Rice established a new
Conference USA record by having 13 players selected in the 2007 Major
League Baseball Draft, which concluded Friday evening.
Owls junior lefthander Joe
Savery was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies with the 19th overall
selection of the major league baseball draft to lead the selections.
Savery's selection marks the third straight year that a C-USA player has
been taken in the first round of the MLB Draft and the fourth time in
the last five years that the league has produced at least one first
round pick.
The Owls record 13 selections
included eight pitchers. Tulane set a school record by having six
players chosen. East Carolina produced four picks, seven including a trio
of incoming recruits. Southern Mississippi had two players selected,
while Houston, Memphis and Central Florida each had one player taken.
ECU players taken in the draft
were redshirt junior relief ace Shane Mathews (Conover, NC; 8th round,
pick number 249, Baltimore Orioles), junior infielder Dale Mollenhauer
(Gibsonia, PA; 17th round, pick number 539, Chicago White Sox),
junior southpaw pitcher Dustin Sasser (Pikeville, NC; 21st round,
pick number 637, Chicago Cubs), and senior left-handed pitcher Jason
Neitz (Mifflinburg, PA; 37th round, pick 1,117).
C-USA's 29 total selections were
the second-most in league history. In 2004, the league produced 32 draft
picks.
Three players that signed
letters of intent to enroll at ECU in the coming academic year were
selected in the draft: Tyrell Worthington (Pitt South Central High
School, football signee; 5th round, pick number 163, Arizona
Diamondbacks), Sthil Sowers (North Lenoir High School; 22nd round, pick
number 677, Cleveland Indians), and Derrick Conaster (Tallahassee
Community College, 28th round, pick number 859, Cincinnati Reds.
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Conference USA's 2007 Major League
Baseball Draft Picks
Round - Player - Position - School - Major League Team
1. Joe Savery LHP Rice Philadelphia Phillies
3. Brian Friday SS Rice Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Tim Bascom RHP UCF Baltimore Orioles
4. Sean Morgan RHP Tulane Arizona Diamondbacks
7. Cole St.Clair LHP Rice Cleveland Indians
8. Shane Mathews RHP East Carolina Baltimore Orioles
8. Tyler Henley OF Rice St. Louis Cardinals
8. Danny Lehmann C Rice Minnesota Twins
9. Aaron Brown RHP Houston Seattle Mariners
11. Brad Emaus IF Tulane Toronto Blue Jays
13. David Clark RHP Southern Miss Los Angeles Angels
15. Daniel Latham RHP Tulane Minnesota Twins
17. Brandon Gomes RHP Tulane San Diego Padres
17. Dale Mollenhauer IF East Carolina Chicago White Sox
18. Bobby Bramhall LHP Rice Milwaukee Brewers
21. Dustin Sasser LHP East Carolina Chicago Cubs
24. Adam Zornes C Rice Cleveland Indians
28. Bill Moss 2B Memphis Chicago Cubs
28. Warren McFadden OF Tulane Detroit Tigers
29. Jonathan Runnels LHP Rice Toronto Blue Jays
34. Chris Kelley RHP Rice Arizona Diamondbacks
34. Ryne Tacker RHP Rice Oakland A's
36. Tyler Conn LHP Southern Miss Arizona Diamondbacks
37. Jason Neitz, LHP, San Francisco Giants
37. Scott Lonergan RHP Rice Boston Red Sox
44. Chad Lembeck OF Rice Colorado Rockies
44. Cat Everett SS Tulane Houston Astros
45. Travis Reagan C Rice Washington Nationals
48. Kyle Gunderson RHP Rice Washington Nationals
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Thompson to
direct ECU's basketball operations
Mark Thompson has been named director of basketball
operations at East Carolina, filling the position vacated by Jeremy
Shyatt, who resigned earlier this spring to pursue other opportunities.
"Mark and I worked together at the University of
South Carolina for one successful season and I'm thrilled to add him to
our staff," said ECU coach Ricky Stokes. "As a former player, it's a
natural transition for him to move into coaching. With his background,
work ethic and knowledge I know he'll be a great addition to the Pirate
family."
Thompson's responsibilities at ECU include handling
the program's daily operations, coordinating its travel itineraries,
assisting with scouting videos and overseeing the team's student
managers. He will also oversee the overall operation of ECU's summer
boy's basketball camps.
Owls' Savery
named finalist for Howser Trophy
Rice junior pitcher/first baseman Joe Savery has been
named as one of the four finalists for the 2007 Dick Howser Trophy,
given to the nation's top collegiate baseball player.
Savery is joined by Vanderbilt left-handed pitcher
David Price, Texas outfielder Kyle Russell and Florida State second
baseman Tony Thomas, Jr., as finalists for this year's award.
Houston's Brad Lincoln won the Dick Howser Trophy
last season, becoming Conference USA's first recipient of the award.
