Class Stays Together At Mississippi

SEE ALSO: Top 25 Recruiting Rankings

Coming out of the early signing period last November, Mississippi was thrilled with its 2016 recruiting class. But the Rebels couldn’t celebrate yet. First, they, like all college baseball programs, had to get their exciting group of future players through the draft.

2016 Top 25 Recruiting Rankings

1. Mississippi

2. North Carolina

3. Florida

4. Louisiana State

5. Texas Christian

6. Stanford

7. Arizona State

8. Florida State

9. Washington

10. Arizona

11. South Carolina

12. Arkansas

13. Miami

14. Vanderbilt

15. Clemson

16. UCLA

17. North Carolina State

18. Tennessee

19. UC Santa Barbara

20. Oregon State

21. Auburn

22. Oregon

23. East Carolina

24. Georgia

25. Duke

With seven players in the class included in the BA 500, the predraft ranking of all draft-eligible players, Ole Miss had reason to be concerned.

“Throughout the spring, there were several guys we were really worried about,” recruiting coordinator Carl Lafferty said. “As it got closer and closer, there was a little more anxiety. You can do as much as you want to prepare, but it’s all about draft day. When the first day ended, we felt a lot better, when the second day ended, that was when we were like, ‘OK, we’ve got a really good shot.’”

The draft’s structure makes it very difficult for teams to sign players asking for large bonuses after the first 10 rounds. So when the 10th round ended June 10, concluding the draft’s second day, and no Rebels recruits had been selected, the Ole Miss staff was able to breathe a small sigh of relief.

Six players from Mississippi’s recruiting class were drafted the next day. The lone player from that group to sign was outfielder A.J. Brown, who was primarily committed to the Rebels to play football. He had been expected to try playing both sports, but instead he signed a contract with the Padres allowing him to play minor league baseball and college football.

Coach Mike Bianco said the Rebels’ good fortune in the draft was somewhat unexpected.

“If you would have told us last year at this time that they would all show up, I don’t think anybody would have believed you,” he said. “I don’t know if I would have believed you five minutes before the draft.

“But one of the things that we’ve always believed in is signing kids that are going to show up. I think that starts with kids and families—moms and dads—that value education. They want to do this first in their baseball life. They want to experience college and college baseball and baseball in the Southeastern Conference and then start their professional career.”

With the draft swinging in their favor this year, the Rebels led the country with seven players from the BA 500 in their recruiting class. With those elite players, including catchers Cooper Johnson and Thomas Dillard, shortstop Grae Kessinger, lefthander Ryan Rolison and righthander Will Ethridge, as well as the depth in their 18-man class, the Rebels top the recruiting rankings for the first time in program history. It is also the first top-ranked recruiting class in any sport in the school’s history.

Bianco said the credit for Mississippi’s banner class belongs with assistant coaches Lafferty and Mike Clement.

“I’m fortunate and blessed to have two great assistant coaches in Carl Lafferty and Mike Clement,” Bianco said. “I’m just really proud of them.

“It’s paid off and that’s neat to see, but certainly there’s a ton of work that goes into it.”
Mississippi had competition at the top of the rankings, however. Both North Carolina and Florida brought in six players ranked on the BA 500, while Louisiana State snagged five. Lefthander Nick Lodolo, the 41st overall pick, became the highest drafted player not to sign, instead headlining Texas Christian’s class.

Much like Ole Miss, North Carolina nearly kept its entire recruiting class together through the draft. Its lone defection was prep righthander Bryse Wilson, who signed after the Braves drafted him in the fourth round.

Even without Wilson, the Tar Heels’ class is full of blue-chip pitching prospects. Florida prep righthanders Tyler Baum and Austin Bergner, along with the trio of New Jersey prep pitchers Zach Attianese, Luca Dalatri and Robbie Peto have a chance to form the core of a formidable pitching staff over the next few seasons.

Coach Mike Fox said the Tar Heels went with such a pitching-heavy class because of the number of pitchers they are anticipating losing after this season.

“We targeted pitching from the beginning and tried to piece in the other areas around it,” Fox said. “It’s not often that we bring in that many, but this was a year and we feel like we needed to.”

One common thread among this year’s top classes was how little they were affected by the draft. Unlike in some years when the top classes overcome a few elite players opting for pro ball, the best groups suffered minimal losses this year. The top five classes lost a total of seven players to the draft. Last year, Vanderbilt topped the rankings even after losing five commits in the draft.

Now that the recruits have made it to school, the coaching staffs must go to work to help them acclimate to the college game and continue their development.

“We know they’re talented, but I always think the biggest challenge for us as coaches is can we get them to play like they played before they got here,” Bianco said. “Because it’s different when they get here. They’re on a field with a lot more talented players around them. There’s a lot more depth at each position. They’re challenged in a lot of ways that they’ve never been challenged before.”