UT Sports

2023 MLB
Draft Central:
Eight Vols
Selected
During 2023
MLB Draft

The 2023 MLB First-
Year Player Draft
concluded on Tuesday
afternoon with eight
Tennessee Volunteers
having heard their
names called in the
draft. Eight picks ties
the second-highest
number of Volunteers
taken in a single draft
with the 1992 season
and is behind only the
2022 draft class which
had 10 players. The
Vols also finished with
the second-most picks
in the Southeastern
Conference, trailing
just LSU who had 13.
Since head coach Tony
Vitello assumed the
reins of the program
(2018), Tennessee
has had 35 players
drafted total. The last
three draft classes
have netted 25 picks
and at least seven
individuals have been
selected each season
since 2021. Tennessee
had six pitchers
taken in the 2023
draft, a new program
record, surpassing
the five arms chosen
in both the 1992 and
1996 seasons. DAY 1
(ROUNDS 1-2)
For the third time in
the last four years,
Tennessee baseball
had a player selected
in the first round of the
MLB Draft, as pitcher
Chase Dollander
was taken with the
No. 9 overall pick by
the Colorado Rockies
on Sunday night.
Dollander became the
19th first-round pick
in program history and
the fourth under head
coach Tony Vitello
and his staff, including
the second pitcher to
go in the first round
during that time, joining
Garrett Crochet
(No. 11 in 2020). No
Tennessee player has
been drafted higher
than Dollander during
Vitello’s tenure, as the
Georgia native became
the first Vol picked
in the top 10 since
Nick Senzel went No.
2 overall in 2016.
Dollander is also the
highest-drafted pitcher
straight out of college
in program history.
On top of earning
consensus first-team
All-America honors
in 2022, Dollander
became just the second
player in program
history to earn Southeastern
Conference
Pitcher of Year recognition
after posting
a perfect 10-0 record
and an NCAA-best
0.80 WHIP to go along
with a 2.39 ERA. Dollander
recorded seven
more victories in
2023 to help lead the
Vols to their second
Men’s College World
Series appearance in
three years. He was
also named a College
Sports Communicators
Academic All-American,
becoming just
the ninth player and
second pitcher in
UT history to earn
such honors. DAY 2
(ROUNDS 3-10)
Three Volunteers had
their named called
on Day 2 of the 2023
MLB Draft as Maui
Ahuna was taken by
the San Francisco
Giants in the fourth
round, Andrew Lindsey
had his named
called by the Miami
Marlins in the fifth
round and Seth Halvorsen
was selected by
the Colorado Rockies
in the seventh round.
Tennessee now has
had three players or
more taken in the first
five rounds of the
MLB First-Year Player
Draft in three of the
last four drafts. Prior
to the 2020 draft, the
last time Tennessee
had that many players
taken in the first
five rounds was 2007.
Ahuna made the most
of his one season in
the Orange and White,
finishing second on
the team with a .312
batting average while
leading the Vols with
20 doubles.bThe junior
shortstop paired his
elite defensive skills
with production at the
plate, serving as one
of the team’s most
dangerous hitters over
the second half of the
season, finishing the
year with eight home
runs, 42 RBIs, 110
total bases and a .962
OPS despite not playing
in 12 games.
Ahuna was Tennessee’s
top hitter in the
College World Series,
batting .462 with a
team-leading six hits
and two runs scored
over the team’s three
games in Omaha. In
nine NCAA Tournament
games, the Hilo,
Hawaii, native, batted
.308 with four RBIs,
eight runs and 12 hits,
including a pair of
doubles and a homer.

Webb Announces
Addition of
Eubank to Men’s
Golf Coaching
Staff

Kavan Eubank (first
name pronounced:
KAY-vin) is set to join
Tennessee’s men’s golf
coaching staff as an
assistant coach, head
coach Brennan Webb
announced Wednesday.
Eubank joins Webb
and fellow assistant
coach Bo Andrews,
who are each entering
their sixth seasons on
Rocky Top in 2023-24.
“Kavan is a young
rising star in our profession
and I feel very
fortunate that he has
chosen to join us here
on Rocky Top,” Webb
said. “As we began this
process to fill out our
staff, his name was one
that kept coming up in
discussions I had with
coaches that I respect
very much, due to the
great work he has done
at Boise State and
Denver. “His energy
and passion will add a
lot to our program and
I know he is ready to
hit the ground running
to begin helping our
team reach the lofty
goals that we have.”
Boasting four seasons
of assistant coaching
experience at the Division
I level, Eubank
has spent the past two
seasons at Denver University
(2021-23). Prior
to that, he served on
Boise State’s coaching
staff for two seasons
(2019-21). Aided by
Eubank’s guidance,
Denver captured the
Summit League conference
title and qualified
for NCAA Regionals
during his first season
in 2022, before finishing
runner-up at the
Summit League Championship
in 2023.
Eubank also helped
with the development
of Carson Griggs,
a 2023 First Team
All-Summit League
and 2022 Second Team
All-Summit League
honoree, and Jackson
Solem—a 2022 First
Team All-Summit
League selection. In
Eubank’s two seasons
at Boise State, the
Broncos improved from
90th in the country to
46th according to Golfstat
rankings—resulting
in NCAA Regional
qualification in 2021 as
an at-large selection.
Eubank coached two
players to All-Mountain
West selections—
Hugo Townsend and
Skyler Eubank—with
Townsend being selected
as the 2021
Mountain West Golfer
of the Year. Townsend
also went on to play
in the 2021 Arnold
Palmer Cup. Eubank
played collegiately for
two seasons at California
Baptist (2014-16)
before transferring to
Texas A&M for his
final two collegiate
seasons (2016-18). As
a sophomore at California
Baptist in 2015-16,
the Meridian, Idaho,
native earned PING
Division II Third-Team
All-America honors.
That year, Eubank finished
fourth at the conference
championships,
third in regionals, and
eighth at the NCAA
Division II Championships.
He was named
the 2015 PacWest
Freshman of the Year.