Sept. 26, 2016
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn baseball's 2016 recruiting class was ranked fifth nationally by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on Monday.
"The strength of this group is in the numbers," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "Our inaugural class as a staff is going to lay the foundation for moving Auburn baseball back to where we all want to be. Half of the class is pitching which is important to any program. There is also balance as I believe we signed someone at every position on the field.
"With all that said, the development of this class will be key for us going forward. We won't know for two or three years how good this group really is and I appreciate an outlet as well-respected as Collegiate Baseball recognizing its potential. When we hired Brad Bohannon it was under the belief that he was arguably one of the best recruiters in the country. I give him full credit as the architect and I'm thankful for the hard work of Doug Sisson as well. This is a credit to our whole staff."
The rank is the highest for the Tigers by Collegiate Baseball since a No. 5 overall ranking in 1996 and the highest by any publication since Baseball America ranked Auburn's 2007 class spear-headed by Thompson as No. 5.
As recruiting coordinator, Bohannon has now secured three top five classes while Thompson's teams have inked 10 in the top 10 since 2003.
Headlining the class were a pair of local athletes. Montgomery, Ala. high school right-hander Davis Daniel (St. James School), is the No. 2 player from the state of Alabama according to Perfect Game and a 34th round selection of the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 draft.
Daniel totaled 126 strikeouts in 65.0 innings during his senior season at St. James. He was named the Alabama Class 4A Pitcher of the Year with a 10-1 record and 0.65 ERA.
Offensively, the class is led by junior college transfer Josh Anthony from Columbus, Ga. Anthony starred for two season at Western Oklahoma State where he hit .444 with 25 home runs, 84 RBI and 49 stolen bases as a sophomore.
Those gaudy statistics came on the heels of a freshman season in 2015 where he totaled 20 homers, 81 runs batted, 18 steals and hit .425.
Anthony was selected in the 16th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves, but chose to attend Auburn.
The class also features four other players that have been previously drafted including freshman LHP Trevor Hillhouse (Philadelphia, 38th round - 2016), sophomore LHP Welby Malczewski (Arizona, 37th round - 2016), sophomore catcher Mike Rojas (Seattle, 40th - 2015) and freshman RHP Ryan Watson (Los Angeles [NL], 39th - 2016).
The Tigers open fall practice on October 6.
2016 RECRUITING CLASS
| Name | Pos. | B-T | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elliott Anderson | LHP | L-L | 6-3 | 200 | Cartersville, Ga./HS |
| Joshua Anthony | IF | R-R | 5-11 | 195 | Columbus, Ga./Western Oklahoma JC |
| Christian Camacho | RHP | L-R | 6-0 | 165 | Elk Grove, Ill./HS |
| Calvin Coker | RHP | R-R | 6-3 | 170 | Kyle, Texas/Ranger College |
| Davis Daniel | RHP | R-R | 6-1 | 175 | Montgomery, Ala./St. James |
| Conor Davis | IF/OF | R-R | 6-3 | 210 | Roswell, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic |
| Jay Estes | IF | R-R | 5-10 | 185 | Crawfordville, Fla./Chipola CC |
| Joe Gahm | RHP | R-R | 6-1 | 190 | Richfield, Wisc. /Germantown |
| Cole Ganopulos | LHP | L-L | 6-1 | 195 | Jonesboro, Ga./Eagles Landing Christian |
| Corey Herndon | RHP | R-R | 6-3 | 200 | Marion, Ark./Columbia State CC |
| Trevor Hillhouse | LHP | L-L | 6-6 | 206 | Canton, Ga./Woodstock |
| Will Holland | IF | R-R | 5-10 | 170 | Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill |
| Dylan Ingram | IF | R-R | 6-2 | 224 | Pike Road, Ala./Shelton State CC |
| Luke Jarvis | IF | R-R | 5-10 | 175 | San Diego, Calif./Saddleback College |
| Welby Malczewski | LHP | L-L | 6-6 | 230 | Mt. Prospect, Ill./Heartland CC |
| Bowen McGuffin | OF | L-L | 6-1 | 190 | Panama City, Fla./Gulf Coast State CC |
| Mike Rojas | C | R-R | 6-2 | 210 | Naples, Fla./Chipola CC |
| Jonah Todd | OF | R-R | 6-0 | 185 | Mulga, Ala./Marion Military |
| Ryan Watson | RHP | R-R | 6-5 | 205 | Auburn, Ala./HS |