RICHMOND, VA. – The highly anticipated return of 2025 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and Freshman All-American catcher Jacob Lee begins with a preseason No. 7 ranking among D1Baseball's top 50 catchers in college baseball.
 
The organization announced its first positional player rankings of 2026 on Thursday, and the second-year Ram claims the second-highest ranking by an underclassman and is one of two A-10 catchers to be recognized.
 
A year ago, in his debut campaign, Lee became the first Ram in program history to earn Freshman All-America honors from four organizations and belted 17 home runs for the VCU freshman record. During his freshman year, Lee climbed as high as the No. 36-ranked catcher in the nation by D1Baseball, in its week 12 rankings.
 
The Chesterfield, Virginia, native assembled a historic resume as a first-year player, with his freshman-record 17 home runs also landing in the program's single-season top three, while his 65 RBI ranked eighth in program single-season history.
 
Lee's impact was undeniable from opening weekend through the season finale—belting the go-ahead eighth-inning home run that secured the first victory of the Coach Thompson era at Charleston and achieving his freshman home run record in the final contest of a three-game sweep at UMass.
 
Though the catcher returns for just his second year with the Rams, Lee brings crucial experience and a leadership presence back to the VCU locker room. He paces VCU's offense or tied for the team lead in nine offensive statistics a season ago and looks to expand on his historic debut season with Head Coach Sean Thompson's second-year staff.
 
Lee and the Rams will open the 2026 campaign at The Diamond on Friday, Feb. 13, at 1:30 p.m. against Holy Cross. VCU fans can enjoy FREE admission on opening day, as weekday (Monday-Friday) home games will be free of charge all season, excluding April 14 against Virginia and April 21 against Virginia Tech.
 
Visit D1Baseball's website for the complete Top 50 Catchers list here.