Texas A&M Aggies star outfielder Jace LaViolette has announced that he will withdraw his name from the Transfer Portal. He previously entered the portal shortly following head coach Jim Schlossnagle‘s decision to leave for the same role with the Texas Longhorns.
Jace LaViolette has provided tons of power at the dish for the Aggies. In 2024, he hit .305 with a .449 OBP, and a .726 slugging percentage. He also hit 29 home runs and 78 RBIs on the season. That came in 68 games played as a sophomore. On top of that, he’s also proven capable of stealing some bases, with 25 in his first two seasons at Texas A&M.
For the most part, Jace LaViolette played the outfield defensively for Texas A&M. In that role, he had a perfect fielding percentage during the 2024 season with 158 putouts and an assist.
It was an incredible sophomore season. That led to Jace LaViolette leading Texas A&M to a record of 53-15 overall and 19-11 in SEC play. The Aggies earned a national seed thanks to that and ended up making a run to Omaha and the College World Series. There, they came one game away from a national championship before losing to Tennessee.
Jace LaViolette was a TSWA First-Team outfielder, THSB All-Texas First-Team, THSB hitter of the year, All East Texas MVP, and ABCA All-American First-Team outfielder coming out of high school.
The Texas A&M coaching situation
Shortly following the end of the College World Series, Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle left for Texas. That comes as the Longhorns are preparing to join their rival Aggies in the SEC starting next season. He was also poised to bring the entire staff of assistant coaches with him to Austin.
That coaching staff turnover was a key driving factor behind Jace LaViolette and other players entering the Transfer Portal when they did.
At that point, Texas A&M began a national search for its next coach, even reportedly making a “furious run” at Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello. That would have been a massive move in its own right, to see the head coach at the national championship team leave to go to the team he beat. Of course, it didn’t come to fruition and the Aggies ended up hiring Michael Earley as its next head coach.
Michael Earley had been the Texas A&M hitting coach under Jim Schlossnagle. He’s the one who talented hitters like Jace LaViolette had their success under, one of the hopes that the Aggies have in hiring him is that it will provide the team with stability.
The post Texas A&M star outfielder Jace LaViolette has withdrawn from Transfer Portal appeared first on On3.
