LSU Plans to Honor Phillies’ Aaron Nola After $200K Donation
By Matt Rappa
Phillies ace RHP Aaron Nola’s alma mater, LSU, is planning to name its new pitching development center after him following his $200,000 donation.
Philadelphia Phillies ace RHP Aaron Nola has not been in the headlines much, if at all, since his final start of the 2019 season on September 24.
Yet, on Tuesday, the five-year veteran and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native returned to the spotlight, all for a good cause.
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As a thank-you for Nola’s recent, approximate $200,000 donation to his alma mater, LSU, the university is planning to name its new pitching center after him as the Aaron Nola Pitching Development Center, according to The Athletic’s Brody Miller.
The naming is pending a vote from the LSU Board of Supervisors.
A note from the #LSU Board of Supervisors agenda to be voted on this week:
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) December 3, 2019
LSU is naming its new pitching center the Aaron Nola Pitching Development Center after a donation from the Philadelphia Phillies pitcher. A source said the donation was around $200k.
Nola, 26, achieved much success during his playing days at Louisiana State; in 2014, he was honored as the National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation, and was a Golden Spikes Award finalist. In addition that year, Nola was named First-Team All-American, SEC Pitcher of the Year (for the second year in a row) and First-Team All-SEC. The Phillies 2018 All-Star ranks third in LSU history in strikeouts.
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Through 127 career starts since his rookie season in 2015, Nola has gone 53-35 with a 3.49 ERA and 1.172 WHIP spanning 771 1/3 innings. In 2018, Nola finished third in the Cy Young Award race and 13th in the MVP vote after going 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA spanning 33 starts.
The Phillies drafted Nola out of LSU seventh overall in the first round of the 2014 draft after he went 30-6 in his three seasons with the Tigers, averaging 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings. He had gone 11-1 with a 1.47 ERA as a junior that year prior to being drafted, posted an SEC-best 116 1/3 innings pitched and .172 opposing batting average.