Taylor Rakes
Tusculum College baseball standout Taylor Rakes is this year’s recipient of the South Atlantic Conference (sAC) Presidents Award, following a vote of the league’s Faculty Athletic Representatives at the annual SAC Business Meetings in Asheville, N.C.
Rakes becomes the sixth Tusculum student-athlete in school history to earn this honor and the fourth baseball player in the 24-year history of the award to be recognized. This also marks the fourth straight year and fifth of the last six that a Tusculum male student-athlete has garnered this accolade.
The SAC Presidents Award is the most prestigious honor the conference awards to its student-athletes. It exemplifies the finest combined qualities of excellence in athletics, academics and community leadership. During the year, the league recognizes 14 Scholar Athletes, representing each of the conference-sponsored sports. The top male and female SAC Scholar Athletes from each represented member school are then nominated for the Presidents Award.
Rakes, a 6-1, 160-pound redshirt junior pitcher from Norcross, Ga., boasted a 3.89 cumulative grade point average with a double major in Business and Economics and was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Baseball First Team
Rakes earned his Bachelor’s degree in May from Tusculum, graduating with honors and earning magna cum laude distinction. The Norcross High School graduate was named the 2012 South Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete for Baseball, while also earning a spot on the All-SAC Second Team.
Rakes enjoyed a stellar campaign after redshirting the 2011 season due to “Tommy John” surgery. He emerged as the No. 2 starter in Tusculum’s weekend rotation, where he posted a 10-1 record with a 3.18 earned run average. His 15 mound starts are tied for the most in a TC single-season and are the 11th– most in NCAA II this year and his 10 pitching wins are tied for the third most by a Pioneer and currently 12th-best in the country.
For his career, Rakes has a sterling 19-6 record and is tied fourth all-time in career victories and is tied for third with his 32 career starts. His six career complete games are eighth in TC history, while his 195.2 career innings pitched are seventh all-time.
Rakes is a member of the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List, President’s List and is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society. He is very active in leadership and community service in the Tusculum College and Greeneville community. He has been active with the Pioneer Student Athlete Advisory Council’s fundraising efforts for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, American Cancer Society and the St. Baldrick’s “Basebald” program to aid childhood cancer research. He has volunteered as a Greeneville Youth Baseball Mentor, served a guest speaker in Tusculum Athletic Training and his experiences with his “Tommy John” surgery and, along with his father, provided free lawn care services for stationed armed forces personnel.
Three-time Academic All-America® cross country runner Simon Holzapfel was last year’s male recipient of the SAC Presidents Award. Former Tusculum All-America and Academic All-America® tight end Jarrell NeSmith captured this honor in back-to-back years in 2008-09 and again in 2009-10. Former Academic All-America® placekicker Glen Black was the 2006-07 recipient of the SAC Presidents Award, while three-time SAC Women’s Basketball Scholar Athlete Julie Maples was the first TC student-athlete to earn the league’s top honor in 2004-05.