Former Belleview High School pitching phenom, Frank DeJiulio has made a verbal commitment to the Florida Gators baseball program after rejecting a contract with the Chicago Cubs.

After his senior year at Belleview, DeJiulio played one season at Daytona State College and then was drafted in the 44th round by the Cubs last June. Frank then decided that he would go back to school and not enter the MLB which was a much smarter decision. He received several offers from schools such as Florida, Auburn, Mississippi State, South Carolina, UCF and FAU, and several others. Along with committing to Florida, he is now closer to home. Playing in the Ocala area in high school and now moving right up the road to Gainesville.

DeJiulio will be keeping his choices open whether to turn pro after his first year at UF or even could be after his last year. It’s still early but no matter what I think he’s going to turn out to be real successful and I believe he will be happy with his future draft spot when the time comes.

“It doesn’t affect my draft status at all,” he said. “It just keeps my options open, because Florida is definitely a place I’d want to go. More than likely I’ll play a year or two there..but who knows? (Gathered by Byron Saucer from Ocala Star Banner.)

The Gators will either use the right hand pitcher DeJiulio as a starter or closer. Either one he is going to mow his opponents down with the speed of his pitching.

I have past experiences playing with DeJiulio in high school. Both of our high schools were rivals and it was a battle when Frank was on the mound. He dusted everybody away with his 90+ MPH fastball, and that wasn’t the only good thing about him. What else was crazy about him was his hitting ability. On the offensive side, he could stroke the ball anywhere on the field, even though most of his balls were launched over into the parking lot. Frank has a bright future after playing at the collegiate level. I think he has the potential to becoming a high draft spot after playing for the Gators, and predicting right now, I think Frank will be one of Florida’s top pitchers.