Tigers' Mays
decides to return for senior season
Clemson junior James Mays has withdrawn his name from
the NBA draft and will return to school for his final season in 2007-08.
Mays, who declared for the draft on April 25, participated in the
pre-draft camp last week in Orlando.
"I have decided to return to Clemson for my senior
year," Mays said. "I am glad that I went through this process, but feel
coming back will give me a chance to continue to develop as a player,
and enhance my draft status for next year.
"It will also allow me to work towards getting a
degree, which is important to me and my family. My focus now is to do
everything possible to help Clemson win an ACC championship."
The 6-foot-9 Mays was honorable mention All-ACC this
past season while helping the Tigers to a 25-11 overall record. He
averaged 12.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He also established
Clemson single-season records for assists (95) and steals (69) by a
frontcourt player.
June 8, 2007
Pirates bring aboard
juco shooting guard
James Legan, a 6-3, 200-pound,
guard from Galena Park, TX, has signed a national letter of intent with
the East Carolina basketball program. Legan will have two years of
eligibility remaining after playing his first two seasons at Lon Morris
College.
Legan was a second-team
All-Region XIV selection this past season, averaging 14.9 points and 4.5
rebounds while shooting 38 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
He scored 19 points in the
championship game of the Region XIV tournament to lead Lon Morris to the
NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, KA. Legan averaged 13.3 points and shot
45 percent (13-of-29) from behind the arc to lead LMC to a sixth-place
finish and help the Bearcats set a NJCAA record for most three-point
field goals in a tournament (47).
ECU's
Myers advances in NCAA hammer throw
East Carolina's Terrance Myers
advanced to the finals in the hammer throw as the Pirates wrapped up
their first day of competition at the 2007 NCAA men's and women’s
outdoor track and field championships on Wednesday in Sacramento, CA.
Myers placed fifth in his
preliminary heat with a mark of 63.34 meters, and was 11th overall,
moving ahead to the finals. A total of 12 athletes advanced to the
climactic round, which will begin this afternoon at 4:15 p.m.
ECU's Chelsea Salisbury saw her
season come to an end as she missed the cut for the women’s hammer throw
event.
Robich
back at ECU as women's hoops aide
Tali Robich, a former Lady
Pirate standout, has joined the women's basketball staff at East
Carolina as an assistant coach. A native of Rockingham, Robich has
served as an assistant coach at UNC-Wilmington for the past two seasons.
Robich will assume the assistant
position previously occupied by Samantha Young, who left in April to
pursue other career opportunities. Robich's primary duties will be
coaching the guard position players but she will also be involved in
recruiting and other aspects of the program.
June 7, 2007
Northern League
recognizes Darryl Lawhorn
The Northern League announced
that Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks infielder Darryl Lawhorn, a former standout
at East Carolina, has been named the league's player of the week.
A draft pick of the Arizona
Diamondbacks in 2004, Lawhorn batted .429 (12-for-28) with five home
runs and 13 RBI's in seven games for the RedHawks. Having made the move
from third base back to his natural position of second base, Lawhorn
responded with three, three-hit games.
Lawhorn's home run total for the
week nearly approached his season-long total of seven attained last year
for the Kansas City T-Bones.
The 6-2, 195-pound left-handed
hitter, has had a career plagued by injuries. At ECU, he broke his foot
during the NCAA regionals just prior to the major league amateur draft.
After recovering from surgery he signed with the D'Backs, but re-broke
his foot prior to making his professional debut. Following his release
from Arizona, he signed briefly with the Cincinnati Reds in January 2006
and entered spring training competing for a second base spot with his
twin brother, Trevor.
The Wilmington resident is in
his second season in the Northern League. During the off-season he was
traded twice in one week, eventually being acquired by Fargo-Moorhead
from the Schaumburg Flyers in exchange for pitcher Brain Hewitt.
ECU
strength assistant gets national honor
East Carolina assistant strength
and conditioning coach Michelle Clayton-Boswell was recently selected as
one of two recipients of the 2007 John Stuckey Award. The honor is
awarded each year for outstanding performance on the practical portion
of the strength and conditioning coach (SCCC) certification examination.
Boswell was presented with the
award at the seventh annual CSCCa national conference in Salt Lake City.
The other recipient was Andrea Thornton of Washington State.
Boswell is mentored at ECU by
head strength and conditioning coach Mike Golden.
Highly-sought nose tackle verbals to Irish
Nose tackle Omar Hunter of
Buford, GA, has become the 14th player to verbally commit to Notre
Dame's recruiting class of 2008, according to a South Bend Tribune
report.
The 6-foot-1, 300-pound Hunter
chose the Irish over Michigan, Southern Cal, Florida, Tennessee and
Auburn.
Hunter registered 85 tackles and
13 tackles-for-loss last season at Buford, the same school that produced
former Irish running back Darius Walker.
