Sept. 29, 2003
Columbia, S.C. – Collegiate Baseball announced its rankings of top recruiting classes in the nation with this year’s newcomers at South Carolina tied for first in the nation. This is South Carolina’s fourth consecutive Top 10 recruiting class and the first time in school history that a class has been ranked No. 1.
“We are very excited about the talent in this recruiting class,” said USC head baseball coach Ray Tanner. “Many of these young men will be counted upon to keep us among the top teams in the nation during the 2004 season.”
South Carolina’s class features 19 players including 10 pitchers, four outfielders, three infielders, a first baseman and a catcher. There were six drafted players, the Florida J.C. Player of the Year, two JC All-Americans, five first team All-State Florida JC, one junior Team USA member, seven JC All-Conference players and eight All-State high school performers.
No. Name Pos. B-T Hgt. Wgt. Class Hometown (High School/Previous school)
26 Chad Blackwell RHP R-R 6-1 162 Jr. Clewiston, Fla. (Pensacola JC)
– 1st Team All-Conference Panhandle (Fla.)
23 Billy Buckner RHP R-R 6-2 194 Jr. Conyers, Ga. (Young Harris College)
– 2003 MLB Draft – 9th Round – Tampa Bay — JC AA
30 David Cash INF B-R 6-1 182 Fr. Odessa, Fla. (Northside Christian HS)
– 2003 MLB Draft – 21st Round – Baltimore — All-State
21 Andrew Cruse RHP R-R 6-1 193 Fr. Cornelius, N.C. (Hopewell HS)
– N.C. All-State & All-Conference
50 Phil Disher C R-R 6-1 192 Fr. Aiken, S.C. (South Aiken HS)
– S.C. All-Region
16 Jason Fletcher RHP R-R 6-2 191 Jr. Cape Coral, Fla. (Indian River CC)
– 2002 MLB Draft — 23rd Round – Philadelphia — Florida JC Pitcher of the Year; JC AA
38 Arik Hempy LHP L-L 6-3 215 Fr. Raleigh, N.C. (Garner Senior HS) – N.C. All-State & All-Conference
41 Harris Honeycutt RHP R-R 6-1 205 Fr. Fuquay-Varina, N.C. (Fuquay-Varina HS)
– N.C. All-State & All-Conference; Tri-7 Conference Player of the Year
49 Tommy King INF R-R 5-11 174 Fr. Mt. Dora, Fla. (Apopka HS)
– Fla. 6A All-State; Orange County, Fla. Player of the Year
20 Andy Lambert RHP R-R 6-3 215 Jr. Wellington, Fla. (Indian River CC)
– 2nd Team Fla. JC All-Conference
32 Dan Luczak RHP R-R 6-6 209 Fr. Brookfield, Wisc. (Brookfield East HS)
– 1st Team All-State as a Junior
19 Zac McCamie RHP R-R 6-4 193 Jr. Orlando, Fla. (Seminole CC)
– 1st Team Florida JC All-Conference; Mid-Florida Conference Player of the Year
36 Josh McDonald RHP R-R 6-3 171 Fr. Lexington, S.C. (Lexington HS)
– North-South All-Star; SC Sports Report Top Pitcher in S.C.; All-Region
4 Steve Pearce INF R-R 5-11 187 Jr. Lakeland, Fla. (Indian River CC)
– 2003 MLB Draft — 45th Round – Minnesota — 1st Team Fla. JC All-Conference; Southern Conference Player of the Year
11 Steven Reinhold OF R-R 5-8 179 Fr. Waynesville, N.C. (Tuscola HS)
– 2003 MLB Draft — 13th Round – Cleveland — N.C. All-State
2 Heath Rollins OF L-R 6-1 174 Fr. Lexington, S.C. (Lexington HS)
– S.C. All-State & All-Region
45 Billy Simpson 1B R-R 6-5 252 Fr. Old Westbury, N.Y. (Carle Place HS)
– N.Y. All-State (three years); County Player of the Year
6 Jon Willard OF R-R 6-0 205 Fr. Morrisville, N.C. (Green Hope HS)
– N.C. All-State; USA Junior National Team
5 Brendan Winn OF R-R 6-0 204 Jr. Indian Harbour, Fla. (St. Petersburg JC) – 2002 MLB Draft — 21st Round – NY Mets; 2000 MLB Draft — 39th Round – NY Mets; 1st Team Fla. JC All-Conference
Collegiate Baseball’s 2003 Recruiting Results
Rank Team Recruits Frosh JC Tran.
1. South Carolina 19 12 7 0
North Carolina 10 8 1 1
3. Florida 15 12 3 0
4. Arizona 11 7 3 1
5. Texas 17 8 8 1
6. Louisiana St. 8 5 2 1
7. Oklahoma St. 17 5 9 3
8. Stanford 9 9 0 0
9. Oklahoma 19 9 9 1
10. Mississippi 18 11 5 2
11. Georgia Tech. 10 10 0 0
12. Arizona St. 22 15 6 1
13. Southern California 12 9 3 0
14. Florida St. 13 11 2 0
15. Miami, Fla. 8 7 1 0
16. Fresno St. 23 10 7 6
17. Rice 14 9 4 1
18. Cal. St. Fullerton 15 11 3 1
19. Baylor 10 8 2 0
20. Stetson 16 14 1 1
21. Alabama 12 6 6 0
22. U.C. Irvine 12 10 2 0
23. Clemson 13 9 3 1
24. Vanderbilt 14 10 3 1
25. Santa Clara 9 7 0 2
26. South Alabama 18 13 2 3
27. Wake Forest 10 7 2 1
28. California 15 13 1 1
29. Notre Dame 11 11 0 0
30. Long Beach St. 16 7 8 1
Mississippi St. 13 10 2 1
Arkansas 23 15 7 1
Nebraska 16 12 3 1
Other Top Recruiting Classes: Hawaii, Texas A&M, Tulane, Auburn, Wichita St., U.C. Riverside, Kansas, Ohio St., Michigan, San Diego St., Houston, San Diego, Pepperdine, N.C. Greensboro, Central Florida, Washington, Texas Tech., Connecticut, Tennessee, East Carolina, Texas-Arlington, Florida Atlantic, Nevada, North Carolina St., Cal. St. Northridge, South Florida. Brigham Young, San Jose St., Virginia Commonwealth, Lamar, Indiana St., Miami (Ohio), North Carolina Charlotte, Pittsburgh, The Citadel, Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, Central Michigan, Oregon St., Illinois St, Western Illinois, Oral Roberts, James Madison, La.-Lafayette, Ball St., West Virginia, Villanova, S.E. Louisiana, UCLA, Elon, College of Charleston, N.C. Wilmington, Northwestern, Richmond, Xavier, George Washington, New Mexico St., Cal Poly, LeMoyne.
