While there was plenty of hype and fanfare Wednesday on the first day of college football’s signing period, the process was a bit of a yawner from a baseball standpoint.
Normally, some of the nation’s best prep football players are also significant baseball talents—and it has often led to an intriguing tug-of-war between factions in the two sports over a player’s services. Major league teams traditionally are forced to pay larger signing bonuses to players who have a second sport to use as leverage.
But this year, the best football player with a significant baseball connection, Georgia prep star Donavan Tate, is only No. 83 nationally, according to rivals.com’s ranking of the nation’s Top 250 prep-football prospects. Tate is the No. 2-ranked high-school baseball prospect in the country, according to PG Crosschecker—and the No. 6 prospect overall for the 2009 baseball draft.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Tate, who plays a variety of positions on the football field, including quarterback, committed to North Carolina. He is slated to play both sports for the Tar Heels, but the lure of a substantial signing bonus from the major-league team that drafts him in June may steer him away from football altogether.
Tate, whose father Lars played football at Georgia and had a brief NFL career, initially decided against playing football as a senior at Cartersville High, in order to concentrate solely on baseball. But he had a change of heart after the first week of play, and rejoined his team.
Only four players in the rivals.com Top 250 football rankings have a significant track record in baseball and would even be considered candidates to play both football and baseball in college—much less be drafted in June. Tate is the only athlete who appears to have the potential to be an impact player in either sport.
Not only did North Carolina land Tate, but it also got a commitment from the second-ranked player on the rivals.com list with a significant baseball connection. Quarterback Bryn Renner, the nation’s No. 111-ranked football player, is ranked No. 8 by PG Crosschecker among the top prep baseball prospects in Virginia in the 2009 draft class. He’s a 6-foot-4, 195-pound shortstop from West Springfield High.
The other two players with baseball ties on the rivals.com list are also quarterbacks—No. 115 Richie Brehaut, a California high-school product who committed to UCLA; and No. 128 A.J. McCarron, an Alabama prep product who committed to play at Alabama. Renner, Brehaut and McCarron are ranked fifth, sixth and seventh among the nation’s top pro-style quarterback recruits.
Neither Brehaut nor McCarron is ranked among the top baseball prospects in their respective states by PG Crosschecker, but Brehaut is no longer in high school because he enrolled at UCLA at the semester break. That will also preclude him from being eligible in June for the baseball draft.
Though only four baseball players cracked the rivals.com Top 250 list, several others did factor onto various rivals.com position lists, and most are expected to play both baseball and football in college.
Outfielder Kyrell Hudson (Evergreen HS, Vancouver, Wash.) is Washington’s top-ranked baseball prospect. He committed to Oregon State as the No. 81 athlete/all-purpose player in the rivals.com rankings.
Outfielder Brandon Jacobs (Parkview HS, Lilburn, Ga.), the No. 17 baseball prospect in Georgia, committed to Auburn. He was ranked the nation’s 60th best running-back prospect, and plans to play both sports in college.
Shortstop Ryan Mossakowski (Centennial HS, Frisco, Texas) was ranked the No. 14 quarterback prospect in the country. He is also the No. 22 baseball player in Texas, according to PG Crosschecker, and is expected to play both sports at Kentucky.
Catcher Wes Luquette (Isidore Newman HS, New Orleans), the No. 3-ranked baseball player in Louisiana, was ranked No. 47 among the nation’s leading quarterbacks. He had committed to Louisiana State earlier to play baseball only.
Outfielder Keenyn Walker (Judge Memorial HS, Salt Lake City), Utah’s fifth-ranked baseball prospect, is the No. 80-ranked safety. But he didn’t sign with a college Wednesday and it appears he will go the junior-college route and play baseball only if he’s not drafted and signed in June.
Shortstop Justin Trapp (Fairfield Central HS, Winnsboro, S.C.) was ranked the nation’s 75th-best athlete/all-purpose player. He’s made baseball a priority and committed to the College of Charleston in the NCAA’s early-signed period for baseball in mid-November. He is South Carolina’s 16th-best best prospect.
Outfielder Braxton Lane (Sandy Creek HS, Tyrone, Ga.), rated the No. 9 baseball prospect in Georgia, was heavily recruited by college football teams, but failed to be ranked among the nation’s top wide receivers—in part because he didn’t play football this fall in order to concentrate on baseball. He signed with Oregon Wednesday to play both sports—though it’s anticipated he will be an early-round pick in the baseball draft.
Outfielder Todd Glaesmann (the No. 12-ranked player in Texas), outfielder Brian Goodwin (No. 2, North Carolina), lefthander Slade Heathcott (No. 3, Texas), outfielder Jake Marisnick (No. 4, California), righthander David Renfroe (No. 1, Mississippi) and outfielder Cohl Walla (No. 14, Texas) are all top prospects for the 2009 baseball draft who were also prominent football players in high school, but none cracked any of the rivals.com priority lists.