I wrote a story today about former Auburn commit Brandon Monk, who was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the 2005 draft. Along with three fellow members of the 1999 Phenix City National Little League team that won the U.S. championship and finished as the runner-up at the LLWS, Monk committed to Auburn with Colby Rasmus, Bryan Woodall and Zack Martin in the early signing period of fall 2004.

You folks that follow MLB closely probably know that Rasmus is generally considered the top prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization and one of the top prospects in baseball. Woodall just started a pro career after being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Monk was picked by the Braves in the seventh round, but was released after three years in their farm system. And Martin didn't stick with Auburn and wound up transferring to Andrew College.

Can you imagine what might have happened with the Tigers if all of those guys had actually come to Auburn together and stuck? They were part of an early signing class that included Evan Crawford, Mike Bianucci and Luke Greinke, among others. If that foursome from the Phenix City LLWS team actually came to Auburn -- and yeah, I know it was a longshot with Colby, who was a first-round draft pick -- it's interesting to wonder what might have happened with Tom Slater's teams in the last year or two.

At any rate, the story about Monk is interesting because he's actually going back to college to play for Columbus State, which is one of the best Division II programs in the country. I didn't even realize such a thing was possible, but when a player flames out after a brief minor-league career, the NCAA will actually allow them to go back to play college ball. Since Monk has been out of high school for three years, the NCAA treats it as three years of exhausted eligibility. He'll have to sit out a year at CSU this year and take classes and then he'll be able to play only one season with the Cougars next season. He plans to move from middle infield, where he played in his career with the Braves, to catcher and then aim for another shot at pro ball after playing at CSU in the 2009-10 season. It would be a great story to see him get another crack at pro ball and see where he can go. He seems to be a nice kid.

Here's the story.