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Kopps makes list of finalists for college baseball’s top honor
Kevin Kopps is one step closer to the college baseball’s most prestigious honor.
The Razorback pitcher is one of three finalists, along with Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, for the 43rd Golden Spikes Award, USA Baseball announced Thursday.
As college baseball’s most dominant pitcher, Kopps finished the 2021 campaign with a 12-1 record and 11 saves.
He posted the nation’s lowest ERA (0.90) and WHIP (0.76), striking out 131 in 89.2 innings of work. Opposing hitters had a .162 average against the right-hander, who set the program’s single-season record for ERA during his historic year.
Kopps has taken home nearly every major award in college baseball this year. The Sugar Land, Texas, native won the Dick Howser Trophy and was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year as well as Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year.
He was voted the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association District 7 Player of the Year and was the first reliever to win the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year Award.
Kopps, a consensus first-team All-America honoree, was also named Pitcher of the Year by Perfect Game/Rawlings.
Kopps is just the third Razorback to be named a Golden Spikes Award finalist and the first since Andrew Benintendi took home the award in 2015. Arkansas’ Phil Stidham also earned finalist honors in 1991.
2021 marks just the second year in the history of the Golden Spikes Award that not only do all of the finalists hail from the same conference, but also the second time that they have all played in the Southeastern Conference.
All four finalists for the award in 2015 also suited up in the SEC (Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas; Alex Bregman, LSU; Carson Fulmer and Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt).
Additionally, this is just the second time ever that all the finalists for the award have been pitchers. All three finalists for the 2011 prize also made their mark on the mound, including eventual-winner Trevor Bauer (UCLA), as well as Danny Hultzen (Virginia), and Taylor Jungmann (Texas).
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Burks named to Steele’s preseason All-American team
Arkansas wide receiver Treylon Burks has picked up the first preseason All-American honor headed into the season on Phil Steele’s magazine list.
The publication this week released its preseason All-American and All-SEC teams.
Linebacker Grant Morgan and defensive back Jalen Catalon were named to the second team.
Burks led the Razorbacks in catches last season, hauling in 51 passes for 820 yards and seven touchdowns.
He finished third in the SEC in receiving yards per game (91.1) and fifth in total receiving yards, logging six games of 90+ receiving yards and four games of 100+ receiving yards as a true sophomore.
He is the first player from Warren named to a preseason All-American team after getting second-team All-SEC honors after the 2020 campaign, was one of only two FBS receivers to log 800+ receiving yards and 70+ rushing yards on the year.
Morgan was simply one of the best players in all of college football last season. He was named a Walter Camp and AFCA second team All-American at the year’s end, posted a team-best 111 total tackles, including 7.5 for loss, with 2.0 sacks in 2020.
The linebacker finished tied for the nation’s lead in tackles per game (12.3) while intercepting one pass, breaking up five and registering one quarterback hurry.
Originally a walk-on, Morgan joined Martrell Spaight (2014) as the only two Razorback defenders to garner both AP and Coaches All-SEC recognition in the last 10 seasons.
Catalon, meanwhile, was tabbed to the All-SEC First Team (AP) and second team (Coaches) last season after logging 99 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, three interceptions, four pass break-ups, one fumble recovery and two forced fumbles as a redshirt freshman.
The Mansfield, Texas, native was the first Razorback defensive back to earn All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches since Michael Grant (2007).
Burks, Morgan and Catalon were also featured as first-team All-SEC contributors. Linebacker Bumper Pool (second team), offensive lineman Myron Cunningham (third team), long snapper Jordan Silver (third team), running back Trelon Smith (fourth team) and offensive lineman Ricky Stromberg (fourth team) rounded out the Hogs’ list of preseason All-SEC honorees.
Pool, an All-SEC Second Team selection last season, finished second on the team with 101 total tackles, tying for second with 6.5 tackles for loss and five passes broken up.
The Lucas, Texas, native ranked second in the SEC and ninth in FBS in tackles per game (11.2), also recording 0.5 sacks and one quarterback hurry on the year.
Cunningham anchored the Razorback offensive line in 2020, starting all 10 games at left tackle. The 6-6, 330-pounder played all 705 snaps of the 2020 season – the most snaps of any Razorback – and allowed only two sacks all year.
Silver, meanwhile, served as the team’s primary long snapper for the third consecutive season. The Branson, Mo., native played in all 10 games and finished with a 68.5 special-teams grade from Pro Football Focus.
Smith produced a team-best 710 rushing yards with five touchdowns on 134 carries (5.3 avg.) out of the backfield one year ago.
The Houston, Texas, product, who played in all 10 games with four starts, finished with the squad’s third-most catches (22) for 159 yards and one score, tallying the second-most all-purpose yards (869) on the Razorbacks.
Stromberg saw all his action at center last year, playing in nine games with eight starts. The 6-4, 316-pound offensive lineman totaled 628 snaps, the fourth most on the team and third most among his fellow linemen, while allowing only one sack on the year.
Arkansas opens the 2021 season at home against former Southwest Conference rival Rice at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 4, on SEC Network+/ESPN+.
You can listen online at HitThatLine.com or on ESPN Arkansas 99.5 in Northwest Arkansas, 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Pallette not needing surgery best news from Van Horn, Henry says
Hawgs Illustrated’s Clay Henry said on Halftime the news Peyton Pallette’s arm injury won’t require surgery key to rotation for next year.
