SECAUCUS, N.J. — Carlos Correa was all smiles when he heard his name announced, knowing he had made hometown history at the baseball draft.

The Houston Astros selected the 17-year-old slugging shortstop with the No. 1 pick Monday night, making him the first player from Puerto Rico to lead off the draft.

“This means a lot,” Correa said from the draft site at MLB Network studios. “We’ve got a lot of good players there.”

Players have until July 13 to sign.

In the state of Mississippi, Stone County High School’s D.J. Davis was the first player with Mississippi ties drafted. He went 17th overall to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Mississippi State junior ace and Ferriss Trophy winner Chris Stratton was the 20th pick by the San Francisco Giants.

Ole Miss had three of its signees in the 2012 signing class get drafted in the first round. Two of them — shortstop Gavin Cecchini of Barbe High School (Lake Charles ), who went 12th overall to the New York Mets and Stryker Trahan, a catcher for Acadiana High (Scott, La.) who was picked 26th by the Arizona Diamondbacks — hail from Louisiana. Pitcher Ty Hensley, an Edmund, Okla. native, went 30th to the New York Yankees.

Baltimore went with LSU right-hander Kevin Gausman with the fourth pick, adding a potential ace to its system. The draft-eligible sophomore has had a terrific season for the Tigers, going 11-1 with a 2.72 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 1152⁄3 innings.

Correa, however, is the only one to be drafted first from an island that has produced its share of baseball royalty: Roberto Clemente, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Juan Gonzalez, Bernie Williams. Some of those players signed as free agents — catcher Ramon Castro had been the highest-drafted player out of Puerto Rico, going No. 17 to Houston in 1994.

“I feel so excited to be the No. 1 pick,” said Correa, who was congratulated by Delgado on Twitter. “I’ve worked so hard to be here.”

It was the first time Houston had the top pick in the draft since 1992, when the Astros selected Phil Nevin — passing on a young shortstop named Derek Jeter, who went five spots later to the Yankees.

“I have read about that,” Correa said, calling Jeter his idol as much for the New York captain’s character off the field as on. “I want to be like him. He’s awesome.”

First-year Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said Correa “has a chance to be a star” who could hit 20-30 home runs in the pros, whether it’s as a shortstop or “ultimately maybe third base.”

Correa said he’d like to stay at shortstop, and he plans to use his signing bonus to help his family. As he walked to the podium and shook hands with Commissioner Bud Selig before a brief hug, Correa pulled out a small Puerto Rican flag and held it up to big cheers from the crowd of major league representatives and fans gathered in the stadium-themed studio. Correa was one of five players in attendance at the draft, but his introduction was far from the most entertaining. Texas high school outfielder Courtney Hawkins did a backflip — after being prodded by a television reporter when a video was shown of him landing one — a few moments after going No. 13 to the Chicago White Sox. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Hawkins, wearing a White Sox cap and jersey, spoke to general manager Kenny Williams right after he stuck his landing.