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OU baseball signee Eli Willits selected No. 1 overall in MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals

Eddie On3by: Eddie Radosevich07/13/25
Eli Willits
OU signee, No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits. (Bryan Terry - Imagn Images)

Good news, bad news kind of situation here for OU baseball. Good news: Oklahoma signee Eli Willits realized a dream on Sunday night, hearing his name called at the Major League Baseball Draft. The bad? If you’re an Oklahoma baseball fan, you probably won’t be seeing him in a Sooners uniform alongside brother Jaxon next season. 

Willits was the No. 1 overall selection by the Washington Nationals to begin the MLB Draft on Sunday evening. Willits was absolutely expected to be among the initial picks. But he was slated at around No. 5 overall or so, not the initial pick. A huge, pleasant surprise for Willits and for OU, honestly.

“I’m just excited and thankful to the Nationals organization for giving me this chance,” said Willits to MLB Network.

After reclassifying and graduating from Fort Cobb-Broxton early, Willits is the youngest player in this year’s amateur baseball draft by two months. Though young in age, Willits is nothing but a winner after ending his career at Fort Cobb-Broxton. He won six (!) state Class B titles. 

Willits, after all, capped his final season at Fort Cobb-Broxton earning All-State Player of the Year honors by the Oklahoman after hitting .516 with nine home runs, 33 RBIs, 48 steals and a .979 fielding percentage. 

“Eli is a special player. We love his swing…,” Nationals interim general manager Mike DeBartolo said on MLB Network. “Just an elite shortstop. Somebody w/ great range. Great arm, accurate… Rare you get someone you feel is the best hitter in the Draft, best fielder in the Draft.”

Willits and Stillwater’s Ethan Holliday (No. 4 overall, Colorado Rockies) are the first pair of Oklahoma high school products drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft in nearly 15 years. Back then? Owasso’s Dylan Bundy and Broken Arrow’s Archie Bradley were selected in the opening round of the draft.

Other Sooners expected to be drafted

There were five Sooners inside the top-250 prospects according to MLB Pipeline: signee SS Eli Willits (No. 5), junior RHP Kyson Witherspoon (No. 10), signee OF Alec Blair (No. 52) junior C Easton Carmichael (No. 93), junior RHP Malachi Witherspoon (No. 121) and junior LHP Cade Crossland (No. 207).

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