Will Wilson, shortstop, first round (15th overall) to the Los Angeles Angels

While Wilson’s collegiate career came to an abrupt end, he has to be happy being taken with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft.

Wilson, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, posted a strong .335/.425/.661 slash line in 221 at-bats and played in 55 games with the Pack.

He also finished his season with 57 RBIs, 16 home runs and a ridiculously strong 1.086 OPS, all of which were career highs.

Wilson is rated as the second-best collegiate shortstop in the draft class, and teams took note of his batting prowess with a team-high in homers at NC State.

The shortstop also finished with a good fielding percentage of 95.4%. Wilson had just nine errors all season, however, this is inflated as in his second-to-last game he committed three errors and two were on tough plays.

His last two games of the season, NCAA Regional games against Campbell and ECU, did not deter the Angels at all and should not have. The game was unusual for the college star, and he will only learn from the mistakes committed in that game.

Wilson was projected to be taken with the 21st pick and was often mocked to go in the 20’s, so it came as a surprise to some that the Angels selected Wilson, especially when they needed pitchers.

However, these rankings are typically arbitrary and teams will most often select whomever they feel is the best available player. This is evident in the case of the Angels, who scouted Wilson heavily.

The 20-year-old shortstop is the third-highest drafted NC State player out of 47 total NC State MLB draftees and is also the 24th non-pitcher to be selected. Wolfpack alums Trea Turner and Carlos Rodon were drafted before Wilson, at 13 and four respectively, both in the 2014 MLB draft.

Wilson will begin in the minors as all draft prospects do, and eventually work his way up to the 40-man Angels roster in a few years.