Colleges

Durant ace opts for Texas

The Longhorns hold more appeal than state universities for senior pitcher Carmine Giardina.

By KEITH NIEBUHR
Published September 28, 2005

The Texas Longhorns have hooked themselves a good one.

Durant senior pitcher Carmine Giardina, a 2005 Times' all-Hillsborough County pick and an alternate for the USA junior national team, orally committed to Texas over Central Florida and Miami.

"I just couldn't find anything negative about the school," Giardina said. "It's just awesome. They treat their athletes great and it's one of the top academic schools in the country. It was real nice. It's the capital of Texas, but you can't really tell because it's a college town."

Giardina, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound lefty, went 5-1 with a 1.10 ERA and .417 batting average last spring. His initial list of potential colleges also included Arizona State and North Carolina. He visited UCF, Miami, Texas and UNC, making the trip to Texas' Austin campus two weeks ago. The Longhorns won the 2005 College World Series, defeating Florida in the final.

"If you're going to play at UT, you're pretty good," Durant coach Ron Fussell said. "He throws his fastball 90 mph from the left side, which means you can compete with any team in the state. And his breaking stuff is as good as his hard stuff."

Giardina might have another choice to make next year. He could be a high-round draft pick.

"I'm not going to worry about that until June," Giardina said. "Now that the college process is off my back, all I have to worry about is winning a state championship."

[Last modified September 28, 2005, 02:30:38]