Senior given nation’s top honor at catcher position WICHITA, Kan. -- Senior J.T. Wise added yet another accolade to his impressive resume as he was named the winner of the 2009 Johnny Bench Award. The honor, given annually to the nation’s top collegiate catcher since 2000, was given out by the Hall of Fame catcher at a banquet in Wichita late Friday night. Wise is the first Sooner to collect the award and the second catcher in the history of the Big 12 Conference (Kelly Shoppach - Baylor, 2001). Wise, Shoppach and Taylor Teagarden (2005-Texas) are the only Big 12 catchers to make the finalist list. Tony Sanchez from Boston College and Chris Henderson from George Mason were the other 2009 finalists. "I’d like to thank my parents, sister, girlfriend and coach for supporting me," stated Wise at the banquet. "I wish Tony and Chris luck as they continue in their careers." In addition to some impressive offensive numbers, Wise thrived at the catcher position and threw out a Big 12 best 30 potential base stealers this year (52 percent). In addition, he picked off six runners and committed just two errors, good for a .996 fielding percentage. In 2009, Wise was named an All-American by all four major outlets, including first team honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association (NCBWA). The 2009 Big 12 Player of the Year was also named a second team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches’ Association (ABCA), Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. He was also named to the All-Big 12 first team and to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team this season. Wise was also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, an honor given out to the nation’s top player. Selected in the fifth round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wise was picked 157th overall two years removed from his 45th round selection in the 2007 draft. Wise led all Sooners in 2009 with a .359 batting average, 17 home runs and a .665 slugging percentage and was tied for the team lead with 62 RBIs. He was named the Big 12 Player of the Year after leading the league during the regular season with a .375 batting average. The Apopka, Fla., native played in all but two games for the Sooners this season with 55 starts and has a hit in 46 of those games. He hit safely in 16 of the final 20 contests. In Big 12 play, Wise hit well over .300 (.363) with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs. Wise started his collegiate career at Louisiana State and was named a freshman All-American at second base. Following his sophomore season at LSU, he transferred to OU and hit .278 with seven homers and 49 RBIs as a junior in 2008. For more information on OU baseball, visit www.soonersports.com. OU SID Report
