University of Georgia senior righthander Josh Fields has the distinction of being the highest pick from the 2007 draft to go unsigned. Fields was a second-rounder of the Atlanta Braves, the 69th pick overall in June.
In all, there were 13 players in the top five rounds of the 2007 draft who went unsigned—more than in the last three drafts combined, and the most since 17 players in the top five rounds went unsigned in 1998. The record for the most unsigned picks in the top five rounds occurred in 1967, when 29 such draft picks went unsigned.
Over the years, there have been more players that went on to attend or return to Arizona State and Southern California (29 apiece) who went unsigned in the first five rounds than any college. Following are the top 10 schools that have attracted the elite unsigned talent since the draft was instituted in 1965 (number of College World Series championship since then noted in parentheses): |
| |
| |
College |
# Players |
| 1. |
Arizona State (5) |
29 |
| |
Southern California (8) |
29 |
| 3. |
Texas (4) |
22 |
| 4. |
Stanford (2) |
18 |
| 5. |
Arizona (3) |
15 |
| 6. |
UCLA (0) |
12 |
| |
Miami (4) |
12 |
| 8. |
Florida State (0) |
11 |
| 9. |
California (0) |
10 |
| |
Georgia Tech (0) |
10 |
| |
Michigan (0) |
10 |
| |
North Carolina |
10 |
| |
Oklahoma (1) |
10 | |
| --ALLAN SIMPSON |
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