Oregon Baseball's 2008 Recruting Class Top-10

DURHAM, N.C. - The 2008-09 Oregon baseball recruiting class was ranked 10th in the nation by Baseball America’s evaluation of NCAA Division I baseball classes, it was announced today.

It is the second top-10 ranking for the Ducks 2008 recruiting class, as Oregon received the No. 2 ranking in the nation by Collegiate Baseball’s annual evaluation last month.

The Ducks first signing class in 27 years under head coach George Horton includes nine players that were taken in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, but will be attending the University of Oregon this fall.

“We definitely think our 2008 recruiting class gives us a good base for this season and the future,” assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Andrew Checketts said at the time of Collegiate Baseball’s announcement last month. “This class will allow the program to hit the ground running and move us in the direction that we want to be in. The student-athletes showed a lot of faith in our coaching staff and the University by making the commitment to Oregon.”

Oregon’s current roster consists of 43 student-athletes; 25 freshmen, 13 junior college transfers and five Division I transfers. The Ducks began Fall Ball on Sept. 15, practicing at Thurston High School (Springfield, Ore.), while construction of PK Park is underway.

The 2008 class, includes two of the top five junior college pitchers as rated by Perfect Game USA, in Bennett Whitmore (Clovis, Calif./Fresno CC) and Justin LaTempa (Huntington Beach, Calif./Golden West College). Also included in the 2008 class are freshmen Tyler Anderson (Las Vegas, Nev./Spring Valley HS), Chris Garrison (Rocklin, Calif./Rocklin HS), Joey Housey (Hollywood, Fla./Nova HS), Scott McGough (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum Senior HS) and Colby Sokol (Puyallup, Wash./Emerald Ridge HS), who were each drafted this spring.

The Ducks will play their first game in 28 years on Friday, Feb. 20 at Saint Mary’s. Oregon will then christen emerging PK Park, hosting defending College World Series champion Fresno State on Friday, Feb. 27 in Eugene.

Fellow Pacific-10 Conference member Arizona State took home the No. 1 ranked recruiting class by Baseball America. Collegiate Baseball also ranked the Sun Devils class as tops in the nation last month.

Four-year transfers were not considered for BA’s rankings, just freshmen and junior college transfers. For detailed breakdowns on the top 25 classes, visit www.baseballamerica.com

Baseball America’s 2008 Top Ten Recruiting Classes

1. Arizona State
2. Vanderbilt
3. Georgia
4. Kentucky
5. Florida
6. Texas A&M
7. UCLA
8. Arkansas
9. Texas Christian
10. Oregon

Pac-10 in the Top 25

1. Arizona State
7. UCLA
10. Oregon
18. Stanford
22. USC