Baseball
- Title:
- Student Assistant Coach
Will Craig, one of the greatest players in Wake Forest baseball history, returns home to Winston-Salem and will assist the Deacs as a student assistant coach during the 2023 season.
Craig became the sixth-ever first-round pick out of Wake Forest, including the first since 2008 and highest since 2006, when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him with the 22nd overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft.
Over his collegiate career, Craig posted an average of .347 with 42 doubles, 37 homers, 160 RBIs and 108 walks through three seasons. The Johnson City, Tenn. native also excelled on the mound, holding a 6-4 career record.
As a junior in 2016, Craig tallied a .379 average, 16 home runs and 66 RBIs and went 2-0 with a team-high nine saves and a 3.54 ERA, earning him unanimous All-American and D1Baseball’s National Player of the Year honors as well as being named a Dick Howser Trophy Finalist and a Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist.
During his sophomore season, Craig was named the 2015 ACC Player of the Year, the sixth Deacon to earn Player of the Year honors, and became just the fourth Demon Deacon to be named an All-American by five different outlets.
Craig went on to play professionally from 2016-21, making his major league debut with the Pirates on Aug. 27, 2020 in St. Louis.
In 2021, Craig appeared in 18 games for the Pirates, highlighted by hitting his first MLB longfly in his season debut on May 13 in Pittsburgh.
