Dylan Crews completing rare 1st-round trifecta; Florida Sports HOF names eight inductees

Lake Mary graduate and college baseball player-of-the-year Dylan Crews is the last piece in an impressive puzzle for former Orlando area athletes this summer.

When Crews has his name called July 9 at the MLB Draft in Seattle, he will join local football and basketball standouts in completing a rare trifecta as first-round draft picks in the same year.

Crews, the Golden Spikes Award winner who led LSU to the College World Series championship early this week, is projected as a Top 2 pick by either the Pittsburgh Pirates or Washington Nationals.

Apopka’s Jalen Carter, a University of Georgia defensive lineman, was taken No. 9 in the NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles in April. Last week, Lake Highland Prep’s Brice Sensabaugh went to the Utah Jazz at No. 28 in the NBA Draft following one season at Ohio State.

Three players drafted in the first round of the three major sports leagues in the same year has happened only twice before among athletes from traditional schools in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Volusia, Brevard and Sumter counties.

In 1998, Daytona Beach Mainland’s Vince Carter went No. 5 to the Golden State Warriors, Lake Brantley’s Felipe López was taken No. 8 by the Toronto Blue Jays and DeLand’s Tra Thomas landed at No. 11 with the Eagles.

Carter matched Evans High first-rounder Darryl Dawkins (Philadelphia 76ers, 1975) as the highest NBA Draft pick among area players. He went on to average 16.7 points per game in 22 seasons.

López batted .264 during an 11-year MLB career with eight teams while Thomas, who played at Florida State, started at left tackle in 165 of 166 games for Philadelphia. He ended his 12 years in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2009.

The pro production varied widely for the three local first-rounders in 1987.

St. Cloud’s Brent Fullwood was picked No. 4 by the NFL’s Green Bay Packers while Oviedo High products Mark Merchant and Ronnie Murphy were chosen by MLB and NBA teams, respectively.

Merchant went No. 2 to the Pirates, one pick after fellow prep outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. was taken by the Seattle Mariners. Following a productive 4-year stint at Jacksonville University, Murphy was selected at No. 17 by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Fullwood, who played running back at Auburn, made the Pro Bowl in 1989 and finished with 1,702 yards and 18 touchdowns in four seasons.

The only area players to go higher in the NFL Draft than Fullwood are No. 3 picks Blake Bortles (Oviedo/UCF) to Jacksonville in 2014 and Wes Chandler (New Smyrna Beach/Florida) to the New Orleans Saints in 1978.

Murphy lasted just 18 games with the Trail Blazers. Portland again used first-rounders on Orlando area players more than three decades later when it grabbed Edgewater’s Anfernee Simons at No. 24 in 2018 and Orlando Christian Prep’s Nassir Little at No. 25 in 2019.

Merchant never broke into the majors despite recording 933 hits, 103 home runs and 107 stolen bases in 12 seasons. Boone’s Paul Wilson, who pitched at Florida State and went No. 1 overall to the New York Mets in 1994, is currently the only area player to be drafted higher.

Lake Brantley’s Rickie Weeks Jr. was also drafted No. 2 in 2003 by the Milwaukee Brewers. The Patriots have produced an area-best six MLB first-rounders since 1993.

Florida Sports HOF

The Florida Sports Hall of Fame announced the selection of eight honorees across six sports, including former NBA player and Daytona Beach native Vince Carter, for induction into its Class of 2023.

Carter is among a group that includes Pro Football Hall of Famer LeRoy Butler, two-time Super Bowl winning coach Tom Coughlin, two-time World Cup champion Ashlyn Harris, Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller and world champion jet-car driver Elaine Larsen.

Greg Coleman, one of the first African American punters in the NFL out of Florida A&M, and long-time junior college baseball coach Jeff Johnson round out the list.

Coleman was previously inducted into the State of Florida Track and Field Hall of Fame. He spent 12 years in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Washington Redskins.

Johnson carries a 986-460-3 record in 27 seasons at Chipola College, where he won national championships in 2007, 2017 and 2018 and has had more than 100 players drafted by MLB teams.

This year’s induction ceremony takes place Nov. 8 at Florida Theatre in Jacksonville.

Carter is an eight-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection. He led Mainland to the FHSAA Class 6A state championship as a senior and was named Florida’s Mr. Basketball in 1994 and 1995.

Butler, a Jacksonville native, was a three-year starter at Florida State in the late 1980s before being drafted in the second round by the Green Bay Packers. His 12-year career included a Super Bowl XXXI win and placement on the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team.

Before going on to lead the New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl wins, Coughlin spent eight seasons (1995-02) as head coach of the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags made the playoffs in four consecutive years under Coughlin, including two trips to the AFC Championship Game.

Harris, a former Orlando Pride goalkeeper and Satellite Beach native, helped the United States women’s national team win FIFA World Cup championships in 2015 and 2019. She also won three NCAA championships at North Carolina in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Larsen, one of only three women among 15 jet dragster pilots worldwide, is a two-time world champion who has spent 20 years racing in more than 1,400 events.

Miller won a combined 16 World Championships and Olympic medals between 1991-96, which includes being crowned world all-around champion in 1993 and 1994.

This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com.