BATON ROUGE - Former Catholic High School pitcher William Schmidt is expected to be the next Bear to make an impact at LSU.

But, his decision to go to LSU and pull his name out of the MLB Draft earlier in July was a surprise.

Schmidt was the top-ranked high school right-handed pitcher heading into the draft and was projected to be picked in the first round. His decision to go to LSU meant turning down a potential multi-million dollar signing bonus.

“I was born with LSU clothing on in my baby pictures, I’ve been here my whole life, I know what I want and there’s really nothing that can change that,” Schmidt told WBRZ.

Brad Bass, Will’s high school coach at Catholic, watched the teenager grow into a top prospect who can throw 98 miles an hour but said Schmidt is a better person than baseball player.

“I’m proud of him to walk the road less traveled or what many may say the less popular decision, but follow his heart,” Bass said. “I think our job as coaches is to do our best to give these guys the ability to have an incredible experience and to be able to follow their heart and make manly decisions, I think that’s what he did.”

Will’s decision not only surprised LSU fans but also Tiger coach Jay Johnson.

“I called him and I was like, ‘I think I'm going to pull my name out,’ and he’s like, ‘Are you for real, ' and he was like, ‘I’ll leave it at holy cow.”

Just over a week after making the decision, Schmidt is already participating in LSU workouts.

“I really am enjoying my time with all the other freshmen who have moved and we’re all getting settled and getting part of the program and getting our routines down so it’s super fun,” Schmidt said. “(I’m) Having a blast with the coaches and a dream come true, like, finally have a locker at LSU so it’s just a super cool experience.”

It remains to be seen how Schmidt will adapt to college baseball, but according to coach Bass, Will is not just a high-velocity guy.

“When William got to high school, he was a little runt, he was five foot tall and under 100 pounds, but he had the ability to throw strikes, and I think that’s what made him so special was once he started to develop this great velocity he could always fall back on the ability to throw strikes,” said Bass.

Schmidt’s goal at LSU is to help the program win its eighth national championship.