MSU Inks Alabama Standout Ryan Harbuck
Harbuck is a 6-2, 225-pound first baseman at Hoover High School, where he is concluding his prep career as a four-year starter for coach Rick Davis. He earned honorable mention all-state and Super All-Metro Team honors for the Birmingham area in 2001 as a junior, hitting a team leading .402 with 38 RBI and eight home runs. He helped lead the HHS Buccaneers to a 26-16 record and to the semifinals of the state playoffs. Harbuck drove in the winning runs and was chosen MVP of the 2001 Alabama High School North-South All-Star Games.
"Ryan Harbuck has enjoyed a tremendous career at Hoover High School both in the classroom and on the baseball field," said coach Ron Polk. "He has tremendous power at the plate and has been a vital asset to the Hoover High School baseball program. We are excited that this young man has declared his intention to be a Bulldog at Mississippi State University."
Harbuck also was a three-year starter for the HHS football team. He earned all-state honors as a defensive end and was named the recipient of the Buc Award, Hoover High School's top individual honor.
"I am very excited to have the opportunity to be a part of one of the premier college baseball programs in the country and to play under Coach Polk," said Harbuck.
Harbuck, a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta national math honor society and the Spanish Honor Society, has compiled a 4.0 grade point average. In 2001 he was honored as HHS's Junior Male Student of the Year.
The MSU baseball signee is the son of Max and Becky Harbuck of Hoover.