June 5, 2001
ATLANTA — Eight juniors and seniors on Georgia Tech*s baseball team were selected in the first 20 rounds on day one of the 2001 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday.
Headling the list is third baseman Mark Teixeira (Severna Park, Md.), who was the fifth overall selection by the Texas Rangers. The junior is the fifth first round draft pick in Tech baseball history, joining Kevin Brown (1986, seventh overall pick), Ty Griffin (1988, fourth), Nomar Garciaparra (1994, 12th) and Jason Varitek (1994, 14th).
Junior second baseman Richard Lewis (Marietta, Ga.), who was undrafted out of high school, was the 40th overall selection after being selected as a supplemental first round pick by the Atlanta Braves.
Junior right-handed pitcher Steve Kelly (Fairfield, Ohio) was selected by his hometown Cincinnati Reds in the fourth round, while fellow righty hurler Rhett Parrott (Dalton, Ga.) was taken in the ninth round by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Catcher Bryan Prince (Ft. Oglethorpe), who returned to Tech for his senior season after not being drafted as a junior, was selected in the 10th round by the Cincinnati Reds.
Junior righty Kevin Cameron (Joliet, Ill.) was the first pick in the 13th round by the Minnesota Twins and Brian Sager (Branford, Conn.), also a junior right handed, went in the 14th round to the Chicago White Sox.
Senior outfielder/catcher Jason Basil (West Chester, Ohio) was Tech*s final selection of the day when he was taken by the Oakland Athletics in the 15th round.
In addition to the eight current Yellow Jackets that were selected, five members of Tech*s incoming recruiting class were also picked in day one of the draft. Third baseman David Wright (Chesapeake, Va.) was a supplemental first round pick by the New York Mets, pitcher Jay Mitchell (LaGrange, Ga.) went in the fourth round to the Colorado Rockies, pitcher Kyle Davies (Stockbridge, Ga.) was taken in the fourth round by the Atlanta Braves, pitcher Jim Johnson (Endicott, N.Y.) was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth round, and outfielder Jeremy Slayden (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) went in the 20th round to the San Diego Padres.
The 2001 First-Year Draft will conclude with rounds 20-50 on Wednesday.
Current Georgia Tech Players in the DraftPlayer Class Pos. Round TeamMark Teixeira Jr. 3B 1st Texas RangersRichard Lewis Jr. 2B 1st(*) Atlanta BravesSteve Kelly Jr. RHP 4th Cincinnati RedsRhett Parrott Jr. RHP 9th St. Louis CardinalsBryan Prince Sr. C 10th Cincinnati RedsKevin Cameron Jr. RHP 13th Minnesota TwinsBrian Sager Jr. RHP 14th Chicago White SoxJason Basil Sr. OF-C 15th Oakland Athletics
Georgia Tech Signees in the Draft Player Pos. Round Team David Wright 3B 1st(*) New York Mets Jay Mitchell RHP 4th Colorado Rockies Kyle Davies RHP 4th Atlanta Braves Jim Johnson RHP 5th Baltimore Orioles Jeremy Slayden OF 20th San Diego Padres
(*) * denotes supplemental first round pick
