Robert Vance Honeycutt IV (born May 17, 2003) is an American college baseball outfielder for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

. He primarily plays

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...

for the Tar Heels.

Early life

Honeycutt grew up in

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolita ...

and attended Salisbury High School, where he played baseball and was the starting quarterback on the football team. He committed to play college baseball at the University of North Carolina during his sophomore year. Honeycutt passed for 11 touchdowns and rushed for 19 during his senior football season as Salisbury won the Class AA state championship. Honeycutt was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 20th round of the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The ...

, but he opted not to sign and enroll at North Carolina.

College career

Freshman

As a freshman for the

, Honeycutt batted .296 with a school-record 25 home runs, 57 runs batted in (RBIs), and 29

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s. He was the first player in UNC history to have 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season and was named third-team All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). Honeycutt was named the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the 2022 ACC tournament after hitting .400 with four home runs and 10 RBIs. After the season, he was selected for the United States collegiate national team.

Sophomore

Heading into his sophomore season, Honeycutt was picked as preseason ACC Player of the Year. On the season, Honeycutt's power numbers dipped slightly, hitting .257 with a slugging percentage of .418, but he improved his on-base percentage to .492. Most impressively, Honeycutt continued to show his defensive skills in the outfield, making numerous difficult catches throughout the season. Despite missing the final ten games of the season with a back injury, Honeycutt was again named to the All-ACC third team, and received the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award, becoming the first Tar Heel player to receive said award.

Personal life

Honeycutt's father, Bob, also played baseball at UNC. His mother, Leah Ann, ran track for the Tar Heels. Honeycutt's two older sisters both played on UNC's women's soccer team.

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honeycutt, Vance North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players Baseball players from Rowan County, North Carolina Baseball outfielders 2003 births Living people Sportspeople from Salisbury, North Carolina