SEATTLE — Baseball’s amateur draft has been a fitting conclusion to a historic season at Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons had six players selected Monday, bringing their two-day total to nine. That’s three more than the LSU team that knocked Wake Forest out of the Men’s College World Series and went on to win the national title.
LSU, of course, had the top two picks in the draft Friday in Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, but the Deacons showed off their depth on Day 2, when Rounds 3 through 10 took place. Wake Forest pitchers Seth Keener (third round, White Sox), Teddy McGraw (third, Mariners) and Camden Minacci (sixth, Angels) were selected, along with catcher Bennett Lee (sixth, Tigers), outfielder Tommy Hawke (sixth, Guardians) and shortstop Justin Johnson (10th, Royals).
Wake Forest reached the MCWS for the first time since winning the national title in 1955. The Deacons were eliminated by LSU 2-0 in 11 innings in an epic pitching matchup between Rhett Lowder and Skenes. Lowder ended up as the seventh overall pick in this draft.
The Pittsburgh Pirates took Skenes at No. 1 overall, and they haven’t stopped adding pitchers since. Nine of Pittsburgh’s 11 picks so far have been pitchers, all but one from college.
The San Diego Padres have taken only two pitchers, high schooler Kannon Kemp in the eighth round and two-way player Tucker Musgrove of the University of Mobile in the seventh. San Diego has had only eight picks after losing its second- and fifth-rounders for signing free agent Xander Bogaerts.
FAMILIAR NAMES
Colorado drafted third baseman Kyle Karros of UCLA in the fifth round. He’s the son of Eric Karros, who won National League Rookie of the Year honors with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992. The elder Karros was drafted in the sixth round in 1988.
Grand Canyon outfielder Homer Bush Jr. was taken in the fourth round by San Diego. Bush’s father was also drafted by the Padres in 1991, although he spent most of his major league career with the Yankees and Blue Jays — he was dealt to Toronto as part of the trade that sent Roger Clemens to New York.
WILL HE OR WON’T HE?
Milwaukee used a sixth-round pick on high school shortstop Cooper Pratt. The question now is whether the Brewers can get the Mississippi commit to sign instead of playing in college.
With their extra picks, the Red Sox took Georgia Tech shortstop Kristian Campbell and Wright State shortstop Justin Riemer. The Mets selected high school shortstop A.J. Ewing and Missouri pitcher Austin Troesser, and the Dodgers picked Texas outfielder Dylan Campbell and Middle Tennessee pitcher Eriq Swan.
The Mets and Orioles also received extra third-round picks because they didn’t sign their third-rounders last year. New York selected Nevada pitcher Kade Morris, and Baltimore took Arkansas outfielder Tavian Josenberger.
Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.
Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.
Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.
The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.
The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.
Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.
Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.
North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.
Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.
Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.
Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.
He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.
“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”
As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.
“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”
Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.
Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.
“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”
Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.
“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.
Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.
‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”
He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.
Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.
Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.
“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”
Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.
“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”
Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.
“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”