Spanish Springs catcher Josh Prizina is staying put.
The to-be senior and first-team all-region selection verbally committed to Nevada on Saturday afternoon via Twitter, becoming the second Cougar in as many years to commit to the Wolf Pack.
“It’s unbelievable actually,” Prizina said. “Ever since I was little, I wanted to go play for UNR. It’s like a dream school for me. It was fun just going out and watching the games. To be a part of the team is pretty cool.”
Glad to announce that I have verbally committed to the University of Nevada.?⚾️ pic.twitter.com/ZEbfypDY0i
— Josh (@joshprizina) July 9, 2016
He chose the Wolf Pack over Div. I programs Washington State and Seattle University, where his brother, Jake, just completed his freshman season. Big bro did his part to recreate the Prizina battery in Seattle.
“He wanted me to go up there so we could keep playing there and stuff, but I don’t know, (Nevada) gave me an offer that was really hard to turn down,” Prizina said. “So I couldn’t.”
He will be following his ace, Ryan Anderson, to Nevada. Anderson, the DI North Pitcher of the Year this spring, will enroll at Nevada in the fall.
He found out about Prizina’s decision before anyone. Because like Prizina’s big brother, he did his share of recruiting the 6-5 backstop.
“He was actually the first person I texted as soon as I committed,” Prizina said. “Because he was preaching that I go there the whole time since they offered me (last month). He and I have a really nice connection. It will be good to continue playing with him.”
“I can’t wait to be able to play with him (Prizina) again,” Anderson said in a text on Saturday. “We’ve been playing together for probably the past five or six years and I’m looking forward to keeping it going … I was so pumped when he texted me yesterday telling me he committed. I couldn’t be more excited for him. I really think Coach T.J. is putting together something special and I can’t wait for us to be a part of it.”
Prizina is also a standout on the hardwood for the Cougars, earning all-region honors as a junior, but said baseball was always his post-high-school plan.
“I was committed to baseball,” he said. “I’m a four, I’m a power forward, and at 6-5, everyone else would just tower over me if I kept playing basketball.”
He will be joining a Nevada program that just completed its first season under former UCLA assistant, T.J. Bruce. The Wolf Pack finished 37-24 and advanced to its first ever Mountain West championship game.
Nevada won 16 of its final 18 regular season games of the season to finish third, one game out of a Mountain West regular season title, which would have been the Pack’s second straight.
“It (successful season) played a huge role,” Prizina said. “Just knowing they’re doing good and it was T.J. Bruce’s first year, it’s just endless possibilities what he can do in the future.”
So long as he doesn’t change his mind, which he can (verbal commitments are non-binding), Prizina will likely sign a letter of intent in November.
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