College Football Recruits Who Could Be Selected in the 2015 MLB Draft
Baseball and football don't have a lot in common, except for some very notable stars over the years who played both.
The first overall pick in this year's NFL draft, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, was also an accomplished relief pitcher for the Seminoles. Winston was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 15th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, but he opted to stick with football and went on to win the Heisman Trophy and a national championship before turning pro after the 2014 season.
That could be how things end up for Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was a 37th-round selection by the Detroit Tigers in 2014 but chose shoulder pads over pine tar and rosin. The son of former Major League pitcher Pat Mahomes started the Red Raiders' final four games last season, throwing for a freshman school-record 598 yards in the finale against Baylor.
Others have opted to go the baseball route out of high school, such as 2014 Nebraska signee Monte Harrison. A 3-star receiver from Missouri, Harrison was a Milwaukee Brewers second-round pick last June who ended up signing for $1.8 million instead of playing college football.
The 2015 MLB draft runs Monday through Wednesday next week, and there are a few college football signees who could hear their names called. Here's a look at some standout athletes who might have a life-changing decision to make in the very near future.
Marquise Doherty, ATH, Missouri
1 of 8
Missouri hoped it was getting a player in Marquise Doherty who could potentially fill its vacant strong safety position while also providing depth in the offensive backfield. Instead, it may lose out to baseball and have one less member of its 2015 recruiting class.
Doherty, a 3-star recruit from Kansas City, signed with the Tigers in December. He chose Missouri over Oregon with the intent to play both baseball and football in Columbia, but Baseball America has him rated as the No. 136 overall prospect in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.
"Baseball has always been my first love and I have always played it," Doherty told Derek Helling of Outside Pitch. "It's what I want to do for the rest of my life."
At Minnetonka High School, the 6'1", 200-pound Doherty played center field for the baseball team, was a forward on the basketball team and played both running back and safety for the football team.
Last year's No. 136 pick in the draft, California high school pitcher Jacob Nix, opted not to sign with the Houston Astros for $620,000 and spent this past season at IMG Academy in Florida.
Keyston Fuller, WR, Duke
2 of 8
The third-highest-rated player in Duke's 2015 class, Keyston Fuller had offers from Auburn, Clemson and Georgia but opted for a Duke program that has reached unprecedented heights the past three seasons. The 5'11", 180-pound wideout from Griffin, Georgia, is a three-star prospect considered 70th-best player at his position in the country.
Fuller is also a standout outfielder, ranked as the 23rd-best baseball prospect in Georgia and No. 352 in the country among draft-eligible high school and college players, per Baseball America.
He was one of three wide receiver prospects the Blue Devils signed, along with fellow Georgia product T.J. Rahming and California product Aaron Young. All three could see playing time this season since Duke graduated its top two receivers from last year, who combined to catch 132 passes in 2014 and 381 for their career.
Terry Godwin, ATH, Georgia
3 of 8
Georgia signed two 5-star recruits in 2015, but only one of them is certain to be playing for the Bulldogs this fall.
While top overall prospect Trent Thompson could very well be starting on the defensive line in the season opener on Sept. 5, Terry Godwin's future is more up in the air. A lot depends on whether a Major League Baseball team will take a flier on him, and whether they'll offer enough money to make the nation's No. 1 athlete give up football for hardball.
The 6'0", 168-pound Godwin was on campus earlier this week when many of Georgia's incoming freshmen (who weren't early enrollees) were scheduled to arrive, but if he is drafted, Godwin would have until he attended his first fall class to sign a pro contract.
The Hogansville, Georgia, native worked out for the Atlanta Braves last month, per Michael Carvell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, going through drills at shortstop and in the outfield. He is not rated among Baseball America's top 500 prospects, but the MLB draft is 40 rounds long, so that doesn't rule Godwin out of being taken at some point.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Jawuan Harris, WR, Rutgers
4 of 8
Outside of its home state of New Jersey and neighboring states New York and Pennsylvania, the place Rutgers went to most often to fill out its 2015 recruiting class was Florida. Four of the Scarlet Knights' 24 signees are from the Sunshine State, including 3-star wide receiver prospect Jawuan Harris.
