25 home runs, 25 stolen bases.
The 25-25 club is one of the toughest accolades to accomplish in a college baseball season. It’s the epitome of a true athlete, arguably the equivalent of the 40-40 club in Major League Baseball, which contains just six members.
As expected, the 25-25 club is nearly just as rare in college baseball. Just five different players in DI history have accomplished this feat that combines power and speed.
But there’s a potential newcomer knocking on the door: Georgia’s Daniel Jackson.
The Bulldog catcher has 24 home runs and 23 stolen bases trekking through the final two weeks of the regular season — five games left to be exact. And if the Bulldogs make a deep postseason run helped by Jackson’s hot bat, he could have a shot at becoming just the second member of the 30-30 club.
But that’s another conversation for another day.
With Jackson closing in on the record, here’s a rundown on the players already in the highly-coveted club.
2022 & 2024: North Carolina’s Vance Honeycutt — 25 home runs, 29 stolen bases; 28 home runs, 28 stolen bases
The milestone seemed locked away for good by the 2020s. The 2021 season marked two decades since the last player had joined the club.
That was until a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman from Salisbury, N.C. started his college career for UNC in 2022.
Honeycutt took the Tar Heels, and the college baseball world, by storm as a freshman, blasting 25 home runs and stealing 29 bags, tying the school record for most stolen bases in a season. Awards poured in for the then-19-year-old, who was named a Third-Team All-American by multiple media outlets.
And this was just the preview of the sport’s newest power and speed threat.
The outfielder trotted back through the club’s front door in 2024, hitting 28 homers and collecting 28 stolen bases, becoming the lone player to accomplish the feat twice.
There wasn’t much he couldn’t do, securing First-Team All-American honors, named ACC Defensive Player of the Year, broke his own school home run record and led North Carolina to its first Men’s College World Series appearance in six years.
Another Vance Honeycutt Walk-Off!
UNC beats Virginia 3-2 pic.twitter.com/Plaiq3KA9L
— Tar Heel Tapes (@TarHeelTapes) June 14, 2024
2001: UNI’s Ryan Brunner — 25 home runs, 37 stolen bases
Brunner was destined for a thrilling last hurrah at Northern Iowa in 2001. He won Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 1998, hit .374 with 15 home runs in 2000 and was tabbed a preseason All-American before his senior campaign.
The school’s Hall of Fame was waiting for him.
But 2001 was even better, and more shocking, than one could imagine. The Charles City, IA. native took home MVC Player of the Year after batting .377 and setting single season records in home runs (25) and RBIs (82).
The second requirement to the 25-25 club was the most intriguing. Brunner stole just 14 bases in his three seasons combined for the Panthers, before exploding for 37 as a senior.
He helped UNI win the conference tournament and reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1958.
1997: Florida State’s J.D. Drew — 31 home runs, 32 stolen bases
Grab some popcorn for this one.
When arguing the best single season in college baseball history, Drew’s 1997 campaign is always brought up in the discussion.
The Seminoles star was a machine his junior season, hitting an FSU record of .455 and becoming one of three players in DI history to record 100 hits, 100 runs and 100 RBIs in a season. He shattered 17 total Florida State and ACC records combined.
And that wasn’t even his best stat. His 31 homers and 32 stolen bases lifted him into a league of his own, becoming the only player in DI history to collect 30 of each.
Below are a few more of his accolades:
- Player of the Year for Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and The Sporting News
- Dick Howser Trophy winner
- Golden Spikes Award winner
- Member of College World Series All-Decade team
- First Team All-American for six different media outlets
- NCAA Consensus All-American
Florida State fell in the 1997 NCAA Tournament regional final to Auburn, leaving one to only imagine what Drew could’ve added to his storied season if FSU made it out of Tallahassee.
He was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.
👉 1995 College World Series: J.D. Drew becomes first player to hit 3 HRs in a MCWS game
1997: Utah’s Casey Child — 31 home runs, 27 stolen bases
1997 was video game-like for Child, an unforgettable season for anyone that lived in Salt Lake City or followed the baseball program.
The junior outfielder arguably created his own record book for the Utes, setting multiple single season records on his way to 31 home runs and 27 stolen bases. He etched new highs in hits (104) RBIs and slugging percentage (.890) alongside homers and steals.
Four out of five records still stand.
The prolific season led to First Team All-American honors by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
1997: Florida State’s Jeremy Morris — 25 home runs, 25 stolen bases
Drew manned the leadoff spot for Florida State in 1997, garnering the most attention when it came to an opposing pitching staff’s game plan.
But right behind the lefty hitter, in the two-hole, was another bat nearly as dangerous in Morris.
The most dangerous tandem in the country at the plate and the outfield with him and Drew, the Quincy, FL. native batted .356 with 25 homers, 25 steals and 116 RBIs as a senior, leading the ACC in the final stat. This came just a year after hitting 36 doubles during his junior year, an NCAA single-season record at the time.
‘All-American’ was a title he became very familiar with, making the First Team for Baseball America and Sporting News, and Second Team for three other media outlets.
