PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers shortstop Josh Kuroda-Grauer was named a finalist for the 2024 Brooks Wallace Award on Tuesday. The Brooks Wallace Award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year. It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27.
 
"Our list of finalists this year comes with some stellar defensive stats with very few errors from all five players," Brooks Wallace Award co-chair Larry Wallace said. "When it comes to the plate, there are some impressive numbers there as well. It's always tough to determine who best represents all the qualities we look for in Brooks' award, and I look forward to that process in the coming weeks."

A junior from Somerset, New Jersey, Kuroda-Grauer put together one of the finest seasons in Rutgers history in 2024, emerging as one of the top shortstops in the country. "JKG" started all 53 games at shortstop for the Scarlet Knights, led the country in hits (95) and hits/game (1.79), ranked third with a .428 batting average, stole 24 bases and committed just seven errors all season. Kuroda-Grauer also had 29 multi-hit games, 10 three-hit games and had a streak of five straight games with three-plus hits.

The 2024 Big Ten Player of the Year, Kuroda-Grauer is one of five finalists for the award, joining Jon Jon Gazdar (Austin Peay), Michael Hallquist (Ball State), David Mershon (Mississippi State) and Griff O'Ferrall (Virginia).

It also marks the second time in the last three years that a Rutgers player has been named a finalist for the award, as Danny DiGeorgio was one of six finalists in 2022. Rutgers is the only program to have two different players named a finalist in the last three seasons. 

The winner of the 2024 Brooks Wallace Award will be announced on June 19.
 
For more information on the Brooks Wallace Award, visit the College Baseball Foundation website at www.collegebaseballhall.org.