McCallie’s Noah Wilson Excited to Hear His Name Called in Upcoming Major League Baseball Draft

For several months, 2026 McCallie graduate Noah Wilson has been mentioned as a probable early-round pick in Saturday’s Major League Baseball Draft, slotted anywhere from the first to the fourth round.

Those predictions got a boost in late June at the MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix when Wilson turned in the fastest time ever recorded in the 30-yard dash, covering that distance in a blazing 3.497 seconds. The Roadrunner never ran through the desert faster.

“A cool personal goal,” said Wilson this week of that accomplishment.

And what could that accomplishment mean for his draft projections?

Like every potential draft pick, Wilson will ultimately be judged on his talents, his hitting, arm strength, defense, speed, and baseball IQ. He batted .379 for the Blue Tornado this past season, stole 21 bases, and hit five home runs, including one grand slam. But character, personality, and work ethic are also factored in, and Allen says Wilson can’t be topped where the intangibles are concerned.

“I first had him in a Middle School class in the seventh grade,” he said. “Noah was quiet and humble then, and he hasn’t changed a bit in the years since. He’s also a great teammate. Here’s a story for you: He had a friend who we cut from the team a year ago. He was a football player and so after every football practice this past fall, Noah would meet him in the hitting facility and work with him. Every day. And when we had tryouts before this season, his friend made the team. Noah made him a better player.”

Another example of his leadership: McCallie was a little thin at shortstop heading into the season. Despite Wilson’s all-world talent as an outfielder, he went to Allen and said if the team needed him to play shortstop, he would.

“No, we need you most in the outfield, I told him,” recalled Allen. “I appreciated the gesture, but I’m not playing a potential first-round MLB Draft pick out of position.”

Wilson will tell you he has no preference for the team he goes to in the draft, but like most kids who grow up in the Tennessee Valley, he’s always been a big Atlanta Braves fan.

“My parents are both Braves fans,” he said. “I remember one of my first trips to Truist Park, I bought an Austin Riley jersey before the game. He went 3-for-3 that day and hit a home run. I’ve always been for the Braves.”

The Braves do have plenty of early picks they could use on Wilson, beginning with the No. 9 and No. 26 picks in the opening round, with three more picks by the end of the fourth round.

And Wilson continues to make sure that whichever team drafts him, they’ll be getting an improving talent who works every day to get better, beginning with “tweaking my swing a little bit.”

To get ready for the combine, he worked for several months with trainer Gannon Hampton of Peak Kinetic Performance. For the 30-yard dash, they would work on 10-yard starts. Asked if he’d ever been in a foot race with classmate Andrew Smith, who won the 100- and 200-yard dash at Spring Fling in May, Wilson said they hadn’t.

“But I’d guess if we were to run the 100, I’d lead for the first 40 or 50 yards, then he’d win the race,” he said.

Come Saturday, the race to become a professional baseball player could come to an end. Noah, his family, and a few friends will gather at the family’s Chattanooga home and watch the start of the MLB Draft at 1 p.m. on NBC, which will televise picks 1 through 10 until 2:30 p.m. After that, the rest of the first four rounds will be televised on the MLB Network, with the remaining rounds being televised on Sunday.

But if Wilson isn’t satisfied with his draft selection or his signing bonus, he has a far better fall-back plan than most. He is a verbal commit to Vanderbilt.

“So I have two great options,” he said. “Professional baseball or Vanderbilt. I’m not going to lie. I still love both options.”