Who is Owen Paino? All we know about Ole Miss star who withdrew from the 2024 MLB Draft

Owen Paino, an elite baseball prospect from Roy Ketcham, withdrew his name from the 2024 MLB Draft on Saturday night. The shortstop, who is graduating this year, will join the Ole Miss Rebels in continuation of his amateur career.

All we know about Owen Paino

Owen Paino was born on Dec. 30, 2005, in Poughkeepsie, New York State. He was fond of baseball from a young age and began playing during his early school days.

Paino continued to pursue baseball in High School when he joined Roy Ketcham. His father, Matt, who works as an assistant coach at the school, played a role in honing his son's skills and developing his game.

He gained recognition on the amateur baseball circuit by playing for the Town of Poughkeepsie youth baseball team. He was quickly promoted to the Ketcham varsity as a seventh-grader. He earned a roster spot for a Class AA program that regularly competes for the Section 1 title each year.

Notably, Paino had committed to Ole Miss when he was a junior at Ketcham. At the time, Paino's father Matt spoke to Poughkeepsie Journal about his son's chances of playing college baseball.

“It’s surreal,” said Matt Paino. "Being in the northeast, we were hoping he’d have a chance to play college baseball. Then, this summer, our eyes were opened to what level of college baseball was possible. It all came so fast and, at points, it was overwhelming.”

Per reports, Duke, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Tennessee, LSU, South Carolina and Mississippi State were among the other schools that showed interest in landing Paino.

The youngster had an excellent stint at Ketcham and was named New York’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2024 after a fabulous senior year. The left-hander finished with 28 RBIs, 37 runs, 22 stolen bases, four home runs and a .532 batting average across 23 games.

As per reports, Paino is listed at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He was projected as the 20th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.

However, after a change of mind, Paino will play college baseball for Ole Miss next season before deciding when to go pro.