Though San Diego State was unable to land the big fish, itrecovered enough to have its 2000 recruiting class ranked No. 5 inthe country by Baseball America.

Adrian Gonzalez, a first baseman from Eastlake High School and thefirst pick of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft, committed to SDSUinitially, but a signing bonus in excess of $3 million from theFlorida Marlins lured him to professional baseball.

That apparently didn’t faze the Aztecs.

Among the players who chose SDSU over signing a professionalcontract include: 11th-round pick Michael Moat, a pitcher fromLongmont, Colo.; shortstop Chad Corona, a 16th-round selectionhailing from Solona Beach; and outfielder Anthony Gwynn, a 33rd-roundpick from Poway High School.

Along with the drafted athletes is freshman catcher/outfielderAdam Strahan, who was listed among the top 100 prospects in thenation during his high school career.

Head coach Jim Dietz and his staff may be on the cusp of somethingspecial in the near future. The Aztecs, who had their 1999 recruitingclass ranked eighth in the country by Collegiate Baseball, finishedwith a 34-28 record last spring and captured the Mountain WestConference Championship, winning the league’s tournament at the endof the season.

— David Cordero