Originally a Florida Atlantic commit, the 5'10", 185-pound graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale pledged to play both baseball and football at Rutgers through a "loose arrangement worked out by the two head coaches," according to Ryan Dunleavy of the Asbury Park Press.
But that was before Harris had a monster senior year on the baseball diamond, hitting .440 with three home runs, 18 RBI and 44 stolen bases as an outfielder. He was a .191 hitter as a junior, according to Dunleavy.
That's boosted Harris' stock drastically, putting him at No. 298 on Baseball America's top 500 prospects list.
"Jawuan was a kid who the last couple years we said amongst the coaches, 'If this kid figures it out, he is going to be really, really good," St. Thomas Aquinas High School baseball coach Troy Cameron told Dunleavy. "Usually when you say that about someone they never really figure it out. He was one of the few that did."
Josh Magee, CB, Southern Miss
5 of 8
Southern Mississippi has gone through a few really bad seasons of late, winning just four games between 2012-14 after going 12-2 in 2011. If the Golden Eagles could somehow manage to get Josh Magee to stick to football instead of his primary sport of baseball, they might be able to buck that trend in the near future.
But that's not going to be an easy sell, as the 5'10", 180-pound cornerback is unrated by 247Sports in that sport but is the fourth-best draft-eligible baseball product in Louisiana, according to Baseball America.
Magee was recently named as NOLA.com's New Orleans All-Metro Large Schools Player of the Year, the result of him hitting .529 with 21 stolen bases as a center fielder for Franklinton High School.
At No. 155 overall in the Baseball America rankings, Magee could be in line for a signing bonus of $100,000.
Kyler Murray, QB, Texas A&M
6 of 8
Kyler Murray is a dual-threat athlete in more ways than one. The nation's top-rated mobile quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class, he signed with Texas A&M in February but was also considered a major infield prospect who ESPN.com's Keith Law had ranked as No. 32 in the country.
But Murray made his intentions well known last month when he tweeted he had "opted out" of the MLB draft so he could focus on playing both baseball and football at A&M.
Players who were ranked among the top 200 draft-eligible prospects are required to participate in predraft activities that include a physical and drug test. By not doing this, Murray "rendered himself ineligible," per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.
Some team could potentially still use a pick on the 5'11", 180-pound Murray, be he seems pretty intent on being on a football field for the Aggies this fall.
DJ Neal, WR, South Carolina
7 of 8
At 6'4" and 200 pounds, DJ Neal is a big-bodied receiver who should make for a nice target in South Carolina's offense. That's assuming he ever suits up for the Gamecocks, since Neal is also a power-hitting outfielder whom Baseball America ranks No. 353 in the country.
Neal batted .556 with five home runs and 34 RBI in 23 games for Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, according to MaxPreps.
If Neal doesn't take the baseball route, he could make an immediate impact with South Carolina's football team, according to John Whittle of 247Sports.
"It usually takes wide receivers a few games or even half of the season to make their way into Steve Spurrier's offense but, to me, Neal has a different skillset than any other player on the roster," Whittle wrote. "He has a unique blend of size and speed that can see him make a great impact."
Daniel Sprinkle, DE/TE, Arkansas
8 of 8
Though Daniel Sprinkle isn't planning on playing college football, having signed to play baseball at Auburn, he did have a scholarship offer from FCS Central Arkansas and was invited to walk on at Arkansas for the 2015 season. Had he gone that route, the 6'4", 230-pound tight end/defensive end would have had a chance to play with his older brother, tight end Jeremy Sprinkle.
Richard Davenport of WholeHogSports.com noted Daniel Sprinkle's offer from Arkansas had been to be a walk-on for two seasons, with the promise of a scholarship after that. But that couldn't compete with the chance to be a pitcher at Auburn, which is what the Whitehall, Arkansas, product opted for.
Sprinkle is rated by Baseball America as the No. 262 prospect in the country.
Baseball draft rankings courtesy of Baseball America.
Football recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
