Sept. 22, 2006
Columbia, S.C. –
The University of South Carolina baseball’s incoming recruiting class has been named No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball’s annual top recruiting class rankings as announced late Thursday evening. This is the third time in the last four years that the Carolina Baseball program has earned the top honor.
This year’s 14 newcomers at Carolina include four players selected in this year’s MLB Draft; Nick Fuller (3rd Round/Tampa Bay/RHP), Lonnie Chisenhall (11th round/Pittsburgh/INF), Jay Brown (18th round/Tampa Bay/RHP) and Sam Dyson (19th round/Washington/RHP).
Fuller was the second highest high school draft choice from the 2006 MLB Draft to decide on college baseball instead of pro baseball. The Georgia native was one of the top high school pitching prospects in the country with his slider ranked as the second best breaking ball pitch in high school last year by Baseball America. Chisenhall recently received the Louisville Slugger/BCA Player of the Year from the state of North Carolina, earned second team HS All-American team honors from Baseball America and was a two-time All-State selection at West Carteret HS. Brown comes to Carolina following two seasons at Young Harris College in Georgia. Brown played for Cotuit in the Cape Cod League this summer and was named to the All-Star team for the Western Division. Dyson pitched for Jesuit HS in Tampa, Fla. and earned Collegiate Baseball HS All-American honors last season as a senior in high school.
The other Gamecock newcomers include: two-time NC All-State selection Parker Bangs (C), SC All-State pitcher Blake Cooper (RHP), member of Region X champions at Spartanburg Methodist College, Jordan Costner (RHP) and Nic Godwin (RHP), two-time SC All-State selection Evan Goldberg (OF), 2006 NJCAA honorable mention All-American pitcher Curtis Johnson (RHP), 2005 MLB Draft selection Travis Jones (2B/OF) two-time SC All-State performer Chris Love (INF), SC All-Region star Sam Mahoney (C), and FCCAA All-Southern Conference pitcher Sean Wideberg (RHP).
