Cameron McConnell Class: Freshman Hometown: Bannockburn, IL High School: Deerfield Height / Weight: 6-1 / 205 Position: Catcher Birthdate: 02/18/1989 Bats/Throws: R/R

Strong-armed catcher who could be key to Notre Dame's control of the running game ... his strong all-around defensive skills include good footwork around the plate ... a developing offensive force who can provide some power to the lineup ... great athlete who should be able to build on his 6-2, 190-pound frame ... was rated by Baseball America as #34 overall prospect in 2007 for the state of Illinois (16th among prep players) ... also was tabbed the best defensive catcher in Illinois by the Prep Baseball Report, which rated him the second-best overall catcher and #15 top overall prospect in the state ... his lone hit in the Blue-Gold intrasquad series (fall '07) was a leadoff home run down the leftfield line, helping the Blue win game-1, 8-1 (1-for-10, 2 RBI, sac. fly) ... joins freshman infielder Mick Doyle (LaFrange Park/Benet Academy) as two of five Illinois natives on 2008 Irish roster ... the ND baseball program has featured 146 previous monogram winners from Illinois, including 1964 All- America shortstop Rich Gonski (Chicago) and recent standouts such as 1B/C Mike Amrhein, CF Randall Brooks, LHP Tim Kalita, RHP Ryan Kalita, catcher Bob Lisanti, RHP Peter Ogilvie, SS Alec Porzel and RHP Darin Schmalz ... previous ND players to wear #28 include late-'80s catcher Ed Lund ... could face several former teammates in '08 season: Villanova's Dain Hall (Top Tier), Valparaiso's Steve Godowa (Top Tier) and Scott Sexton (White Sox Academy), Iowa's Tony Manville (Top Tier) and Lehigh's Craig Peters (Deerfield HS).

PREP & PERSONAL: Named defensive MVP as a senior on the 2007 Deerfield High School baseball team, when he also tied the school record for home runs in a season (7) ... threeyear baseball letterwinner ... earned all-conference honors as a junior on conference championship team, after batting .326 with 34 RBI (4 HR, 2 3B, 7 SB) ... hit .435 as a sophomore (7 RBI, 10 R, 4 2B, 3 SB) ... played 2007 summer baseball with Top Tier team that advanced to Connie Mack World Series in Farmington, N.M. ... hit .500 with six RBI, a home run, a walk and a pair of sacrifice bunts in four games at the CMWS (Top Tier finished fifth) ... member of two state-title teams with Top Tier ('06 and '07) ... participated in '05 and '06 tryouts for the Area Code Games ... selected as one of the players to represent the Central Suburban League Conference at the Stevenson Showcase ... also selected to play in 2006 Jack Kaiser All-Star game but was unable to participate due to WWBA 18U World Series that was being held in East Cobb ... similarly was unable to play with Team Illinois at Harvey Foster's exposure event due to the East Cobb tournament ... selected to play in the "Super 60" Showcase ... played on freshman basketball team at DHS, where he also was a WERCS writing and English tutor, and member of both the student congress debate team and the chess club ... received good citizen award from Optimist Club ... son of Debra Drue Wax ... son of Cameron Charles McConnell ... born Feb. 18, 1989, in Bannockburn, Ill. ... enrolled in the First Year of Studies ... intends to major in business