Two-Sport Star Colin Houck talks Diamond Dawg Commitment

Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview two-sport star Colin Houck had a multitude of college options in both baseball and football. Rated as a three-star quarterback by Rivals, Houck holds offers from Arkansas, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech, among many others, but the 6'2" shortstop will be headed to Mississippi State to play baseball.

For many prospects, the recruiting process can be very time-consuming, and for Houck, being recruited for two different sports was even wilder.

"The recruiting processes for both were very different," said Houck. They both came in at different times. Football recruiting would take its head during the baseball season, and baseball recruiting was the opposite. It would be most relevant with football going on, so I would have to focus on football when it was football season and baseball when it was baseball season. Summers would be kind of awkward because you just have to balance the two, so that's kind of how I did it.”

There was a lot of decision-making for Houck during his recruiting process, but Perfect Game's 96th-ranked player in the 2023 class decided on baseball at the next level.

"It was just a decision that me and my family made," said Houck. “I just to decided to kind of become the best baseball player I can be. That's what I wanted."

"I'm pretty set on doing baseball, but I will be playing football my senior year of high school," said Houck.

Houck first heard from Mississippi State a few months ago, and after making a visit, he knew it was the right place to continue his baseball career.

"They reached out a couple of months ago. It wasn't a super long process, but when they did reach out and I took a visit to Starkville, it just felt right. It felt like somewhere I can call home," said Houck.

Houck is one of the top hitters in the State of Georgia, and more bats were something Mississippi State needed in their 2023 class after a pitcher-heavy recruiting class in 2022.

"They like my hitting. I'm a solid infielder that they can add to their recruiting class. They do have a very talented class already, so it's cool to be a part of that talented group," said Houck.

The communication with Houck and the coaches at Mississippi State was another key part in selling him on the Bulldogs.

"They were incredible to me. They were very direct with their communication and stuff like that," said Houck.

Houck is the 20th player to commit to Mississippi State in the 2023 class, and he moved the Bulldogs to the 6th ranked class in the country by Perfect Game.