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Anthony Fazio Headed To Rice!

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MIF04

MIF04

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While I like the Staff at LU, I have never really understood their recruiting. Maybe they just didn't want to compete with the big schools. Their recruiting skills are lacking for local talent.(IMO)

Generally, this is 'on point'....

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While I like the Staff at LU, I have never really understood their recruiting. Maybe they just didn't want to compete with the big schools. Their recruiting skills are lacking for local talent.(IMO)

At times I think the same on the recruiting, there have been a few local boys that were told they didn't have the talent for a D1, I'm speaking of 2 that are now in Pro Ball and there are probally more. I do respect Gilligan as one of the best coaches for pitchers in the nation, but it does seem as if he lets some really good kids get away. I have no idea why unless he didn't think he could get Anthony. NCAA rules may have changed on dates a coach can talk to and sign a potential player, I'm thinking although a verbal commitment was made I dont think they can put it in Ink till Nov ?? and I would not be surprised if the Fazio family recieved a call a little before the early signing period. Who knows he could have heard something from a 3rd party, he does have ears and eyes all over it seems. In our case, my son signed with Lamar in the early Nov period, early the next spring we went to a tryout in Ok for JUCO when we returned we went to a Lamar game within a few days, when Coach G saw us he came over and proceeded to voice his STRONG disaprovall of me taking my son to Ok for a tryout, I still wonder how he found out, although IMO it was none of his buss, that day I lost the respect I had for him. I personally know another boy that is one of his pitchers now that the EXACT same thing happened after the boy went to Panola for a tryout, except he made a call to the boys house on that occassion, he gave both boy and dad a tounge lashing on the phone. I still will tell anyone he's one of the best pitching coaches in the nation but thats all. 
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Kelly’s Fazio dazzles scouts, recruiters

By Dave Rogers

The Port Arthur News

BEAUMONT — Nearing the end of what has been the best summer of his young life, Kelly High senior Anthony Fazio broke the hearts of many a recruiter this past week when he accepted an offer to play baseball in college for the Rice Owls.

Fazio, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound pitcher best known as the Bulldogs’ quarterback, has been one of the hottest names on the summer baseball showcase circuit.

After wowing college and pro scouts from Los Angeles to Atlanta, he turned down scholarship offers from Alabama, Southern California, Texas A&M, Baylor, Louisiana-Lafayette and Harvard. The University of Texas, LSU, Duke and Sam Houston State were others trying to get his attention.

Of course, coach Wayne Graham’s Rice Owls only ranked No. 1 in college baseball at the end of the last regular season, making it to the semifinals of the College World Series.

“I’ve always wanted to stay pretty close to home, and it’s obviously one of the best baseball schools in the country and one of the best academic schools where I can get one of the best degrees,†said the right-handed Fazio, who will sign with the Owls at the first opportunity, which comes up in November.

Graham’s scholarship offer included 100 percent of books, tuition and fees, the best offer Rice makes to baseball players. That comes to more than $30,000 a year at the so-called “Harvard of the South.â€

Fazio’s excellent adventure is far from over for the summer.

He will pitch at Minute Maid Park in Houston July 31 in the 11th annual Texas Scouts Association Games, a showcase of the top 50 pro prospects in the southern United States.

On Aug. 3-10 he’ll be in Long Beach, Calif., for the Area Code Games, one of 26 prospects on the Texas Rangers team out there. Eight major league teams sponsor teams there, with the players chosen through summer tryouts.

“It’s going to be neat,†Fazio said. “Pretty much every (scout) I’ve talked to said they’ll be at the game at Minute Maid and at the Area Code Games. They said there will be two or three scouts from every Major League team at Long Beach.â€

Fazio has played select baseball since he was 8 years old and has worked with Mark Petkovsek, a former Kelly and University of Texas standout who pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals a decade ago. This summer, Fazio played with the Houston Slam and showcasing college prospects was the coach’s goal.

In early June, Fazio and the Slam team flew to Tempe, Ariz., where the players took part in a Nike-sponsored combine that included 180 players. A highlight of the event was SPARQ testing, a relatively new set of physical tests designed to measure athletesí overall ability.

The test consists of a 30-yard dash, a shuttle run, a vertical jump measurement and a medicine ball toss. Fazio had the best score of anyone there, a 69.26, which currently has him ranked No. 10 among all senior high school pitchers whoíve taken the test.

Fazio had a 29-inch vertical jump, 4.0 seconds for the shuttle, 3.93 seconds for the 30-yard dash and a medicine ball toss of 42 feet.

From Arizona, the ballplayers took a bus to California, where they played a series of games at various venues, three games at USC’s ballfield. In three pitching performances in California, Fazio didn’t give up an earned run and he homered over the center-field fence. In a game at USC, he struck out seven batters in five innings with a fastball that reached 92 mph.

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