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Kentucky Athletics | July 18, 2014

Simply the best

kentucky-ajreed.jpg Kentucky's AJ Reed was he NCAA leader in homers (23), slugging (.735) and OPS (1.211) in 2014.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky's AJ Reed has been selected as the 2014 Golden Spikes Award winner, given annually to the top amateur player in the nation by USA Baseball, making Reed a unanimous pick as the national player of the year, it was announced Thursday.

Reed’s clean sweep of the 2014 national player of the year awards includes the Dick Howser Trophy, presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Baseball America College Player of the Year, Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Year and the American Baseball Coaches Association National Player of the Year awards. Reed also was named the Southeastern Conference Male Athlete of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, and the winner of the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award.

A 6-foot-4, 240-pound left-handed pitcher/first baseman, Reed now becomes the third all-time SEC player to earn unanimous national player of the year honors, joining Dave Magadan (1983) and David Price (2007). Reed is the sixth SEC player to win the Golden Spikes Award and the first since Florida catcher Mike Zunino.

A native of Terre Haute, Ind., Reed edged three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, Oregon State outfielder Michael Conforto and LSU right-hander Aaron Nola, the 2014 SEC Pitcher of the Year.

Reed charted one of the top seasons in the history of college baseball in 2014, finishing the year as the NCAA leader in homers (23), slugging (.735) and OPS (1.211). He became the first player in SEC history to lead the conference in homers and pitching wins, while going 12-2 with a 2.09 ERA. He was the first player in league history to hit over 20 homers in the BBCOR era.

Reed finished the year with a .336 average – narrowly missing the second triple crown in SEC history – with a conference best 23 homers and 73 RBI. He also led the league in on-base percentage (.476), total bases (164) and walks (49), while adding 60 runs, 18 doubles and one triple. On the mound, Reed was UK’s Friday-night ace for a second consecutive campaign, posting the second-most wins in Kentucky history, while starting 16 games. He hurled 112 innings, walking just 29 and striking out 71.

A consensus first-team All-America selection in 2014, Reed finished his record-setting UK career with a .306 average in 172 games, slugging 35 doubles, three triples, 40 homers and 168 RBI. On the mound, Reed finished with a 19-13 record and a 2.83 ERA in his 46-game UK career, tossing 248 innings.

The first pick of the second round in the 2014 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros, Reed has hit .311 (32-for-103) in his professional debut in the New York-Penn League. Reed, the NY-Penn League Player of the Week, has belted nine doubles and three homers in his first 28 games, with a .415 on-base percentage and 22 RBI, sporting a 17-16 walk-strikeout ratio.

GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD WINNERS

YEAR PLAYER SCHOOL
1978 Bob Horner Arizona State
1979 Tim Wallach Cal State Fullerton
1980 Terry Francona Arizona
1981 Mike Fuentes Florida State
1982 Augie Schmidt New Orleans
1983 Dave Magadan Alabama
1984 Oddibe McDowell Arizona State
1985 Will Clark Mississippi State
1986 Mike Loynd Florida State
1987 Jim Abbott Michigan
1988 Robin Ventura Oklahoma State
1989 Ben McDonald LSU
1990 Alex Fernandez Miami-Dade CC
1991 Mike Kelly Arizona State
1992 Phil Nevin Cal State Fullerton
1993 Darren Dreifort Wichita State
1994 Jason Varitek Georgia Tech
1995 Mark Kotsay Cal State Fullerton
1996 Travis Lee San Diego State
1997 J.D. Drew Florida State
1998 Pat Burrell Miami
1999 Jason Jennings Baylor
2000 Kip Bouknight South Carolina
2001 Mark Prior USC
2002 Khalil Greene Clemson
2003 Rickie Weeks Southern
2004 Jered Weaver Long Beach State
2005 Alex Gordon Nebraska
2006 Tim Lincecum Washington
2007 David Price Vanderbilt
2008 Buster Posey Florida State
2009 Stephen Strasburg San Diego State
2010 Bryce Harper Southern Nevada
2011 Trevor Bauer UCLA
2012 Mike Zunino Florida
2013 Kris Bryant San Diego
2014 AJ Reed Kentucky

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