Jurries Earns Athletic, Academic Baseball Honors
May 10, 2002 | Baseball
May 10, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane University senior infielder James Jurries has been a model-student athlete ever since he stepped onto the Green Wave campus back in the fall of 1998.
On Friday, he earned national honors for his work on the diamond as well as in the classroom as the native of Lake Jackson, Texas was named a semi-finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and was selected to the 2002 Verizon District VI Baseball Academic Team.
A career .347 hitter coming into the 2002 season, Jurries is currently enjoying his best statistical season. He leads the team with a .398 batting average, 17 home runs and 57 RBI. He also paces the Green Wave squad in doubles (tied with 13), triples (four), total bases (148), slugging percentage (.775), on-base percentage (.496) and walks (37) while ranking second on the team in stolen bases (20).
Jurries is closing out his four-year as one of the all-time leaders in both Tulane and Conference USA history. He ranks in the top 10 all-time in nine different statistical categories in C-USA, and owns the league's career total bases record with 586.
He's also moved up in the school's career charts, ranking second in home runs (59), third in runs (270), fourth in hits (324), doubles (63), triples (tied at 11) and RBI (240), fifth in at-bats (904), sixth in stolen bases (70) and seventh in walks (139).
Off the field, Jurries has been a standout in the classroom where he owns a cumulative 3.31 overall grade point average. The number increases to an impressive 3.77 mark in Tulane's prestigious A.B. Freeman School of Business. In the fall, Jurries earned Dean's List recognition with a 3.83 GPA in finance.
The Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former Florida State University All-American shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987, is regarded by many as college baseball's most prestigious award. Criteria for consideration for the trophy include performance on the field, leadership, moral character and courage. The 2002 winner will be announced at the College World Series in Omaha on Friday, June 14.
As a member of the District VI Academic Team, Jurries is eligible for Academic All-America team which will be announced on Tuesday, June 4.
2002 Verizon District VI Baseball Academic Team Steven Herce (Rice), Steve Rowe (Texas Tech), Ran Prince (McNeese State), Andrew Hunter Brown (Rice), James Jurries (Tulane), David Licini (New Mexico State), Wally Pontiff (LSU), Ross Bennett (Baylor), Jeff Cook (Southern Miss), A.J. Porfirio (Rice), Andrew Wishy (Arkansas)
2002 Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalists Russ Adams (SS, North Carolina), Eric Arnold (2B, Rice), Jeff Baker (3B Clemson), Kyle Bakker (SP, Georgia Tech), Ryan Barthelemy (UT/ATH, Florida State), Adam Berry (OF, UCLA), Jeff Baker (3B, Clemson), Ryan Bicandoa (SP, Western Kentucky), Jeremy Brown (C, Alabama), Whit Bryant (UT/ATH, Elon), Matt Buckmiller (OF, Columbia), Bryan Bullington (SP, Ball State), Dave Bush (RP, Wake Forest), David Castillo (C, Oral Roberts), Vito Chiaravallotti (OF, Richmond), Jason Cooper (OF, Stanford), Chad Cordero (RP, Cal State Fullerton), Lance Cormier (SP, Alabama), Jesse Crain (UT/ATH, Houston), Nat Gold (1B, Gonzaga), Khalil Greene (SS, Clemson), Conor Jackson (1B, California), Mark Jurich (OF, Louisville), James Jurries (INF, Tulane), Ryan Kenning (OF, New Mexico State), Mark Kiger (SS, Florida), Chris Maples (UT/ATH, North Carolina), John McCurdy (UT/ATH, Maryland), Drew Meyer (SS, South Carolina), Scooter Michael (SP, UNC Greensboro), Pat O'Brien (C, Kent State), Chris O'Riordan (2B, Stanford), Yaron Peters (SS, South Carolina), Royce Ring (RP, San Diego State), Justin Simmons (SP, Texas), Kyle Sleeth (SP, Wake Forest), Steve Stanley (OF, Notre Dame), Tim Stauffer (SP, Richmond), Blake Taylor (RP, South Carolina), Rickie Weeks (2B, Southern)
