coach Ken Henderson said many players come back after their eligibility is done, whether or not they turned professional. He said he always preaches how important a degree is.

“Two to 3 percent [of professional players] get a chance to play in the big leagues,” Henderson said. “That’s not very good odds. You better have something to fall back on and be prepared to do what you want for the rest of your life.”

Dorris said it is hard to say if he has major league talent or not.

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“You can look all throughout high Single-A up to Triple-A,” Dorris said. “All of those guys are major league ready, if not they’re real close.”

Last year two players were drafted by major league organizations, and the eligibility 12 additional seniors ran out.

The San Francisco Giants selected Coonrod in the fifth round.

Coonrod has a similar situation to Dorris. Both were drafted after their junior seasons. Coonrod said he will probably take online classes for the rest of his degree.

“I’m definitely going to get my degree,” Coonrod said. “It’s just going to take me longer than it would if I was actually sitting in the classroom.”

Coonrod said his parents and coaches have always stressed the importance of a degree in case he gets cut from a team or has a career-ending injury.

Some seniors who had not finished their degrees and did not get drafted were not ready to give up baseball.

Jones was attending classes this semester while he played for the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League. Jones said he has one semester left and would like to finish his degree at SIU, but it was too overwhelming this semester.

“[The season] kind of ran into the school year,” Jones said. “I wasn’t able to do all my classes so I had to drop my classes this semester.”

Jones advise college baseball players consider their priorities and figure out how important baseball is to them.

“I’m still trying to pursue my dream. I’ll go back to school eventually and finish my degree now that I have one semester left.” he said.

Dorris said there is not a timetable for his degree, but he vows to finish. He said he will play baseball as long as he is getting paid. He said he will not return to SIU next semester because of spring training, but intends to come back next fall.

“Whether I play 20 years in the big leagues or I get released tomorrow, I’m going to have to get a job at some point in life,” Dorris said. “Or at least I want to get a job at some point in life outside of baseball.”

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected], on Twitter @Aarongraff_DE or 536-3311 ext. 269