News From THE ROGER CLEMENS AWARD COLLEGE BASEBALL’S PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Media Contact: Bill Cousins (281-924-8938)
HOUSTON – Seventy-eight of the best pitchers in collegiate baseball, including 2007 finalist Jacob Thompson of Virginia, have been named to the preliminary watch list for the fifth annual Roger Clemens Award.
Also on the list are 36 players who were members of the 2007 Clemens Award watch list and 24 who are members of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s preseason all-America squad.
Players from 24 NCAA Division 1 conferences are on the list, including nine players each from the Pacific 10 and Southeastern conferences. Two schools have three players on the list (Arizona State and Rice), and seven have two players listed: Creighton, Lamar, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Old Dominion and Wichita State.
Previous winners of the Roger Clemens Award were Jered Weaver of Long Beach State (2004), Luke Hochevar of Tennessee (2005), Andrew Miller of North Carolina (2006), and David Price of Vanderbilt (2007).
The finalists for the 2007 Roger Clemens Award will be selected in voting by a national panel that includes: all Division 1 head baseball coaches, a selection of national media who cover collegiate baseball, the 16 winners of the R. E. “Bob” Smith Award, which was presented to the top player in the country in Houston in 1988-2003. In addition, the 13 previous finalists for the Clemens Award are also issued ballots. The 2008 award will be presented this summer.
The Roger Clemens Award was named after future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, who began his march to stardom while leading the University of Texas to the College World Series title in 1983. As a major leaguer, Clemens won 354 games (eighth best in history), fanned 4,672 hitters and won seven Cy Young Awards, emblematic as the top pitcher in his league. The Roger Clemens Award is the only award of its kind, honoring the finest pitchers in college baseball.
The event is administered by the Greater Houston Baseball Association, which has donated more than $300,000 to charity from the net proceeds from the first four dinners. The GHBA is a non-profit 501.3 (C) organization dedi- cated to the growth of amateur baseball in the Houston area. 2008 Roger Clemens Award Watch List College Baseball’s Pitcher of the Year
Atlantic Coast Conference Mid-American Conference Eric Erickson - Soph. - Miami, Fla. Andy Deain - Jr. - Northern Illinois *^ Ben Hunter - Sr. - Wake Forest # Eryk McConnell - Sr. - N.C. State Missouri Valley Conference Ryan Strauss - Sr. - Florida State # Ben Mancuso - Sr. - Creighton *# Jacob Thompson - Jr. - Virginia # Rob Musgrave - Sr. - Wichita State *^# Aaron Shafer - Jr. - Wichita State Atlantic Sun Conference # Pat Venditte - Sr. - Creighton *# Robbie Elsemiller - Sr. - Stetson Mountain West Conference Atlantic-10 Conference Bobby LaFromboise - Sr. - New Mexico Brian Alas - Sr. - Richmond Stephen Strasburg - Soph. - San Diego State * Jamie Degidio - Sr. - Rhode Island *# Chris Manning - Jr. - Belmont Ohio Valley Conference *^ Christian Friedrich - Jr. - Eastern Kentucky Big East Conference Colin Lynch - Jr. - St. John’s Pacific 10 Conference Justin Marks - Soph. - Louisville Matt Gorgen - Jr. - California * Dan Osterbrock - Jr. - Cincinnati *# Preston Guilmet - Jr. - Arizona * David Phelps - Jr. - Notre Dame * Nick Hagadone – Sr. - Washington *# Zack Pitts - Sr. - Louisville Ross Humes - Jr. - Washington State Shawn Sanford - Soph. - South Florida Jason Jarvis - Soph. - Arizona State * Mike Leake - Soph. - Arizona State Big South Conference Tyson Ross - Jr. - California # Bobby Gagg - Jr. - Coastal Carolina *# Josh Satow - Sr. - Arizona State # Mike Stutes - Sr. - Oregon State Big 10 Conference * Chris Fetter - Jr. - Michigan Patriot League Drew O’Neil - Jr. - Penn State *^ Mitch Harris – Sr. - Navy * J.B. Shuck - Jr. - Ohio State *# Cole White - Sr. - Army * Mike Wilson - Jr. - Michigan Matthew Wilson - Sr. - Bucknell
Big 12 Conference Southeastern Conference # Nick Cassavechia - Sr. - Baylor *# Jared Bradford - Sr. - LSU # Aaron Crow - Jr. - Missouri *^ Paul Burnside - Jr. - Auburn Johnny Dorn - Sr. - Nebraska Steve Crnkovich - Soph. - Tennessee *# Daniel Edwards - Sr. - Kansas State *^ Greg Dombroski - Sr. - Kentucky ^ Kenn Kasparek - Jr. - Texas Scott Green - Jr. - Kentucky ^ Miles Morgan - Jr. - Texas Tech ^ Luke Greinke - Jr. - Auburn * Stephen Porlier - Jr. - Oklahoma *# Lance Lynn - Jr. - Mississippi *^ Alex Wilson - Jr. - Texas A&M *# Mike Minor - Soph. - Vanderbilt * Rick Zagone - Jr. - Missouri Cody Satterwhite - Soph. - Mississippi # Aaron Weatherford - Jr. - Mississippi State Big West Conference *# Scott Gorgen - Jr. - UC-Irvine Southern Conference # Joe Kelly - Soph. - UC-Riverside Steven Hensley - Jr. - Elon Bryan Shaw - Jr. - Long Beach State Garrett Sherrill - Jr. - Appalachian State
Colonial Athletic Association Southland Conference *^ Dan Hudson - Jr. - Old Dominion Tim Erickson - Sr. - Lamar *# Anthony Shawler - Jr. - Old Dominion Jacob Howard - Jr. - Sam Houston State David Slovak - Sr. - Delaware Brian Sisk - Sr. - Lamar
Conference USA Sun Belt Conference Ryan Berry - Soph. - Rice *^ Hunter Moody - Sr. - Louisiana-Lafayette * Shooter Hunt - Jr. - Tulane Matt Langwell - Jr. - Rice West Coast Conference *^ Cole St. Clair - Sr. - Rice * Brett Hunter - Jr. - Pepperdine *^# Brian Matusz - Jr. - San Diego Horizon League # David Cales - Jr. - Ill.-Chicago Western Athletic Conference * Matt Daly - Jr. - Hawaii Ivy League * Todd Roth - Soph. - Penn * 2007 Roger Clemens Award Watch List ^ 2006 Roger Clemens Award Watch List # 2008 NCBWA Preseason All-America