April 24, 2002

Houston - The 2002 Rotary Smith committee has released a preliminary watch list of over 150 Division 1 college baseball players, including Western Carolina senior center fielder Donovan Minero, who are under consideration to become the winner of the 15th annual Rotary Smith Award, which will be handed out in Houston, TX on June 24. The preliminary watch list was compiled after submissions by the sports information personnel at all of the Division 1 baseball schools in the country. Additional nominations will be added to the list until the first round of voting begins in May.

Minero, a 2001 American Baseball Coaches Association All-American, is having another outstanding season in 2002. The San Jose, Calif, native currently leads the Catamounts in batting (.390), home runs (13) and RBIs (51). Minero ranks among the Southern Conference's top six in six offensive categories and has ranked among the nation's leaders in several categories as well this season.

This year's race for the Smith Award will feature an entire new cast of candidates since all 12 of last year's semifinalists have moved on to professional baseball. Last year's finalists (including winner Mark Prior of Southern California, John VanBenschoten of Kent State and Chris Burke of Tennessee) were all taken in the first 10 picks of the draft, the third time in the history of the award that all the finalists were tabbed so high.

The 2002 Watch List features candidates from all of the top schools in the nation, along with the national leaders in most statistical categories. Voting to determine the list of 12 semifinalists will begin in mid-May and the list will be announced at the conclusion of the regular season. Three finalists will be announced prior to the start of NCAA Super Regional Action, the week of June 7-9.

Now in its 15th year, the Rotary Smith Award is awarded each summer to the nation's top college baseball player. This year, the gala Award Dinner is moving to the Hotel Inter-Continental in Houston. The Award, a national project of the Rotary Club of Houston, raises money for Rotary charities, Texas Children's Hospital and the Karl Young League. Six previous winners of the were active in major league baseball at the start of the 2002 campaign - 1988 winner Andy Benes of Evansville (St. Louis Cardinals), 1991 winner Bobby Jones of Fresno State (San Diego Padres), 1993 winner Darren Dreifort of Wichita State (Los Angeles Dodgers), 1994 winner Jason Varitek of Georgia Tech (Boston Red Sox), 1995 winner Mark Kotsay of Cal.-State Fullerton (San Diego Padres),1997 winner Tim Hudson of Auburn (Oakland Athletics), 1998 winner Brad Wilkerson of Florida (Montreal Expos) and 1999 winner Jason Jennings of Baylor (Colorado Rockies).

All told, 19 former winners and finalists of the Smith Award saw action in the 2001 major league season.

For a complete preliminary watch list, please visit: http://www.smithaward.com/02watchlist.htm

Minero will lead Western Carolina in a key SoCon battle at Georgia Southern this weekend. Western currently sits in second place in the league standings, one game ahead of the Eagles. The teams will play single games on Friday (7:00 pm), Saturday (1:30 pm) and Sunday (1:30 pm). Friday's game will be the only weekend contest broadcast locally on Sylva's WRGC (680 AM), courtesy of the Georgia Southern Radio Network.