Drafted by Chicago Cubs, Mansfield's Wiseman Elects to go to Vanderbilt University

When major league baseball teams called Monday night, Rhett Wiseman had a price tag for giving up the chance to attend Vanderbilt University in the fall to turn pro.

While he was watching the draft with his friends at his house in Mansfield, Wiseman took calls from major league teams wondering if he would give up college to play for their teams. Major league teams had a fixed price for each tag pick in the early rounds.

"I got a few calls," he said. "Teams told me that they would love to take me.

"Respectfully, I told them I was going to college."

While the Buckingham, Browne & Nichols left-handed hitting outfielder was expected to be an early draft pick, he was taken by the Chicago Cubs in the 25th round as the 764th pick overall.

"It would be an honor just to be picked," said Wiseman, Tuesday afternoon before a workout with the Brockton Rox, who he will be playing with in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

He is the only high school player on the roster of college-age players. The Rox will open up the season Friday night in Brockton against Martha's Vineyard.

"This is the first time (older players) since my freshman year of high school when I was a 14-years playing against 19 and 20-years (in the Independent League against post-graduate players)," said Wiseman. "This is a wooden bat league and could get 200 or 300 at bats which will get me ready for fall ball at Vanderbilt.

"There is a buzz about this league and I wanted to be part of it."

As a senior, the 6'2", 200-pound left-handed hitter, right-handed thrower, batted .444 in 21 games with eight homers, 24 RBI and scored 21 runs.

Rox head coach Jud Thigpen, a former outfielder for the Rox when they were an independent team, was impressed with Wiseman the first time he meant him.

"I tell you what, he's got a great handshake," said Thigpen with a smile. "He's a stand-up guy and is in tough position between wanting to turn pro or go to college, but that's a position a lot of people want to be in."

With all the rain this week, Thigpen only got to watch Wiseman hit in the cage at Campanelli Stadium, the home park for the Rox.

Thigpen said he doesn't plan to change a lot of the swings or pitching styles of his players, but he does want them to get to use playing a lot of games in a short period of time, like they will in professional baseball.

"These guys all have bright futures ahead of them," said the Rox head coach. "The toughest thing is to experience playing every day, taking all of the bus rides, getting in at 2 or 3 in the morning and then have to play the next day."

Vanderbilt was an early college decision for him. When he was 16, college coaches could talk to him on June 1. By June 20, he had decide on the Tennessee college.

"I had looked mostly ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) schools like BC, Georgia Tech, Virgina and Clemson," said Wiseman. "I also looked at Stanford, but Vanderbilt was my SEC school."

After attending a summer camp in Tennessee, he went out on to the field at 9:30 p.m. while the lights were still on.

Vanderbilt had him at hello.

"I had never seen anything like it," said Wiseman. He knew right away that was where he want to go to college.

While Wiseman will be preparing for college with the Rox, the league is expected to attract major league scouts every night. Thigpen can promise there will always be a pro scout in the stands.

He recently agreed to be a "bird dog" scout for the Colorado Rockies, who signed him out of college. The "bird scouts" feed information to the team's regular scouts.

"I tell them they will be playing in front of at least one scout a night...me," said Thigpen.

In a season of honors, Wiseman was recently named as the 2011-12 Gatorade Massachusetts Baseball Player of the Year.  The winner of the award has to show baseball team, but also had high academic standards and character on and off the field.

Wiseman, who was a standout student, also volunteers to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

"I'm so honored to get this award," he said. "It is also for what I did in school and in the community. It's very flattering."