UM Baseball's 2008 Signing Class Ranked Seventh Nationally
Sept. 23, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami baseball team’s 13-member 2008 signing class has been ranked as the No. 7 class nationally by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper‘s annual evaluation of NCAA Division I baseball classes.
Five pitchers and eight position players make up this year’s UM class that includes nine players from South Florida, one from Central Florida and three from the state of Texas. All three players from the state of Texas enter the program via junior colleges, while nine of the 10 freshmen hail from either Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties.
Arizona State – with a 20-player recruiting class – has been tabbed as the nation’s top group, followed by Oregon, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Georgia to round out the top five. The Hurricanes come in just ahead of fellow Atlantic Coast Conference teams Florida State and Clemson who rank eighth and ninth respectively.
Five of the UM’s 13 signees were selected in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, including Chris Herrmann (Tomball, Texas), who was taken in the 10th round by the Baltimore Orioles. In addition to Herrmann, Harold Martinez (Miami) was taken in the 19th round by the Baltimore Orioles, Taylor Wulf (Santa Fe, Texas) was chosen in the 29th round by the Atlanta Braves, Scott Lawson (Grapevine, Texas) was taken in the 40th round by the Houston Astros and Daniel Miranda (Miami) was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 50th round.
Joining Herrmann, Martinez, Wulf, Lawson and Miranda to complete the 2008 class is Nathan Melendres (Miami), Sam Robinson (Miami), Travis Miller (Tequesta), David Villasuso (Miami), Ted Blackman (Altamonte Springs), Kevin Youst (Plantation), Gerry Gonzalez (Coral Gables) and Vickash Ramjit (Miami).
The 2009 UM baseball team will feature 19 returning players – including 16 letterwinners – from last year’s team that reached the College World Series and finished with an overall record of 53-11. Among the players returning this season include left-handers Chris Hernandez, Collegiate Baseball‘s National Freshman Pitcher of the Year, and Eric Erickson, a two-time All-ACC performer, as well as shortstop Ryan Jackson, a first-team All-ACC selection in 2008.
Miami’s first day of fall practice is slated for Oct. 9.
This marks the 26th consecutive year that Collegiate Baseball has ranked baseball recruiting classes.
The following are the top 40 rankings of NCAA Division I recruiting classes for 2008 as determined by the staff of Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. A complete rundown of the top 10 classes is in the Oct. 1, 2008 edition of Collegiate Baseball.
Collegiate Baseball’s 2008 Recruiting Results (As of Sept. 23, 2008)
Team Recruits
1. Arizona St. 20
2. Oregon 35
3. Vanderbilt 13
4. Arkansas 16
5. Georgia 15
6. UCLA 8
7. Miami, Fla. 13
8. Florida St. 13
9. Clemson 12
10. Fresno St. 23
11. Texas 12
12. Oregon St. 13
13. South Carolina 14
14. Cal. St. Fullerton 19
15. Wichita St. 11
16. Southern California 15
17. Rice 14
18. Florida 12
19. Kentucky 10
20. Louisiana St. 10
21. N.C. State 14
22. U.C. Irvine 12
23. Southern Miss. 16
24. Virginia 11
25. Mississippi 13
26. Stanford 12
27. Texas A&M 11
28. Tennessee 16
29. San Diego St. 13
30. Texas Christian 12
31. Oklahoma St. 12
32. Oklahoma 15
33. Pepperdine 10
34. Arizona 10
35. Georgia Tech. 10
36. Louisville 11
37. Hawaii 14
38. Notre Dame 8
39. Long Beach St. 15
40. South Florida 11
Cal. St. Northridge 10
Other Top Recruiting Classes: California, Wake Forest, Marshall, Georgia Southern, Gonzaga, Troy, Kansas, Auburn, Miami (Ohio), East Carolina, U.C. Santa Barbara, St. John’s, Alabama, North Carolina, Liberty, Central Michigan, Iowa, San Diego, Washington, Missouri, James Madison, Jacksonville, Minnesota, Texas Tech., U.C. Riverside, Connecticut, Baylor, Mississippi St., Houston, Nevada, Northern Illinois, Santa Clara, Ball St., Manhattan, Siena, Virginia Military Institute, Villanova, San Francisco, Stetson, Maine, Cal Poly SLO, Florida International, Michigan, Tulane, Ohio St., Illinois, Memphis, New Orleans, Nebraska, Creighton, Oral Roberts, Nevada-Las Vegas, Richmond, Rutgers, Florida Atlantic, New Mexico, Lamar, Louisiana-Lafayette, N.C. Charlotte, South Alabama, College of Charleston, West Virginia, Dallas Baptist, The Citadel.
