May 15, 2000

LEXINGTON, Ky. – One day before heading off to compete in the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Birmingham, the University of Kentucky baseball team received word from the SEC office on Monday afternoon that catcher John Wilson was honored as an All-SEC second team selection.

The award, voted on by the 12 league head coaches, is Wilson’s second consecutive and marks the first back-to-back winner of such an award at Kentucky since Mike Harris was named second team All-SEC in 1989 and 1990.

A year removed from his SEC home run title season, Wilson has once again put up strong power numbers this year. He leads the Wildcats with 18 home runs, 65 runs batted in, 147 total bases, 38 bases on balls, a .731 slugging percentage and a .482 on-base percentage. He has set career highs this year in batting average (.368), runs scored (60), RBI, bases on balls, stolen bases (18) and on-base percentage.

Wilson is tied for third in the conference with 18 homers, ranking him 13th in the NCAA. His career-high 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts rank him second in the nation among catchers. Wilson’s 16 runners caught stealing ties him for fourth in the SEC while he and teammate Jason Wolfe teamed to allow the fewest number of stolen bases in the conference this season, 32.

In addition to being up for All-America honors for the third consecutive voting period, Wilson is expected to be one of the ten finalists for the Johnny Bench National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, presented by the Greater Wichita Sports Commission.