Oct. 19, 2006

Baseball America recently released its projection of the top-50 picks in next summer's MLB draft, and three Tennessee Volunteers are predicted to be among the top-20 selections. Only three colleges in the country had multiple players on the publication's list, and UT was the only school with three players on the list.

Baseball America projects Tennessee junior outfielder Julio Borbon as the No. 7 overall pick in the draft. Borbon is the highest-rated Vol on the list and the fourth-highest rated collegian. A leadoff hitter with tremendous speed, Borbon hit .358 during his first two seasons at UT with 87 runs scored and 31 stolen bases. This past summer, he hit .364 with a wood bat for Team USA and also added four home runs for the gold-medal-winning American squad.

Junior left-handed pitcher James Adkins is projected as the 11th overall pick in June's draft. The Mt. Juliet, Tenn., native has been a weekend starter for the Vols since his arrival on Rocky Top, and he has posted an 18-11 career record with a 3.86 ERA and 247 strikeouts in 233.1 innings.

Junior catcher J.P. Arencibia is projected as the 20th overall pick in the 2007 draft. A National Player of the Year candidate and Johnny Bench Award candidate, Arencibia owns a .335 career batting average with 25 home runs and 123 RBIs. He has started every game the Vols have played (123) over the last two seasons and earned All-America honors as a sophomore in 2006.

Arencibia has also starred for Team USA each of the last two summers. He led the club with a .404 average in 2005 and had a team-high nine home runs and a .306 average on his way to earning MVP honors at the 2006 FISU World Championship Tournament in Havana, Cuba this past summer.

"To have three players projected as top-20 draft picks speaks volume about the talent level here at Tennessee," Vols head coach Rod Delmonico said. "We've produced seven first-round picks in the last 12 years, and we've also had three second-rounders during that span.

"Our focus here at the University of Tennessee continues to be providing our young men with an outstanding education while also helping them to greatly improve their stock in the draft."

Rice and Oregon State each landed two players in Baseball America's projected top 50. Those schools joined Tennessee as the only colleges in the country with multiple players on the list. Seven players from Southeastern Conference schools are on the list.

The MLB draft takes place during the first week of June.