Huffman named to the Wallace Award Watch List
11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Nov. 22, 2005
LUBBOCK, Texas - Junior utility player Chad Huffman has been named to the watch list for the 2005 Brooks Wallace Award, which is presented annually to the national college baseball player of the year. He is one of just four student-athletes from the Mountain West to be named to the watch list. Former TCU pitcher Lance Broadway was one of the three finalists for the award a year ago.
"Chad is certainly one of the nation's premier players," remarked head coach Jim Schlossnagle. "Brooks Wallace was a great person, father and husband as well as player. We all feel honored to have Chad associated with this award."
Huffman was a key cog in the Frogs school-record 41 wins last season and finished second on the squad with a .353 batting average. He appeared in all 61 contests, starting 60. He led the Frogs with a career-high 12 home runs and drove in 53 RBIs. For the second straight season, Huffman was named second-team all-Conference USA.
Joining Huffman on the watch list from the Mountain West are New Mexico second baseman, Jordan Pacheco, an outfielder from UNLV, Ryan Bird and first baseman Ben Saylor of BYU.
The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists by late May. Then the selection committee will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals at a press conference in Omaha. The finalists, their head coaches, and their parents will be invited to Lubbock, TX, for a schedule of special events tied to the award banquet, which will again be nationally televised by Fox Sports Network.
Dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach, Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. A 4-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District Six his senior year when he led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament. 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.
The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of preeminent coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media who most closely follow the sport. Screening Committee members will evaluate the candidates and will continue their review throughout the entire baseball season. The list will expand and contract during the regular season and additional Wallace Watch candidates may be added as the season progresses. Voting for the three finalists and the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W.Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock, TX.
