PG Recruiting Database | PG Recruiting Rankings
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. - The University of Oregon made a big splash in the college baseball world this week when they landed in-state baseball star Parker Kelly.
The Portland, Ore. native announced his verbal commitment to Oregon on St. Patrick’s Day via Twitter, Tweeting “I am wearing green for more than just Saint Patty’s Day, I am so blessed to announce that I have verbally committed to U of O! #GoDucks.”
Schools have recruited Kelly, who is ranked the No. 47 prospect in the nation for the high school class of 2015, No. 8 shortstop in the class, and No. 1 prospect in the state for 2015, since the summer before his freshman year.
“The whole college recruiting process was awesome,” said Kelly. “I kind of got to go through it with my brother, so I kind of knew the ins and outs of it.”
Parker Kelly’s older brother, Carson, was taken in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and is currently playing in their organization. He was ranked No. 29 in the 2012 high school class by Perfect Game. Carson Kelly was committed to Oregon as well, but bypassed that commitment to go pro.
“I’m very blessed and thankful to be able to go there and to call myself a ‘Duck’,” Kelly said. “Oregon was just where I had my gut feeling where I wanted to go.”
“A big part of it, for me, was the tutoring center and the schooling that they have there,” said Kelly. “As they say, ‘student-athlete’ and student comes first. That’s very big to my family and I. They have the resources to help and that was a big part of it for me.”
Kelly has attended eight Perfect Game events since the summer of 2011, including last year’s Jr. national Showcase at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn.
“Perfect Game has done a lot for me. You get to go out and play against some of the best competition from around the nation,” said Kelly. “Coaches truly do look at the Perfect Game site and they go to Perfect Game events because they know that’s where the elite players are gonna be.”
Kelly said now that he has made his commitment he could focus on playing baseball again.
“I wanted to get it out of the way so I could focus on my high school team and focus on winning a state championship, that’s the goal right now.”
Kelly is the eighth 2015 to commit to Oregon and is the highest ranked commit Oregon currently has. Five of the eight commits are ranked in the class of 2015’s Top 500. The University of Oregon’s 2015 recruiting class currently ranks No. 27 in the nation.
For access to Parker Kelly’s player page, visit the link : Parker Kelly Perfect Game profile