NFL and NBA players are closely identified with the colleges where they earned reputations before entering the professional ranks.

Not so much with pro baseball.

While few fans at The Diamond may be thinking about it, the Richmond Flying Squirrels are a smorgasbord of former collegians from across the nation.

Here’s a sampling of the Squirrels’ alma maters (consider, minor league rosters are fluid):

Pitchers: Solomon Bates (University of Southern California); Tristan Beck (Stanford University); R.J. Dobovich (Arizona State University); Jake Dahlberg (University of Illinois-Chicago); Matt Frisbee (University of North Carolina- Greensboro); Travis Perry (Indian River Junior College in Florida); Taylor Rashi (University of California-Irvine); Blake Rivera (Wallace State Junior College in Alabama); Tyler Schimpf (University of Texas); Ryan Walker (Washington State University); Chris Wright (Bryant University in Rhode Island).

Catchers: BrettAuerbach (University of Alabama); Rob Emery (University of San Francisco); Brandon Martorano (University of North Carolina)

Infielders: Tyler Fitzgerald (University of Louisville); Shane Matheny (Washington State University); Sean Roby (Arizona Western Junior College); Frankie Tostado (Oxnard Community College of Califor- nia); Simon Whiteman (Yale University); Will Wilson (N.C. State University).

Outfielders: Michael Gigliotti (Lip- scomb University in Tennessee) and Jacob Heyward (University of Miami in Florida)

Not all have college backgrounds. Some players become pros straight out of high school and others are signed as free agents from other countries and are not subject to the draft.

Squirrels pitchers: Bryan Brickhouse signed straight out of The Woodlands High School in Texas; Gray Fenter went pro from West Memphis High School in Tennessee; Kai-Wei Teng hails from Taiwan.

Outfielders: Franklin Labour was signed out of his native Dominican Republic and Diego Rincones entered the U.S. pro ranks from Venezuela.