San Diego State baseball's 2006 recruiting class has been ranked 25th nationally by Collegiate Baseball newspaper in its annual poll of the nation's Division I schools. SDSU was the lone Mountain West Conference school to have its class for the upcoming season ranked among the top 40 in the country.
Of the 29 new faces to the Aztec baseball program for the 2007 campaign, 12 are freshman, 11 are junior college recruits and six are transfers from other four-year institutions.
Ten of SDSU's 2006 recruits have been drafted at least once by major league clubs during their playing careers. This past June, left-handed pitcher Brandon Villalobos (Chaffey JC) was selected in the 23rd round by the White Sox while freshman Nate Solow (La Cueva HS, Albuquerque, N.M.) was taken by Philadelphia in the 40th round.
A trio of players who come to the Aztecs from the Community College of Southern Nevada all arrive as previously drafted athletes. That threesome includes pitcher Aaron Brady (2005 by Atlanta), outfielder Cameron Johnson (2004 by Milwaukee) and pitcher Steve Hirschfeld (2004 by Montreal and 2005 by Colorado).
Junior college athletes J.R Murphy (RHP, Yavapai JC, Texas Rangers 2005), George Snyder (RHP, Chaffey JC, San Francisco Giants 2005) and Brandon Pullen (RHP, Scottsdale CC, Arizona Diamondbacks 2004) were selected as well.
Also new to SDSU are four year transfers Brandon Glover (OF, Texas A&M, 2004 Milwaukee) and Frank LoNigro (C, Fresno State, 2005 Texas Rangers), who were also chosen on MLB draft day.
In addition to these 10 former pro draftees, the Aztecs have added several other standouts including JC All-American shortstop Troy Hanzawa (Yavapai JC) and SoCal All-American infielder Garett Green (Cypress JC). Among the high school players on the 2007 roster are a pair of local standouts in all-state outfielder Ted Kleist (Cathedral Catholic HS) and pitcher Travis McCracken (St. Augustine HS), the Eastern League pitcher of the year in 2006.
"We're very excited about the class we have here for the 2007 season," said head coach Tony Gwynn. "It's a talented group and we're looking forward to seeing what they can do at this level. After a couple seasons of losing recruits to the professional ranks, it's nice to be able to welcome recruits of this quality into our program."
Collegiate Baseball Recruiting Class Rankings
1. South Carolina
2. Miami
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. USC
6. North Carolina
7. Baylor
8. Cal State Fullerton
9. Texas
10. Oklahoma State
11. Texas A&M
12. Arizona State
13. Florida State
14. Georgia Tech
15. Louisiana State
16. Clemson
17. Tennessee
18. UCLA
19. Stanford
20. Cal Poly SLO
21. Kentucky
22. UC Irvine
23. Arkansas
24. California
25. San Diego State
26. North Carolina State
27. Arizona
28. Santa Clara
29. Missouri
30. Notre Dame
31. Mississippi State
32. Mississippi
33. Pepperdine
34. Rice
35. Alabama
36. Tulane
37. Auburn
38. Jacksonville
39. Oregon State
40. Washington
Georgia