RALEIGH – Junior shortstop Will Wilson was selected as the No. 15 overall pick to the Los Angeles Angels of the 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft on Monday evening.
The Kings Mountain, N.C., native becomes the first NC State player to go in the first round since Carlos Rodon (LHP) and Trea Turner (SS) in 2014. Wilson graduated last month with a business administration degree and wrapped up his collegiate career on Sunday in the NCAA Greenville Regional.
In his 23rd season at the helm of the Wolfpack, head coach Elliott Avent has now had 106 players selected in the MLB Draft.
In his final season at NC State, Wilson led the team with a .335 batting average, 20 doubles, 16 home runs and a .661 slugging percentage, and finished eighth all-time in career doubles (57) and homers (39), and ninth in total bases (409).
Wilson collected numerous postseason awards over the past few weeks, as he was named NC State’s first-ever ACC Defensive Player of the Year as well as an All-ACC First Team Selection and Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Additionally, he was recently tabbed one of five finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, which is given to the nation’s best college shortstop.
He additionally collected All-ACC honors and All-America honors in his first two seasons with the Pack, and was a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist, which is awarded to the nation’s best college baseball player, in 2018.
The NC State Baseball team is now 7-0 through two weeks of play, going 4-0 last week, defeating Coastal Carolina 16-4 on the road in a midweek game, and sweeping Belmont at home this past weekend (11-4, 7-0, 7-1).
The Wolfpack remain ranked 21st in the D1Baseball Top-25.
The Wolfpack moved up 11 spots to #19 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, up 2 spots to #20 in the Coaches Poll, and up 1 spot to #24 in the Baseball America poll.
NC State will host Longwood today at 3pm in their next matchup.
But while I was over on Twitter, I saw a ton of comments on it, all of them NC State fans, and almost all of them critical of the new look.
Look, I don’t know what’s going on here. Maybe it’ll look a lot better once it’s done, or maybe the grass will match up a lot better when it greens up. But right now, it’s a little jarring. Here is how it used to look…
Again, I’m going to wait until it’s really done before I cast judgement, but I think the official tweet from the school marketing it and drawing attention to it, has people thinking it’s in it’s final form. And maybe it is. But I hope it’s not.
I remember this being shared a while back…
This shows grass in foul territory and dirt in the 1st/3rd baselines. So I’m not sure when this turf thing came along. And while we’re on the subject, aren’t we a turf management school? Shouldn’t we be turning up our noses at artificial turf?
Apparently, this is a thing now, where foul territories are artificial turf and fair territory is grass. Here is Mississippi State’s baseball field doing the same thing.
Can’t say I like it there either, honestly. It just seems like one of those fads. Remember when everyone was going crazy with field/court colors?
School with a grey field and school with a glow in the dark basketball court meet on blue turf. Winning coach gets dumped with French fries. College athletics at its absolute best. https://t.co/crEKoeLKbXpic.twitter.com/Bpeod50Sy4
Did anyone ever really like those? Do people like them now? Have they ever gotten a recruit to come to the school? Have they ever scared a recruit away?
I don’t know. You tell me. I’ll hold final judgment, but things NC State fans don’t seem like they’re going to follow along.