The Athletic did a run down on the top 20 national recruits from the class of 2023 that ended up playing college ball rather than signing, and then had a list of where the prospective first rounders in the mock draft were ranked.
How Roch Cholowsky, Drew Burress and the top Class of 2023 baseball recruits fared in college
Gavin was the only one of our guys in the top 20.
Looking through the list, I think that you would say maybe 8 of the 20 fulfilled expectations. There were a few complete busts, and several that had moments, but not the kind of success you would hope.
Equally as interesting was the list of the college players expected to be taken in the first round, and where they ranked as high school recruits.
Just goes to show what an inexact science college baseball recruiting really is.
How Roch Cholowsky, Drew Burress and the top Class of 2023 baseball recruits fared in college
Gavin was the only one of our guys in the top 20.
Quote:
No. 55 Gavin Grahovac, OF, Texas A&M (Orange, Calif.): When healthy, Grahovac has been one of the college game's premier power hitters. He hit .298 with 23 home runs as a freshman, and then, after missing all but six games due to injury in 2025, he came back to hit .339 with 22 home runs as a junior. He reduced his strikeout rate from 29 percent as a freshman to 16.5 percent as a junior.
Looking through the list, I think that you would say maybe 8 of the 20 fulfilled expectations. There were a few complete busts, and several that had moments, but not the kind of success you would hope.
Equally as interesting was the list of the college players expected to be taken in the first round, and where they ranked as high school recruits.
Quote:
- No. 2 Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech (Not in top 500, No. 256 C)
- No. 3 Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA (No. 17 overall, No. 7 SS)
- No. 5 Jackson Flora, RHP, UCSB (No. 428 overall, No. 140 RHP)
- No. 6 Mason Edwards, LHP, USC (Not in top 500, No. 107 LHP)
- No. 8 Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech (No. 18 overall, No. 4 OF)
- No. 10 Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky (No. 59 overall, No. 15 SS in Class of 2024)
- No. 11 Chris Hacopian, INF, Maryland/Texas A&M (No. 380 overall, No. 76 SS)
- No. 12 Derek Curiel, OF, LSU (No. 10 overall, No. 6 OF in Class of 2024)
- No. 13 Liam Peterson, LHP, Florida (No. 34 overall, No 8 LHP)
- No. 14 Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama (No. 173 overall, No. 41 SS)
- No. 17 Daniel Jackson, C, Wofford/Georgia (Not in top 500, No. 172 C)
- No. 18 Ryder Helfrick, C, Arkansas (No. 48 overall, No. 3 C)
- No. 20 Taylor Rabe, RHP, Ole Miss (No. 354 overall, No. 116 RHP)
- No. 22 Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina (No. 128 overall, No. 39 RHP)
- No. 23 Zion Rose, OF, Louisville (No. 75 overall, No. 5 C)
- No. 24 AJ Gracia, OF, Duke/Virginia (No. 200 overall, No. 37 OF)
- No. 25 Ace Reese, OF, Houston/Mississippi State (Not in top 500, No. 208 SS)
- No. 27 Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech (No. 457 overall, No. 76 OF)
Just goes to show what an inexact science college baseball recruiting really is.
