Stanford, Calif. – Junior Carter Graham has been named to the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award (BBNCSA) watch list. The award, created by the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation, was open to nominations from all Division I baseball programs in the country. The BBNCSA is based on performance at the plate, academics and personal integrity.
Graham hit .331 with 64 runs scored, 13 doubles, a triple and a Pac-12-best 22 home runs while driving in a team-high 79 runs a year ago. Graham strung together a 15-game hitting streak during the year, and hit safely in all but 12 of his 64 games played. The native of Los Angeles batted .365 with 34 runs scored, seven doubles, 11 homers and 42 RBIs in Pac-12 play. One of the most productive players for the Cardinal last season, Graham collected an RBI in 40 of 64 games and posted 24 multi-hit games and a team-best 22 multi-RBI contests.
This year's watch list consists of 51 players representing 19 conferences around the country, including all five power conferences. The list includes 11 seniors, 35 juniors and five sophomores.
"We are entering the third year as a National College Baseball Award and this is certainly the deepest watch list so far, with a record number of nominations," said Tracy Taylor, Executive Director of the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation and the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award. "We have three out of the top five ranked programs in the country represented and 10 out of the top 25. We also have programs from a record 19 conferences including all of the Power Five.
"There are 11 returnees to the 2022 watch list led by one of last year's finalists Michael Carico of Davidson who hit over .400 and led the nation in on base percentage. Also returning are Dylan Crews of No. 1 LSU, a consensus All-America and projected overall top pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, and Jake Gelof of Virginia, an All-America and Academic All-America.
"We truly appreciate the partnership we have with the Division I college baseball programs and the diligence with which they approach the criteria of the nominations. We have multiple Academic All-Americans on the watch list and the number of conference and school academic honors are amazing. These are really student-athletes in every sense of the term."
The BBNCSA originally started out in 2017 as an honor going to the top college hitter in Texas. In 2019, the BBNCSA expanded becoming a regional award covering Division I programs in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The BBNCSA became a national award in 2020; however, no winner was announced due to the Covid-19 virus which cut the 2020 college baseball season short.
The winner of the BBNCSA will be announced in June and honored at a gala in the fall at the Fort Worth Club. Texas Tech's Hunter Hargrove won the initial BBNCSA in 2017. Dallas Baptist's Devlin Granberg took home the honor in 2018 with Texas Tech's Josh Jung winning the award in 2019. Connor Norby from East Carolina University won the BBNCSA in 2021. Last year's winner was Ivan Melendez from the University of Texas.
Fans can follow news about the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award presented by SR Bats and its Player of the Week honorees during the season at www.braganslugger.com.
