Oct. 4, 2002
ATLANTA – For the second time in five years, Georgia Tech has captured the NCAA Division I baseball recruiting championship, according to Collegiate Baseball newspaper in its annual compilation of top recruiting classes across the USA.
The 9-man class of all freshmen features RHP/1B Micah Owings (Gainesville, Ga.), a second round pick by Colorado, and SS Tyler Greene (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), a second round pick of Atlanta.
Two other high profile players were landed by Georgia Tech. in RHP Jason Neighborgall (Hillsborough, N.C.), a 7th round pick by Boston, and RHP Jon Crosby (Memphis, Tenn.), a 45th round choice of Arizona.
Other quality players the Yellow Jackets landed include: * OF Steven Blackwood (Roswell, Ga.), All-State. * C Andy Hawranick (Akron, Ohio), All-State. * LHP Ryan Self (Alpharetta, Ga.), All-Conference. * 1B Ryan Stanley (Tampa, Fla.), All-Conference. * RHP Jared Hyatt (Marietta, Ga.) All-Conference.
“We are very excited about this year’s class,” said Scott Stricklin, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Georgia Tech. “To get three players in Owings, Greene and Neighborgall to pass up pro contracts and come to Georgia Tech is a major coup for us. Overall, the class is very deep, and the freshmen will have an immediate impact on our team.”
Georgia Tech Head Coach Danny Hall was thrilled with the class as well. “All told, I think it is a great recruiting class,” said Hall. “Getting Tyler Greene was a major coup. The left side of the infield was a hole that we were really worried about, and Tyler is a tremendous athlete with great skills. He is going to do nothing but get better. That’s a major coup to see a guy who is a second round pick walk away from the Atlanta Braves and decide that he wanted to spend the next three years at Georgia Tech.”
Hall said landing Owings and Neighborgall were equally important.
“We have had some great pitchers in the 10 years that I have seen here, but we have never had two guys with the amount of talent that they bring in right away. If Jason wanted to be a first round pick, he could have been if he settled for ‘slot money.’ But he felt like he was better than that, and I think that he is better than that. Micah is a tremendous talent and a great competitor. Another way that he is going to be able to help our team is that he can really hit. Not only is he a great talent on the mound, and that is where his future is, but he will be a major factor for us offensively.”
TOP 30 RECRUITING CLASSES BY COLLEGIATE BASEBALLRank Team Recruits Frosh JC Transfers1. Georgia Tech. 9 9 0 02. Cal. St. Fullerton 17 14 3 03. Louisiana St. 14 7 7 04. Florida St. 19 13 6 05. Clemson 17 14 3 06. Texas 14 9 4 17. UCLA 9 9 0 08. South Carolina 14 9 5 09. Stanford 11 11 0 010. Arizona 21 13 7 1
11. Miami, Fla. 12 8 3 1 12. Southern Calif. 7 6 1 0 13. Baylor 14 14 0 0 14. Arizona St. 15 12 2 1 15. Mississippi St. 12 9 3 0 16. Mississippi 13 7 6 0 17. Rice 8 6 1 1 18. Tulane 11 9 0 2 19. Hawaii 21 11 10 0 20. Auburn 8 6 2 0
21. Florida 15 8 7 0 22. Oklahoma St. 18 4 14 0 23. Nebraska 15 7 8 0 24. U.C. Irvine 14 11 1 2 25. Oral Roberts 24 9 12 3 26. Notre Dame 8 8 0 0 27. Wichita St. 13 8 4 1 28. Long Beach St. 18 12 6 0 29. Oregon St. 15 11 3 1 30. Santa Clara 12 10 0 2
Other Top Recruiting Classes: Texas A&M, San Diego St., Winthrop, Pepperdine, Texas-Arlington, Wake Forest, Ohio St., Oklahoma, Houston, Cal. St. Northridge, Tennessee, N.C. Greensboro, Kentucky, Loyola Marymount, UNLV, Missouri, Indiana St., McNeese St., Alabama, Old Dominion, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, East Tennessee St., High Point, Marshall, Nevada, Creighton, Central Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Villanova, Middle Tennessee St., Louisville, West Virginia, San Francisco, Central Florida, Virginia, Washington, San Jose St., Florida Atlantic, Stetson, Ohio, Richmond, Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas Tech., South Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette, Cal. Poly SLO, California, Washington St., The Citadel, Manhattan.
