Oct. 8, 2007

AUBURN, Ala. - For the third straight season, Baseball America has tabbed the Auburn baseball team's incoming signing class as one of the best in the nation. After landing the 10th-rated class in 2005, the organization tabbed last season's class as the 18th-best in the nation. Then on Monday it announced that the Tigers had landed the fifth-best class in the country.

"The rankings are great to see, but what is even better for us is what we feel about these kids now that they have participated in fall practice for the past three weeks," Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater said. "What we have seen of these guys in practice is even more impressive than the ranking we received."

Spearheaded by recruiting coordinator Butch Thompson, Auburn brought in 13 freshmen this season. Most notable of the freshmen is infielder Hunter Morris (Huntsville/Grissom), who was the highest-drafted player in this past June's Major League Baseball Draft to attend school. However, he is far from the only prize in the class which also includes IF Brian Fletcher (Fayetteville, Ga./Starr's Mill), IF/C Wes Gilmer (Pinson/Pinson Valley), RHP/IF Justin Hargett (Hartselle/Hartselle), LHP Rus Harper (Birmingham/Oak Mountain), RHP/OF Bradley Hendrix (Birmingham/Oak Mountain), RHP Jon Luke Jacobs (Gainestown/Jackson), OF Justin Jones (Millbrook/Stanhope Elmore), LHP Cory Luckie (Prattville/Prattville), IF Chezz McCann (Deatsville/Edgewood), RHP Miles Morton (Birmingham/Spain Park), OF Trent Mummey (Pinson/Pinson Valley) and IF/OF/C Kevin Patterson (Birmingham/Oak Mountain).

"Just like any other class, you have to focus on what your needs as a program are, and we knew from an offensive standpoint and an ability to swing the bat, those were going to be big needs for this class," Thompson said. "We also looked at our state (of which 12 of the 13 signees came from). We had good high school baseball in the state of Alabama and good coaches. It was a great year in that our state, and our neighboring state (Georgia) that we recruit so well, had those matches. There were high caliber players in our recruiting area, we had needs in our program and we were great matches for them."

Baseball America said of the class, "The strength of the class is the offensive firepower, which compares favorably with any class in the nation."

"We targeted guys that had a sincere interest in pursuing a degree," Thompson said of the 13 signees enrolling at Auburn. "I think it speaks highly of the character of these young men that they knew what they wanted, and they wanted their baseball careers to pass through Auburn. It is exciting to know that although all of these guys have professional aspirations, they think their best chance of being a professional player comes through Auburn and the staff here and what we can do for them."

Auburn is in the midst of fall practice, which will conclude on Nov. 3. The Tigers will close out the fall practice schedule with the annual Blue/Orange World Series, which begins on Tuesday, Oct. 30 and runs through Saturday, Nov. 3. The annual Home Run Derby to benefit the Lee County Boys and Girls Club will be held Friday, Nov. 2, at 6 pm CT.