DP All-Academic Team: 2023
By: Jason Kullman – June 19, 2023 Diamond Prospects is excited to, once again, be able to celebrate the All-Academic Team and award one student-athlete as the Tripp Rabon Scholar Athlete of the Year. At DP we spend much of our time chasing physical tools, but as we do each year, we want to honor these young men that take care of business in the classroom too! Thank you to each high school coach and guidance counselor that nominated players with a premium GPA, SAT/ACT and class rank from their school/team. In 2016 the DP Scholar Athlete of the year award was renamed the Tripp Rabon Scholar Athlete Award in honor of Tripp Rabon (pictured) of Summerville. Tripp left us far too soon due to a car accident in December of 2015. He was an amazing young man who left a mark on everyone he came across both on the field and off. His success in the classroom was also well-documented and led DP to name the award after him. NEW! The Rabon family recently contacted DP and has now set up the Inaugural Tripp Rabon Scholarship Fund to honor their son’s memory, our winner will now be the recipient of a $1,000 check for their classwork exploits! Since our first All-Academic Team in 2007, Furman and Clemson have both received commitments from four Tripp Rabon Scholar Athletes. South Carolina, The Citadel, Wofford, Newberry and Coastal Carolina are the other schools to have signed recipients of the award in the past. These colleges have focused on not just the best on the field but the brightest off of it. Now it is time to reveal who this year’s Tripp Rabon Scholar Athlete is, along with the entire 2023 DP All-Academic Team… -DP’s Tripp Rabon Scholar Athlete of the Year- Rush Sheppard – Greenville High School, Wofford College – Class of 2023: Diamond Prospects is excited to announce Rush Sheppard as the 2023 Tripp Rabon Scholar Athlete of the Year. Rush excelled both on and off the field during his time at Greenville HS, earning All-Region honors this spring following an injury-plagued sophomore and junior seasons. But the reason Shepherd is being honored on this page is for his prowess in the classroom throughout his high school career sporting a 5.36 weighted GPA and scored 1400 on the SAT. While attending Palmetto Boys State is an honor, Sheppard walked away with the highly-distinguished Citizen Award in 2022, which allowed him to be a Junior Counselor at this June’s event. There’s even more on the resume: Wofford Scholar, JF Lucas Red Raider Spirit Award, Highest Math ACT at GHS, Economics Student of the Year and for good measure, a Palmetto Fellows Scholarship. Sheppard is the second Tripp Rabon winner to attend Wofford (Taylor Rozier, 2009) for his career path. Once again, congratulations to Rush Sheppard on winning the award and for becoming the first recipient of the Tripp Rabon Scholarship gift from the Rabon family! Now, it’s time for DP’s unveiling of the entire 2023 All-Academic team. Congratulations to all the deserving players who continue to put hard work in on the diamond, while simultaneously excelling in the classroom. 2023 All-Academic Team Name School Grad Yr GPA SAT ACT Class Rank Chase Staley Spartanburg Sr 5.10 1360 – 9 Chas Welch Dorman Sr 4.82 – – 85 Charlie Marchbanks Riverside Jr 5.13 1340 25 24 Luke Westrol Riverside Jr 4.78 1320 30 70 Dru Nelson Riverside Jr 4.74 1050 – 74 James Kakaras Riverside Jr 4.65 1130 – 94 Dylan Willis Riverside Sr 4.55 1140 – 134 Braxton Paxton Easley Jr 3.96 – – 27 Connor Hamby Easley Jr 3.89 – – 44 *Gavin Harvey Easley Sr 3.88 – – 32 Kaleb Owens Easley Jr 3.84 – – 57 Malcolm Webb Beaufort Jr 5.01 1310 – 7 Nathan Wrigley Cane Bay Sr 5.14 1340 – 11 Bryson Nuckols North Augusta Sr 5.11 1200 – 14 Bre’Yon Burgess Lake City Sr 3.76 – – – Octavian McKnight Lake City Sr 3.85 – – – Hayden Johnson Socastee Sr 4.91 1080 – 35 Austin Lloyd Gray Collegiate Sr 4.92 – – 25 *Jackson McCoy Carolina Forest Sr 4.95 – 22 27/559 Brad Wohlers Carolina Forest Sr 4.09 1100 21 174/559 *Josh Watson Carolina Forest Sr 3.96 890 – 214/559 Nolan Alexander Carolina Forest Jr 4.84 1140 – 27/654 Max Stefanchik Carolina Forest Sr 4.46 1230 – 101/559 *Andrew Buffkin Carolina Forest Sr 4.07 1240 18 180/559 *Bryson Butler Carolina Forest Sr 4.13 – 28 163/559 Evan Moon Powdersville Jr, 4.80 1270 24 48/217 Wyatt Lunsford Dorman Jr 5.17 1260 – – Campbell Whitener Dorman Jr 4.95 1290 – – Josh Brown Dorman Jr 4.75 1070 – – Mitchell Powell Dorman Jr 4.8 1040 – – Mitch Wilson Dorman Jr 4.72 1110 – – Clay Crossley Dorman Jr 4.61 – 16 – Rush Sheppard Greenville Sr 5.32 1400 – 11/338 Cameron Barnhardt Greenville Sr 5.18 1380 – 26/338 Scott Hardy Gilbert Jr 5.06 1070 23 11/252 Eli Bearden Emerald Sr 3.85 – – 76 Braxton Hill Emerald Sr 4.71 – – 30 Tyler Rudd Emerald Sr 4.74 – – 29 Calvin Henderson Emerald Sr 4.26 – – 52 Bradlee Jones Emerald Sr 3.74 – – 84 Christian Carruth Emerald Sr 4.05 – – 49 *Denotes previous winner DP Note I: Only Junior and Seniors were considered for the All-Academic Team. DP Note II: SAT score is just Math and Verbal portions only. DP Note III: Special thanks to all the HS coaches who rounded up this academic info for their kids so that we could recognize them! -Previous Winners- Year Name High School College 2023 Rush Sheppard Greenville Wofford 2022 Aryan Patel Hanahan The Citadel 2021 Ben Freeman Easley Newberry 2020 Covid… – – 2019 Travis Lott Stratford The Citadel 2018 Bryce Cox TL Hanna Clemson 2017 Bo Taylor South Pointe Coastal Carolina 2016 Wilson Beattie Summerville South Carolina 2015 Chase Belk Wilson Hall Furman 2014 Matthew Bridges Greenwood Clemson 2013 Matthew Quarles Emerald Furman 2012 Weber Pike Beaufort …