June 4, 2003

WILLIAM PATERSON'S GRAHAM SELECTED IN
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S FIRST-YEAR DRAFT

NJAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR CHOSEN IN 16TH ROUND BY THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS

William Paterson University right fielder Bryan Graham was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 16^th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Graham became the first William Paterson player drafted by a major league team since 2000, his freshman year, when Shaun Stokes was selected in the seventh round of the 2000 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He also became the second Pioneer selected by Kansas City, as the Royals took shortstop Troy McAllister in the 31^st round in 1992.

When he signs a contract later this week with the Royals, he will become the 29^th player in head coach Jeff Albies’ 29 seasons at William Paterson to have signed on to play pro ball. Upon signing, he will leave for Arizona on June 15 to play in the Rookie Advance League through Labor Day. Kansas City does not have a Class A rookie team.

“I went to a workout for Kansas City and they were the only team I really had contact with. I figured if anything was going to happen, it was going to be with the Royals,” said Graham, 21. “Getting drafted is always in the back of your mind. When you work real hard and something like this happens, it feels great.”

Graham finished his four-year career as one of the finest to ever play baseball for a proud William Paterson program. In 2003, he captured the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro Region, New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) and New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association (NJCBA) Player of the Year awards and was also named to the American Baseball Coaches Association’s (ABCA) All-Mid Atlantic Region All-Star Team first team.

This came after he led the NJAC with a .445 batting average to go with 13 doubles, three triples, three home runs, 36 RBI, 27 walks, eight stolen bases, a .700 slugging percentage and a .561 on-base percentage. His batting average is the fourth-best mark in a season at William Paterson, while his 13 doubles enabled him to become the program’s all-time leader in that category with 52. He also surpassed former New York Yankee Dan Pasqua for second place on the runs batted in list, having driven home 158 runs in his four years.

“Bryan Graham has been an outstanding representative for William Paterson University baseball,” Albies said. “He attracted professional scouts because has the physical attributes to be successful on the next level. He had a great career here and, to his credit, four years ago he chose an environment where he thought he could be successful and it happened. All of the coaches, players and everyone involved with the program are very proud of Bryan and wish him the very best.”

Graham earned several honors in his career. He captured the 2000 NJAC Rookie of the Year award after hitting .286 with 17 doubles and 22 RBI. This led to him being named one of the Top 5 Division III pro prospects by Baseball America in 2001 and 2002. In addition, Graham was a first-team All-NJCBA Division II/III selection and a second-team All-NJAC pick in 2002 after batting .314 with team bests in doubles (12), homers (6) and RBI (49).

For his career, Graham also ranked among the career Top 10 in hit-by-pitches (18, second),  hits (179, ninth) and at-bats (526, 10th), while placing among the single-season Top 10 in doubles (17 in 2000, tied for fifth) and hit-by-pitches (7, tied for eighth).