MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It’s official: JJ Wetherholt is a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, one of college baseball’s versions of the Heisman Trophy.
Wetherholt, West Virginia’s sophomore-sensation second baseman, becomes the second player in program history to be a finalist for the award along with Alek Manoah in 2019.
Wetherholt is joined by five players from around the country as Dick Howser Trophy finalists: LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, LSU pitcher Paul Skenes, Wake Forest pitcher Rhett Lowder and Florida two-way player Jac Caglianone.
The sophomore standout currently leads all players in the country with a .449 batting average. If he maintains the top spot in the statistic nationally, he will have produced the highest batting average by a Power 5 Conference player since Buster Posey hit .463 for Florida State in 2008. Wetherholt is 17 points ahead of LSU’s Crews, who owns the highest average of any player still playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Wetherholt is likely to become the first Mountaineer to ever lead the country in batting average.
Wednesday’s announcement continues a historic, record-breaking year for Wetherholt. The Mars, Pennsylvania native tied the West Virginia baseball program record for hits in a single season with 101. He became the first WVU player to win Big 12 Player of the Year honors. His .449 batting average is also the best by any Mountaineer in the modern era of college baseball.
Despite his recognition as a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, Wetherholt was left off the finalists’ podium for the Golden Spikes Award.