EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) — Nolan Higgins, a pitcher from Wixom who spent four seasons at Michigan State University, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round of the MLB Draft.
Higgins graduated from Michigan State this spring and spent the weeks before the draft traveling the country for workouts with Major League clubs. He received the call from the Blue Jays midway through the fifth round.
“Halfway through the fifth round, he called me again and said, ‘Yeah, sounds like they’re locking you in there,’” Higgins said. “So, yeah, congrats, man. I’ll call you later. And I mean, that right there just didn’t even feel real, and I mean, I’m still fully trying to wrap my head around it.”
Higgins’ former Michigan State head coach, Jake Boss Jr., said the selection did not come as a surprise.
“To watch his maturity from his freshman year to last year where he really turned into one of the better leaders that we’ve ever had here,” Boss said. “Just really thrilled for him.”
Boss said Higgins developed into one of the Spartans’ most reliable pitchers over his four seasons in East Lansing. Higgins credited the coaching staff with helping him reach the professional level.
“I love the coaching staff at Michigan State,” Higgins said. “Just all the ups and downs kind of got me to where I’m at. Between Coach Boss, Coach Van Ameyde, those guys really wanted to see me succeed, and they kind of just put me in the best position to do so.”
Higgins said he is now in Florida beginning his professional career.
“I’m just going to go in there and just put my head down to the grindstone and just kind of work really hard,” Higgins said. “They’ve reached out to me a little bit. I’ve heard from a bunch of resources of theirs, and they want what’s best for me, and they’re going to try to help me get to that as easy as possible.”
Higgins said a shift in mindset during his college career helped him reach this point.
“Once I stopped looking for shortcuts and really tried to just get better each day, build that consistency, that made it way more attainable,” he said.
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