June 4, 2002

Maryland baseball standout shortstop John McCurdy (Crofton, Md.) became the third Terrapin in draft history to be selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, as he was taken by the Oakland Athletics as the 26th overall pick on Tuesday. McCurdy, who authored one of the most prolific seasons in the history of Maryland baseball as a junior in 2002, is the first Terp to be taken in the first round since Eric Milton in 1996.

Underclassmen selected in the draft have the opportunity to rejoin their collegiate squads for the 2003 season if they opt not to sign a professional contract.

McCurdy finished the season second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a .443 batting average, 77 RBI and an .828 slugging percentage. A semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy (awarded annually to college baseball's player of the year), McCurdy established new Terp single-season records for base hits (98) and extra-base hits (43) while his 19 home runs tied for second among Maryland's all-time single-season leaders.

McCurdy was a key element for a Terp team that won a school-record 34 games in 2002 and set team records for runs (501), hits (641), doubles (147) and RBI (446). Honors for the junior included player of the week citations by Collegiate Baseball News/"Louisville Slugger," USA Today/Baseball Weekly and the ACC.

The Terrapins, who went 17-37 in 2001, improved to 34-22 this season under second-year head coach Terry Rupp. In addition to McCurdy (2002) and Milton (1996), Gene Hiser (1970) was the only other Terp selected in the first round since the draft's inception in 1965.