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Baseball Recruiting Class Ranked No. 1

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
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Baseball Recruiting Class Ranked No. 1

BATON ROUGE — LSU is No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper 2007 ranking of recruiting classes released Tuesday.

The editors of Collegiate Baseball write: “LSU’s recruiting haul is simply amazing when you consider that nine players were drafted, and it includes eight High School All-Americans and three first-team Junior College All-Americans among the 19 players the Tigers brought in.”

“I’m very proud that our first recruiting class as a staff at LSU is the top-ranked class in the country,” said coach Paul Mainieri. “This recognition makes a statement that we are committed to finding players that want to be here and restore the glory of LSU baseball.

“With any class, regardless of ranking,” Mainieri continued, “the key is to get the players to perform well once they join our program. We still have a lot of work to do as we mold these players and help them reach the necessary level of consistency. It sure is exciting, though, to have players of this caliber on the field.”

The newcomers have joined LSU’s veteran players for a five-week fall practice period that began on Sept. 15 and continues through Oct. 23. The 2008 regular season begins Feb. 22 when the Tigers play host to Indiana in Alex Box Stadium.

“We had the most drafted players in the nation end up in school, the most prospects from the Top 200 in the nation end up in school and the most players ranked in the Top 100 end up in school,” said LSU associate head coach Terry Rooney, the Tigers’ recruiting coordinator.

“I hope this ranking further energizes our fan base and demonstrates that LSU’s return as one of the elite in college baseball is imminent,” Mainieri said.

LSU’s star-studded 2007 class includes:

RHP Anthony Ranaudo, St. Rose HS (Jackson, N.J.), 11th round pick by the Rangers
INF Matt Clark, Riverside CC (Calif.), 28th round pick by the Pirates
OF Chad Jones, Southern Lab HS (Baton Rouge, La.), 13th round pick by the Astros
INF/OF Rene Escobar, Riverside CC (Calif.), 30th round pick by the Braves
OF Leon Landry, Baker (La.) HS, 36th round pick by the Reds
INF DJ LeMahieu, Brother Rice HS (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), 41st round pick by the Tigers
RHP Jordan Brown, Meridian (Miss.) CC, 45th round pick by the Reds
LHP Ryan Verdugo, Skagit (Wash.) College, 47th round pick by the Giants
INF Matt Gaudet, Delgado CC, 40th round pick by Tampa Bay in 2005
RHP Ben Alsup, Ruston (La.) HS, High School All-American
C Micah Gibbs, Pfugerville (Texas) HS, High School All-American
SS Derek Helenihi, Ohlone (Calif.) College, JC All-American
RHP Taylor Martin, St. Michael HS (Baton Rouge, La.), High School All-American
OF Cody Reine, Walker (La.) HS, Louisville Slugger High School All-American
RHP Austin Ross, Captain Shreve HS (Shreveport, La.), High School All-American
RHP Daniel Bradshaw, Ouachita Christian HS (West Monroe, La.), High School All-American
RHP/INF Taylor Davis, Panola (Texas) College, JUCO All-Conference
OF/C Johnny Dishon, Bridge City HS (Beaumont, Texas), High School All-State
RHP Jordan Nicholson, Ruston (La.) HS, High School All-State
 
2007 Collegiate Baseball Recruiting Rankings
Team, No. of Recruits
1. LSU 19
2. Florida State 20
3. Oregon State 16
4. Notre Dame 14
5. UCLA 11
6. Cal State Fullerton 16
7. North Carolina 12
8. Arizona State 17
9. San Diego 18
10. Texas 17
11. Washington 16
12. Auburn 14
13. Virginia 16
14. Oklahoma State 18
15. Vanderbilt 13
16. Georgia 14
17. Rice 12
18. South Carolina 13
19. Missouri 16
20. Miami (Fla.) 8
21. Clemson 10
22. Stanford 13
23. Georgia Tech 11
24. Arizona 9
25. Mississippi 17
26. Mississippi State 11
27. Florida 9
28. Louisville 20
29. UC Irvine 13
30. Tulane 16
31. Kentucky 15
32. Southern California 14
33. Arkansas 20
34. Wichita State 10
35. Oklahoma 18
36. Pepperdine 20
37. Alabama 14
38. UC Riverside 17
39. Baylor 11
40. Jacksonville 15
 Central Florida 12