Where Did Shohei Ohtani Go to College? Before Breaking Baseball Records

Did the highest-paid player in baseball history ever step foot on a college campus? Shohei Ohtani's educational journey might surprise you, especially if you assume all top athletes follow the traditional high school to college to pros pipeline.

Key takeaways

• Shohei Ohtani never attended college; he went straight from high school to pro baseball
• His high school operated like a baseball academy; students lived on campus year-round with only six days home annually
• He was drafted at 18 years old; the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters chose him first overall in Japan's 2012 professional draft

Did Shohei Ohtani go to college?

No. Shohei Ohtani didn't go to college or university.

After graduating from Hanamaki Higashi High School in 2012, Ohtani was drafted first overall by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) draft. He made his professional debut in March 2013 at just 18 years old.

This is different from most American baseball players. In the U.S., top players usually go to college first. But in Japan, the best high school players can go straight to the pros if they get drafted.

What high school did Shohei Ohtani attend?

Ohtani went to Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture, Japan.

This wasn't like a normal American high school. It was more like a baseball boarding school. Here's what life was like there.

Daily requirements:

• Students lived in dorms on campus
• They could only go home 6 days per year
• Baseball training took up most of their time
• Everyone had chores (Ohtani cleaned toilets)
• Schoolwork and homework still had to get done

Academic expectations:

• Students needed to keep good grades
• Ohtani maintained around 85% in all his classes
• His coach used him as an example for other students
• The message: you can be great at sports AND school

The school had already produced another MLB player before Ohtani. Yusei Kikuchi graduated three years earlier and later played for the Toronto Blue Jays.

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How good of a student was Ohtani?

Ohtani was a solid student. He kept his grades around 85 across all subjects.

This is impressive because he was also:

• Training for baseball several hours every day
• Living away from home
• Doing chores and dorm responsibilities
• Competing at the highest levels of high school baseball

His coach, Hiroshi Sasaki, often told other students: "Ohtani not only played baseball but also studied, cleaned the dormitory, and did his homework."

Ohtani's timeline from high school to pro baseball

Here's how Ohtani went from high school to becoming a professional player:

Why didn't Ohtani go to college?

Simple answer: He was already too good for college baseball.

In 2012, Ohtani was throwing 99 mph as a high school senior. That set a record for Japanese high school baseball. Professional teams in both Japan and America wanted him.

The big decision: College would mean playing for free (just a scholarship) until age 21 or 22. Going pro meant getting paid to play starting at age 18.

The deal-maker: The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters promised Ohtani something special. They said he could be a two-way player—both pitching and hitting. Most pro teams make you pick one or the other.

No college program could offer him what professional baseball offered: money, top-level training, and the chance to be a two-way player.

Did Ohtani get any college offers?

There's no public record of American colleges offering Ohtani scholarships.

This makes sense because:

• He was playing in Japan, not America
• He was focused on going pro from a young age
• His talent level was already professional-quality
• Japanese high school stars usually stay in Japan or go pro

In Japan, top baseball players have three main options after high school:

1. Go to Japanese pro leagues (what Ohtani did)
2. Attend Japanese universities with baseball programs
3. Try to sign with MLB teams in America

Ohtani was good enough to skip straight to option #1.

When did Ohtani start his pro career?

Ohtani began playing professional baseball in March 2013 at age 18.

His complete timeline:

By age 23, when most college graduates enter the job market, Ohtani already had 5 years of professional experience.

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Did Shohei Ohtani graduate high school?

Ohtani finished up at Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, in 2012. While he was there, he managed to juggle his top-tier baseball training with keeping his grades around an 85% average across all his classes.

Where did Shohei Ohtani go to school?

Shohei Ohtani finished high school at Hanamaki Higashi High in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, back in 2012. While he was there, he stayed in the school dorms and trained with coach Hiroshi Sasaki. After high school, Ohtani didn't go to college or university.

How old was Shohei Ohtani when he went pro?

At 18 years old, Shohei Ohtani began his professional baseball career directly out of high school. He was drafted by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2012 and made his professional debut in March 2013.

Final thoughts

Shohei Ohtani skipped college, going straight from Hanamaki Higashi High School to pro baseball at 18. His incredible talent and Japan's baseball system made it possible.

His story really shows that education isn't always a traditional path; the discipline and hard work he learned in high school were clearly enough to set him up for success.

Source

• Shohei Ohtani - Wikipedia
• How much is Shohei Ohtani's contract in 2025?
• The details behind baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani's new contract : NPR