OREM, Utah – Utah Valley's Kaden Carpenter became the highest-drafted pick in the program's Division I era on Sunday afternoon when he was selected in the ninth round by the Texas Rangers. He is the first Utah Valley position player selected in the MLB Draft since Goose Kallunki was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2012.

"We are so thrilled for Kaden," said UVU head coach Nate Rasmussen. "A guy that left a power 4 as an everyday starter for the belief that we could better his development. Not a lot of players make the decision he made in the portal, and now he's reaping the reward of it! Go crush it Carp!"

The American Fork, Utah, native earned national recognition before stepping on a college campus, receiving Perfect Game Preseason All-American honors in both 2021 and 2022 at American Fork High School. The standout left-hander helped the Cavemen capture a pair of state championships before beginning his collegiate career at the University of Utah.

At Utah, Carpenter earned draft recognition while competing in multiple conferences. He was ranked as the No. 12 MLB Draft prospect in the Pac-12 and later the No. 44 prospect in the Big 12 following the Utes' move to the conference. During his junior season, he ranked among Utah's top five in several offensive categories, including batting average, slugging percentage, hits, RBIs, doubles and total bases.

After deciding to return home to Utah County and play for the Wolverines, Carpenter made an immediate impact on the Utah Valley offense. He earned first-team All-WAC honors after hitting .338 with 17 home runs, 21 doubles and 58 RBIs. His standout performance against UC Riverside earned him WAC Hitter of the Week honors after he went 8-for-17 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. He recorded at least three RBIs in each game of the series, including a season-high four in the Sunday finale.

Carpenter led the WAC in doubles and finished among the top four in several other categories, including second in walks, third in RBIs and fourth in home runs.

This is the first time that the Rangers have selected a player from Utah Valley, making them the 16th different Major League organization to select a Wolverine since the program's first draft pick in 1975.

Texas has five minor league affiliates, ranging from Rookie ball to Triple-A:

• Rookie: ACL Rangers (Arizona Complex League) – Surprise, Arizona
• Single-A: Hickory Crawdads (Carolina League) – Hickory, North Carolina
• High-A: Hub City Spartanburgers (South Atlantic League) – Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Double-A: Frisco RoughRiders (Texas League) – Frisco, Texas
• Triple-A: Round Rock Express (Pacific Coast League) – Round Rock, Texas

Carpenter became the 22nd player in school history to be selected in the MLB Draft. Utah Valley's first draft selection came in 1975 when Kelly Jensen was chosen by the Cincinnati Reds in the 17th round. Casey Anderson was the program's most recent draft pick, selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023.

The Wolverines now have nine former players in professional baseball. Carpenter becomes the fourth player in affiliated baseball, joining Paxton Schultz and  Anderson, who are both competing at the Triple-A level for their respective organizations with Mitch Mueller in High-A. Five additional former Wolverines are currently playing independent professional baseball across the United States in various leagues.