Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, June 11, 2015
First hug from MOM for #Illini @TyJay_11.
— Illinois Baseball (@IlliniBaseball) June 9, 2015
Good luck with the @Twins! #MLBDraft http://t.co/DHODFrAYMP
The 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft was a wild success for the Big Ten.
[ MORE: Relive every Big Ten pick in the 2015 MLB draft ]
Not only were 53 players selected – 10 more than the conference had in the previous two drafts combined – but Illinois, Maryland and Michigan State all had a school-record number of student-athletes picked in the three-day event.
Want more? Iowa tied its record (5) and Indiana (6), which has made three consecutive NCAA tournaments, was one pick away from tying its record, set in 2009.
Get more facts about Illinois, Maryland and Michigan State's record days below:
ILLINOIS (9)
- The Big Ten regular-season champ and Champaign Regional winner led the Big Ten with a program-record nine selections, three more than its previous best (6 in 1985).
- Illinois' nine picks tied for the third-most in the nation, behind Oklahoma (11) and University of California Santa Barbara (10). The other school with nine selections were Arizona State, Florida and Vanderbilt.
- Closer Tyler Jay highlighted the Big Ten's 53 selections, going No. 6 to the Minnesota Twins. Jay's selection gives the Big Ten back-to-back top 10 picks and one first-round pick in three of the last four drafts.
Lots of strong emotions after a loss like that, but I am truly blessed to continue my baseball career as a Minnesota Twin!! @Twins
— Tyler Jay (@TyJay_11) June 9, 2015
See all of Illinois' picks at fightingillini.com.
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MARYLAND (8)
- The Los Angeles Regional champ had four players drafted in rounds 3-10 on Tuesday and four more in rounds 11-40 on Wednesday.
- Maryland had the Big Ten's second and third players taken off the board, in star second baseman Brandon Lowe (Round 3, Tampa Bay Rays) and talented southpaw Alex Robinson (Round 5, Minnesota Twins).
Blessed and honored to have the opportunity to play professional baseball for the @Twins! Can't wait to get to work. #Twins
— Alex Robinson (@arobb42) June 9, 2015
See all of Maryland's picks at umterps.com.
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MICHIGAN STATE (8)
- Michigan State's eight selections blew away the team's previous record of five in 2002.
- Cam Gibson, the son of former Michigan State two-sport star and longtime MLB player Kirk Gibson, was the fifth Big Ten player selected, going to the Detroit Tigers, his father's original team.
See all of Michigan State's picks at msuspartans.com.
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Once again, that's 53 @B1Gbaseball players selected in 2015 @MLB First-Year Player Draft. pic.twitter.com/JjFeXUf8oh
— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) June 10, 2015