Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Hunter Dozier: Minor League With Major Potential

The 2013 MLB Draft was just like any other year, but this was a significant event for Hunter Dozier, a shortstop from Stephen F Austin State University. Dozier was selected by the Kansas City Royals as the eighth overall pick and signed on with a $2.2 million signing bonus.

The 6 foot 4 and 220 pound Dozier graduated from Denton High School where he played baseball and played as the quarterback for the Denton HS football team. He later attended SFA where he played college baseball.

Some of his awards while at SFA include Southland Conference Player and Hitter of the Year with a .357 batting average in 2012 and .396 average in 2013. This allowed for Dozier to leave SFA with two school records for the all-time leader in hits and doubles. The nation also recognized Dozier and his efforts when he was a finalist and semifinalist for three different national baseball awards like the Golden Spikes Award, Brooks Wallace Award and Dick Howser Award.

After the draft, Dozier set a few standards for SFA and the SLC as well. Dozier was the first player from SFA to be selected during the first round of the draft and he was the highest picked above any other SLC player.

Dozier was placed in minor league baseball and since 2013 he has played for five different teams such as the Idaho Fall Chukars, Lexington Legends and Wilmington Blue Rocks. He has also moved from shortstop to third base. He is now a top prospect for the Kansas City Royals and continues to learn more about his baseball skills. When speaking to the Kansas City Star, Dozier said,"I learned a lot about my swing, small fundamental stuff that will help me create more power."

Dozier also told the Kansas City Star how SFA prepared him for signing with the Kansas City Royals. "I grew a lot at SFA. The coaches really helped me out there and pretty much growing into my body from high school and playing games and getting a lot of ABs during the summer and also during the college year."

Dozier currently plays third base for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

By Roxanne Leila Morelos

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Taylor Smith: From SFA to Greece

Before coach Brad Underwood and his success with the Stephen F Austin State University men's basketball team, coach Danny Kaspar enlisted a 6 foot 6 center/forward from Schertz, Texas. This player was Taylor Smith.

Smith attended Clemens High School and McLennan Community College before transferring to SFA in 2011. At the high school and community college level, Smith was earning awards and building his basketball experience. Some of his achievements from Clemens include being an all-state honoree and having a 19-point average per game. These credentials continued in community college after Smith was awarded the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and two time NTJCAC Defensive Player of the Year.

When Smith transferred to SFA in 2011, he appeared in all 32 games during his first season and led the team with a 70.1 field goal percentage. During the 2012-2013 season, Smith gained recognition from the Southland Conference and brought the Lumberjacks one game away from entering the NCAA tournament at the end of the season.

Smith was the 2012-2013 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year with a 68.8 field goal percentage and he set a SFA record with 87 blocks for the season. Smith has 129 blocks in total for his two seasons. After making all these accomplishments, Smith went on to graduate from SFA in 2013.

In 2013, Smith also began his professional basketball career. The small-town Texas resident traveled over seas to play for the Greek Basket League, also known as the Greek Basketball League. This league consists of 14 clubs, or teams and like the NBA in America, the GBL has a regular season then clubs go on to the playoffs.

Smith started with the GBL for the 2013-2014 season and he plays during the 2014-2015 season as well. Like his college basketball experience, Smith is a defensive specialist. He has 35 blocks and a 65.9 field goal percentage.

The GBL is now in the 2014-2015 season until June.


By Roxanne Leila Morelos