February 22, 2009 | Lisle, IL Four former Dragons players have been named to the 2009 preseason Brooks Wallace Watch list, announced by the College Baseball foundation Thursday. Justin Behm (Northern Illinois), Scott Sexton (Oakland University), Brian Stroud (Western Michigan), and Kevin Tokarski (Illinois State), have all been named to the watch list for the 2009 college baseball season.
The Brooks Wallace award is presented annually to the top collegiate baseball player with the award being presented in July at the College Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Those four players were each members of the 2008 Dragons team that finished with the best record (26-22) in its four year history.
The Wallace Award is dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech player and assistant coach Brooks Wallace. Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District his senior year. He led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament in 1980.
After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984, he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, Texas, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.
Former winners of this prestigious award include Buster Posey (Florida State – ’08), David Price (Vanderbilt – ’07), Brad Lincoln (Houston – ’06), Alex Gordon (Nebraska – ’05), and Kurt Suzuki (Cal-State Fullerton – ’04).
