Baseball: ‘An unreal feeling’ Downers Grove North’s George Wolkow drafted by White Sox

George Wolkow was sitting in his living room Monday afternoon, his mind swimming with the emotions of the past 24 hours. He was about to leave to go fishing to get his mind off things when the former Downers Grove North star got the life-changing call.

His hometown team wanted him.

“I was a little upset that my name wasn’t called [Sunday] or earlier [Monday] and out of nowhere my adviser reached out and said we have one last opportunity,” Wolkow said. “The White Sox saved a lot of [bonus] money. It’s a decision that made sense.”

Wolkow, a power-hitting third baseman and outfielder who led Downers Grove North to a program-record 32 wins this spring, was selected Monday by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the MLB Draft with the 209th pick.

The South Carolina commit was one of the youngest players in this year’s draft class – Wolkow turns 18 in six months – but was ranked 71st among draft prospects by MLB Pipeline.

It made the previous 24 hours a difficult wait that ended as a dream come true for Wolkow.

“The last 24 hours have been a roller coaster of emotions – it’s almost motivating,” Wolkow said. “Looking at all the teams that might have passed on me, looking at the other teams that chose other guys that profiled like me, looking at people that didn’t give me a chance, knowing I had a local team and a great group of people that believe in me, it’s a little frustrating but it’s out of my control. I’m going to prove those 29 other teams that passed on me wrong.”

Wolkow said that about the time he was picked, his mindset had shifted to getting ready to go to school at South Carolina. He was waiting until after the draft to make it official.

That changed when the White Sox, who had spent their four previous draft picks Monday on three college pitchers and a college catcher, made the call for Wolkow. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound lefty swinger with tremendous raw power hit .352 with seven home runs, 10 doubles and 32 RBIs this spring for Downers Grove North, which won its first regional title since 2015.

Wolkow plans to sign his pro contract with the White Sox.

“I’m extremely excited. Honestly, it’s kind of an unreal feeling,” Wolkow said. “I would say it’s a dream come true to go and play for a hometown team. I can’t wait to get to work and get out to Arizona and report and to bring a World Series back to Chicago.”

Wolkow, who committed to South Carolina in June 2020, was a top-10 player nationally in the 2024 high school class, but announced in March 2022 that he was reclassifying to the 2023 draft class.

Wolkow said he had been in contact with the White Sox for a while and went to a private workout for the organization before the combine. He becomes the second local high school product in as many years to be picked by the White Sox.

Noah Schultz, a left-handed pitcher from Oswego East, was selected with the 26th pick of last year’s draft and now is one of the White Sox’s top prospects.

“I knew there would be a chance for me after seeing how they went the college route with their previous picks,” Wolkow said. “I thought it might have happened at the 51st pick. I knew there might be a chance that they would have allotted money left over after taking a lot of college guys. My agent kept in touch with me with different possibilities.”

MLB Draft analyst Joe Doyle tweeted that Wolkow was “a big, big get for the White Sox.”

“Extremely young, reclassified from 2024. Huge power,” Doyle tweeted. “Really growing into his 6-7 frame over the last 12 months. Had heard Chicago was in on him in the second/third.”

It’s been a whirlwind year for Wolkow.

In March he helped lead Downers Grove North’s boys basketball team to fourth place at the Class 4A state tournament and then was part of a record-breaking baseball team. After the completion of the high school season, Wolkow played in the Northwoods League college baseball summer league with the Green Bay Rockers.

“I’m ready to play pro ball. It’s a dream of mine to play,” Wolkow said. “As soon as I got the call from my adviser, I went upstairs to my mom and dad and we were all on the same page for the decision. You never know what will happen, but the right thing happened. Just trust the process that God has a plan and pick 209 was mine.”

Wolkow grew up around the time of the 2016 World Series and remembered cheering for the Cubs, but was never a guy that hated the White Sox.

Now he’s ready to go to work for them.

“I think I might take a day or two honestly to soak this in, but I’m ready to go,” Wolkow said. “I’m heading out to Arizona in the next week for medicals. Once those come back clean, I’ll be ready to sign. I’m ready to get going.”