June 5, 2008

Conference USA had a total of 37 players selected in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, the most the league has ever had selected in one year. C-USA produced a pair of supplemental first round draft picks on the opening day of the draft, as Tulane junior right-hander Shooter Hunt was selected by the Minnesota Twins with the 31st overall selection of the draft and Rice right-handed reliever Bryan Price was selected 14 picks later by the Boston Red Sox. Their selections mark the fourth straight year that a C-USA player has been taken in the first round of the MLB Draft and the fifth time in the last six years that the league has produced at least one first round pick.

As a junior with the Green Wave, Hunt claimed second-team Louisville Slugger All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Magazine, was named 2008 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year and claimed a spot on the All C-USA first team after leading the team and the league in opponent batting average (.175), total strikeouts (126), strikeouts looking (48) and innings pitched (100.2). He also led the team and is tied for the C-USA mark in wins (nine) while pacing the club and finishing second in the conference with a 2.68 ERA.

Price appeared in 27 games this season out of the Rice bullpen. He was 3-4 with a 3.65 ERA and two saves. In 44.1 innings pitched, Price recorded 50 strikeouts with 24 walks. Opponents batted .224 against him.

For the first time ever, each Conference USA school had at least one player selected. A year after Rice produced an NCAA record 14 selections, the Owls had 11 more players taken. Five different schools (East Carolina, Houston, Memphis Southern Miss and UCF) had four players selected. Marshall had three players chosen, while Tulane had two and UAB had one player taken.

The previous record for C-USA draftees was 32, set in 2004. Last year, the league had 29 total selections.

C-USA'S 2008 MLB DRAFT PICKS

Rd.	Player	Pos.	School	MLB Team
1*	Shooter Hunt	RHP	Tulane	Minnesota Twins
1*	Bryan Price	RHP	Rice	Boston Red Sox
5	Justin Bristow	RHP	East Carolina	Chicago Cubs
7	Cole St. Clair	LHP	Rice	Los Angeles Dodgers
7	Adam Zornes	C	Rice	San Diego Padres
8	Anthony Scelfo	OF/IF	Tulane	Tampa Bay Rays
9	Aaron Luna	OF	Rice	St. Louis Cardinals
11	Matt Langwell	RHP	Rice	Cleveland Indians
12	Jared Gayheart	OF	Rice	Detroit Tigers
14	Corey Kemp	C	East Carolina	Milwaukee Brewers
14	Tyler Conn	LHP	Southern Miss	Detroit Tigers
15	Scott McGregor	RHP	Memphis	St. Louis Cardinals
16	Ryan Keedy	1B	UAB	Chicago Cubs
16	Mitch Herold	RHP	UCF	Boston Red Sox
17	Mitch Houck	LHP	UCF	New York Mets
18	Josh Billeaud	RHP	Southern Miss	Chicago White Sox
18	Bobby Bell	RHP	Rice	Toronto Blue Jays
19	Robert Lara	C	UCF	San Diego Padres
20	Trey Sutton	1B	Southern Miss	San Francisco Giants
20	Nate Lape  	OF	Marshall	Colorado Rockies
21	Steve Blevins	RHP	Marshall	Minnesota Twins
21	Lucas Luetge	RHP	Rice	Milwaukee Brewers
21	Dwayne Bailey	2B	UCF	Los Angeles Angels
23	Neil Schenk	RHP	Memphis	Tampa Bay Rays
23	Will Hudgens	RHP	Memphis	Cincinnati Reds
24	Wes Musick	LHP	Houston	San Francisco Giants
24	Chris Kelley	RHP	Rice	Washington Nationals
25	Brian Leach	RHP	Southern Miss	Pittsburgh Pirates
26	Ryan Lormand	2B	Houston	San Francisco Giants
27	Tommy Johnson	C	Marshall	Seattle Mariners
29	Jonathan Runnels	LHP	Rice	Los Angeles Dodgers
34	Bryan Pounds	3B	Houston	Detroit Tigers
36	Chris Kirkland	RHP	Memphis	Seattle Mariners
36	T.J. Hose  	RHP	East Carolina	Arizona Diamondbacks
42	Ryan Wood         IF	East Carolina	Milwaukee Brewers
44	J.P. Padron	1B	Rice	Washington Nationals
46	Jimmy Cesario	IF	Houston	Colorado Rockies