CHARLESTON, S.C. - Collegiate Baseball released its national Top 40 recruiting classes for 2011 and the College of Charleston was selected at No. 35.

With South Carolina coming in at No. 1 and Clemson at No. 31, College of Charleston ranked as the third best baseball recruiting class in the state of South Carolina, and the only representative of the Southern Conference.

"We are excited about this year's class," head coach Monte Lee said. "Our assistant coaches Chris Morris and Matt Heath did an outstanding job of bringing in high level talent for this year's team."

The Cougars bring in eight new freshman and eight junior college transfers. Four of the newcomers were selected in the 2011 MLB draft, including RHP Will Dorton, SS Morgan Phillips, SS Devon Reed and 3B Cody Martin (2010).

"We feel like the mix of high school and junior college talent that we have brought in will help us remain competitive for future years," Lee said. "We are grateful that these young men chose to play for us here at College of Charleston."

College of Charleston continues fall practice over at Patriots Point, culminating in an intrasquad Fall World Series in October.