College Baseball Head Coach Has High Praise for Cannarella
By: Staff Report February 17, 2025

This college baseball coach is a big fan of Clemson star outfielder Cam Cannarella.

Xavier head coach Billy O’Conner has plenty of respect for Cannarella, and O’Conner had high praise for Cannarella in a recent article published by The Athletic (subscription required).

O’Conner has seen Cannarella play up close, as the Tigers and Musketeers squared off in a three-game series at Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium to open the 2024 season.

According to The Athletic article, O’Conner views Cannarella as college baseball’s top position player that isn’t on O’Conner’s own team.

“We played him last year,” O’Conner said, via The Athletic. “He’s the kind of kid that’s fun to watch because he’s not the biggest kid, he’s not the most toolsy kid, but everything he does, he’s just a ball player, he’s a grinder.”

Cannarella is a two-time All-ACC selection and was named an All-American in 2024, when he hit .337 with 11 homers and 60 RBIs despite being hampered by injury most of the season. In his two-year career entering 2025, he hit .363 with 32 doubles, six triples, 18 homers, 107 RBIs, 130 runs and 24 steals in 117 games.

A preseason first-team All-American ahead of this season, Cannarella was recently one of 55 players named to the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, which is presented each year by USA Baseball to the national player of the year.

Cannarella, a draft eligible junior, is considered a potential future top-10 draft pick and was recently named to the College All-Prospect team for this year’s MLB Draft by MLB Pipeline (MLB.com) senior writer Jim Callis.

O’Conner loves Cannarella’s all-around game on the diamond.

“Is he going to be a No. 1 overall pick? Probably not,” O’Conner said. “I know he’s going to be a draft guy for sure, (but) is he the guy that you look across from the dugout and say, like, “Oh my God, that looks like a big leaguer?” Not until he starts playing, and he just does everything right from a defensive standpoint, from a baserunning standpoint, from an offensive standpoint. He’s a fun one to watch for sure.”