PRINCETON, N.J. -- Five Ivy League standouts were selected throughout the three-day 2021 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft this week. The group included Columbia's Liam McGill, Dartmouth's Ben Rice, Penn's Peter Matt and Josh Hood and Yale's Rohan Handa.
On day two, McGill was selected by the Atlanta Braves while Matt and Handa were picked up by the Cubs and Giants, respectively. On day three, Hood was picked up by the Red Sox while Rice is headed to New York to join the Yankees organization.
McGill, a former standout from 2017-19 with the Lions, played a graduate season at Bryant University in 2021 where he earned All-America status and Northeast Player of the Year honors. At Columbia, McGill was two-time All-Ivy League selection and a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American in 2017. The catcher posted a career .316 batting average with 14 homers and 83 RBI in three-plus seasons with the Lions.
A 6-2, 205-pound rising senior and psychology major from Cohasset, Massachusetts, Rice worked his way into a starting role behind the dish as a freshman in 2019, batting .278 in 72 at-bats with four doubles, two triples, a homer and 11 RBIs. Rice has starred in collegiate summer leagues, leading the Futures League in 2020 with 11 home runs, a .683 slugging percentage and 1.150 OPS to earn MVP honors while playing for the Worcester Bravehearts. His .350 average was third-best during the 38-game season, as were his 43 hits, 27 RBIs and .467 on-base percentage. This summer, the product of Noble & Greenough School is strapping on the gear for the Cotuit Kettleers of the prestigious Cape Cod League, batting an even .300 in 30 at-bats with three doubles while driving in nine runs. Those nine RBIs rank third on the Kettleers despite being ninth in at-bats.
Matt—who played as a grad transfer at Duke this past season—was a two-time All-Ivy outfielder for the Quakers, earning first-team honors as a junior and second-team recognition as a sophomore. His senior season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in eight games before the shutdown he had an Ivy-high 16 hits and ranked second nationally with 2.0 hits per game. For his Penn career, Matt played in 113 games, making 105 starts and hitting .311 with four home runs, 26 doubles and 80 runs scored.
Hood—who sat out this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic—was the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year and first-team All-Ivy at shortstop as a freshman in 2019. He started every game for the Quakers that year and led the team with eight homers and 25 extra-base hits while also finishing second in RBI (42) and runs scored (42) and fourth in batting average (.331). In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Hood started all eight games at SS and had 10 hits, six RBI, five runs scored and a .263 batting average.
Handa made a total of 20 appearances for the Bulldogs in two seasons (2019, 2020). In his sophomore season, he appeared in four of the team's 10 games, allowing one earned run with one walk, eight hits allowed and one strikeout in five innings. During his first year, he made 16 appearances, striking out 18 in 26.2 innings. Handa pitched for the Mystic Schooners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League this summer. There, he posted a 0.52 ERA with 25 strikeouts, eight walks and nine hits allowed in 17.0 innings. Opponents hit just .153 against him.
Four former Ivy League standouts were on MLB Opening Day rosters this year with a number more throughout the minor league systems. Additionally, several Ivy League alumni will be headed to Tokyo to represent their countries in this year's Summer Olympics.