When I was a senior in high school, I signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Loyola Marymount University. The mascot there?
The Lions.
The day I signed, LMU was playing Pepperdine. I watched the game with a different mindset — knowing Iād be wearing that jersey just a year later. As the game wrapped up, the broadcasters closed out the LMU recap with a sentence that has stayed with me ever since:
āThings are looking up for the Lions. They just signed Jeremy Booth, a highly recruited catcher out of Beverly Hills High.ā
I smile every time I think about it. It was a meaningful moment — not just because of what it said about my baseball ability, but because of what it meant about life: progress, purpose, and pushing yourself forward. It was a statement of belief in the future. And, honestly? It was catchy.
Today, all these years later, it means even more.
Now, as we cross the 10-year milestone for Future Stars Series, that same phrase rings louder than ever. Thereās an undeniable sense of reflection and of pride. A decade may sound like a long time, but when building something with real substance, the years move fast.
What sticks with you are the people.
The players. The staff. The moments.
The journey that turned aĀ belief into aĀ legacy.
It has been an absolute honor to walk alongside so many remarkable athletes on their paths. Names like Michael Brooks, whose leadership on and off the field sets the tone. Zac Veen, Dylan Crews, Ricky Tiedemann, Tommy Troy, Glenallen Hill Jr., Brock Jones, Petey Halpin, Braden Montgomery, Cooper Pratt, Silas Ardoin, Henry Bolte, Cam Collier, Tink Hence, Marco Raya, Adam Macko, Grayson Rodriguez, Bo Naylor, Dasan Brown, Brock Jones, Kyren Paris, Drew Gilbert, and Mick Abel.
These arenāt just names on a draft board. These are young men who committed to a bigger picture.
What makes this group special, and the hundreds like them over the years, isnāt just talent. Itās the culture they helped build. A culture rooted in accountability, buy-in, hunger, and truth. These players didnāt care about being the flashiest prospect or chasing empty hype. They cared about the work. They cared about the process. And they committed to being better, not just for themselves, but for those who would come after.
Some players came in as polished standouts. Others arrived raw and projectable, with a long way to go. All of them were asked to trust something bigger than themselves. And they did. They embraced the hard conversations. They leaned into the uncomfortable. And what they helped build, together, is a foundation that will serve generations.
Weāve also been fortunate to work alongside high school coaches, travel ball organizations, Major League Baseball executives, college coaches, and families who aligned with our values and trusted the mission. Their belief fueled the progress.
Of course, it hasnāt always been easy. Along the way, there have been those who tried to take from the platform to serve themselves, rather than the group. Thatās the nature of building anything that matters. But the vision never wavered. The mission never bent. And we never stopped doing exactly what we said weād do.
We donāt make promises lightly in this program. When we say weāre going to do something, we follow through. No matter how long it takes. No matter how hard it gets. Because growth doesnāt come from comfort, it comes when you are challenged and you keep going anyway.
As we enter the full realization of 2025 and beyond, weāre not just proud, weāre prepared. The infrastructure is in place. The people are here. The vision is clear.
This next chapter isnāt just about whatās next, itās about honoring whatās been built and elevating it, for everyone who believed in it from the start and for everyone still to come.
Things are looking up for the Lions.
