Heritage High School graduate and current University of Georgia pitcher Cole Wilcox was mentioned as one of the top MLB Draft prospects by The Athletic’s Keith Law.
Law recently posted his top 30 list, which can be found here, and slotted Wilcox at No. 28. He mentions that Wilcox was a first-round talent out of high school, but decided to put his professional career on hold for a chance to play for the in-state Bulldogs. The Washington Nationals selected him in the 37th round of the MLB Draft, trying to pursue him to the big leagues, but to no avail.
In the five-week span that was the 2020 college baseball season, Wilcox shined in his four starts for UGA. The 6-foot-5, 232-pound right-handed pitcher threw 23.0 innings with 32 strikeouts and only two walks. His 1.57 earned run average and 0.87 WHIP (base runners allowed per inning) was the best among Georgia’s starters in 2019.
Wilcox received Freshman All-SEC honors in his first season as a Dawg, and was invited to play for the USA Collegiate National Team in the summer of 2019.
Cole Wilcox’s college teammate, Emerson Hancock, checked in at No. 5 on Keith Law’s list. Hancock, who many scouts and draft experts believe will hear his name called at No. 1 overall in June’s draft, holds a 3.75 ERA over 24.0 innings and four starts this season.
Wilcox and Hancock are two of the eight student-athletes from the Southeastern Conference that were featured on Law’s top 30 list. Austin Martin (Vanderbilt), Asa Lacy (Texas A&M), Heston Kjerstad (Arkansas), Tanner Burns (Auburn), Garrett Crochet (Tennessee) and Carmen Mlodzinski (South Carolina) are the six other prospects from the Southeastern Conference mentioned in Law’s list.
Written by Gracen Shook – ESPN Chattanooga Website Contributor