Johnson Named to Wallace Award Watch List
November 22, 2006 | Baseball
Nov. 22, 2006
LUBBOCK, Texas - University of Louisville senior Logan Johnson has been named to the 2007 Brooks Wallace Award Watch list released Monday by the College Baseball Foundation. The award is presented annually to the national college baseball player of the year.
"Logan has outstanding hitting ability and is a tremendous asset to the team as he can play a number of different positions," said first-year Head Coach Dan McDonnell.
"In working with Logan during the fall season, he has also shown that he is an outstanding leader."
Johnson, primarily a second baseman and designated hitter, was a second-team All-BIG EAST selection last year after batting .319 with a team-leading 18 doubles, 10 home runs, 49 RBI and a .554 slugging percentage. He was hit by a pitch a school-record 25 times and has been plunked 42 times in his first three seasons, also a school record.
He batted a team-leading .361 in 27 conference games with eight doubles, seven home runs, a .660 slugging percentage and 25 RBI.
The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semifinalists by late May. Then the selection committee will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals, prior to the College World Series. The finalists, their head coaches, and their parents will be invited to Lubbock, TX, for a schedule of special events tied to the award banquet, which will again be nationally televised by Fox Sports Network and Fox College Sports.
Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A 4-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District Six his senior year when he led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament.
After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984 he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, Texas, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.
The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of preeminent coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media who most closely follow the sport. Screening Committee members will evaluate the candidates and will continue their review throughout the entire baseball season.
The list will expand and contract during the regular season and additional Wallace Watch candidates may be added as the season progresses. Voting for the three finalists and the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W.Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock, TX.
