North Carolina State University Athletics
Highly Regarded Baseball Recruits Spurn Contract Offers
8/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Aug. 16, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The midnight hour came and went Monday night, and with it came good news for NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent.
Monday was Aug. 15, the deadline for Major League Baseball teams to sign their draft picks or lose their signing rights. Three highly regarded Wolfpack recruits and two returning outfielders, all selected in last June's Major League Baseball draft, let the deadline pass without signing.
The three recruits -- catcher Brett Austin, lefthanded pitcher/first baseman Carlos Rodon and infielder Trea Turner -- join 10 other standout newcomers to form what could be one of NC State's best recruiting classes.
Meanwhile, outfielders Brett Williams and John Gianis also opted not to sign professional contracts after being drafted and will be back for their senior seasons. And Ryan Mathews, a senior first baseman/outfielder, turned down a free-agent offer to sign after tearing up the Coastal Plain League this summer.
All six of these players will be with the Wolfpack next February when the 2012 season begins instead of playing professional baseball.
"We're delighted to say the least," Avent said. "Brett Austin, Carlos Rodon and Trea Turner are all outstanding players, but they're also outstanding people, the kind of young men we want in our program. It's obvious that professional baseball people think just as highly of them as we do, and for these young men to make this kind of commitment to NC State and to our program, it's just a great statement about the kind of people they are, about our program and about our university.
"At the same time, it's gratifying to have players like Brett Williams, John Gianis and Ryan Mathews decide that playing their senior seasons in our program and finishing their education matters enough that they would delay a career in professional baseball. Those three guys will help to provide outstanding leadership for our team this coming year."
Avent believes that Austin, Rodon and Turner are good enough to make major contributions to the program as freshmen.
Austin, taken in the supplemental first round of the draft, the 54th overall selection, by the San Diego Padres, was a consensus high school All-American as a senior for coach Danny Hignight at Providence High School in Charlotte. He batted .537 with 10 doubles, 12 home runs, 38 RBIs and 14 steals as a senior in 2011. He was a two-time all-state performer, a four-time all-conference player, and won the 2010 national player of the year and sportsmanship award from the National Umpires Association.
Austin is technically the first first-round draft pick ever to reject a contract offer to play for the Wolfpack, and is the second highest pick ever to come to NC State. Dan Plesac was drafted in the second round of the 1980 June draft out Crown Point (Ind.) High School, as the 41st overall selection that year. Three years later, Plesac went in the first round to the Milwaukee Brewers and played 18 season in the major leagues. He now is a highly successful studio analyst with the MLB TV Network.
"It was a long gruelling process," Austin said. "It was stressful but it was a good situation to be in. My heart has always been with college, and that's what I did. I followed my heart and ended up here. I'm pretty excited about it."
Rodon was a third-team high school All-American by Baseball America and was the North Carolina Player of the Year by the NCHSAA after leading Holly Springs High School to the North Carolina 4-A state championship. A two-way player for head coach Rod Whitesell at Holly Springs, Rodon went 11-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 135 strikeouts, and batted .370 with three homers and 25 RBIs as a senior in 2011. Rodon had a three-year record of 23-2 and was a two-time all-state selection.
Rodon was projected to go anywhere between the third and fifth rounds of the draft, but his strong commitment to NC State caused teams to back away until the Brewers called his name in the 16th round. As was the case with Austin, negotiations went to the wire before Rodon decided that college was the right choice for him.
"It's great to be a Wolfpacker and play for coach Avent and have the college experience," Rodon said. "It was a hard decision, but it's good to come to school and hopefully win the College World Series."
A standout defensive middle infielder, Turner emerged offensively for coach Larry Greenstein as a senior at Park Vista High School in Lake Worth, Fla., finishing with a .468 batting average, eight doubles, five triples, one home run and 16 RBIs as a senior in 2011.
Draft analysts have estimated that Turner could have been drafted anywhere from the fifth round on, but he and his family decided early in the process that he would attend college. Turner let the Pirates know that right away.
"I really wanted to experience going to school and playing college baseball," Turner said. "Before the Pirates even offered me any money, I wanted to be honest with them. I didn't want to lead them on one way or another, so I just told them straight up that I was going to college."
Williams and Gianis were the Wolfpack's starting center and right fielders, respectively, a year ago, and both made significant contributions.
Williams, who played in all 62 games and made 61 starts in 2011, batted .286 with 12 doubles, and led the team with four triples, six home runs and nine steals in as many attempts. He tied for the team lead with 46 runs scored.
Williams went in the 25th round to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but ultimately decided that his senior year of college baseball mattered too much to him to give it up.
"You can never get back your senior year," Williams said. "I just loved the experience last year of playing in the ACC. I'm that much closer to getting a degree, and I just felt it was the best decision for me to stay another year and then try pro baseball next year."
Gianis played in 60 games and made 54 starts, batting .289 with 11 doubles, one home run, 24 RBIs and six stolen bases in seven attempts.
The Los Angeles Angels drafted Gianis in the 26th round of the draft, but he decided that his senior year was worth more than he could make in this year's draft.
"The Angels talked to me after the draft and I didn't think the money was right for me to give up my senior season," Gianis said. "I went and played in the Cape Cod League and then talked to the Angels again, but it just made more sense to me at that point to come back to school than to sign. Hopefully I'll have a better year this year and go in the first 10 rounds."
Mathews missed most of the 2010 season with an abdominal injury, then saw his path to playing time blocked by established players on the NC State depth chart in 2011. He went to the CPL this summer to establish himself, and had a monster summer, batting .283 with 13 doubles, 15 home runs and 41 RBIs for the Wilson Tobs. Mathews led the CPL in home runs and set Wilson franchise records for home runs and RBIs.
"I just wanted to get out there and play baseball and enjoy the game again," Mathews said. "I did that. It was gratifying to play well and to get attention from scouts. I really wanted to come back to school and try to establish myself with this team. I think this team has a chance to do some special things and I wanted to be a part of all that."
Fall practice will begin in a few weeks and Avent will have the task of sorting out all the talent on the Wolfpack roster. According to the scouts and the MLB draft, there is plenty of talent there.
"It's almost unfair to single out individual players because there are so many guys on our team deserving of attention," Avent said. "Those three recruits are special and we're happy to have them, yet we think all our of recruits have a chance to be special. We're very happy to have Brett Williams, John Gianis and Ryan Mathews back. They make us a better team. We have a lot of talent on this team. It should be a fun year."
