This just in from New York:
ALBANY -- Greg Holle's dream is to own a pair of cowboy boots. Problem is, he wears a size 17 and can't find ones that fit from the limited selection of Western stores in upstate New York.
That won't be a problem where he's headed.
Holle, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior at Christian Brothers Academy, confirmed Tuesday that he has accepted a full baseball scholarship to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
He'll pitch, play outfield and get his hands on those coveted boots.
"Some of the guys on the team said, 'Come on down here, and we'll find ya a pair, even if we have to get them specially made,' " Holle said in a conference room at CBA. "I knew it was the right place when I got down there and got on the field, talked to the guys and saw how practice goes."
Holle looks and sounds the part of a Texan, though he's lived his whole life in the Capital Region. He speaks with a Southern accent, listens to country music and wears a big, shiny, silver cow head belt buckle.
He chose TCU, which he visited over the weekend, over Rice, Villanova, Louisville, Richmond, Notre Dame and LSU. He also was recruited to play basketball and baseball at Siena, where his father and brother, both named Gary, played. He turned down Siena because, among other reasons, he did not want to stay in the area.
"I've always wanted to go down south," Holle said.
Holle batted .357 with a team-high six home runs and 24 RBI to go along with 2.67 earned-run average and 38 strikeouts over 21 innings for the South Troy Dodgers this summer. He is considered one of the nation's top prospects.
Not bad for a kid who almost gave baseball up four years ago.
Holle didn't play baseball during his freshman year, focusing instead on basketball. South Troy Dodgers coach George Rogers convinced Holle to play baseball during the summer before his sophomore year.
Rogers said TCU is "getting a kid who's a hard worker. The kind whose work ethic is tremendous. The kind who shows up at the field every night to work on his game or to run."
The Horned Frogs of TCU were 41-20 last season and won the Mountain West Conference for the second consecutive year.
TCU was one of many schools that also wanted Holle to play basketball. He said he's focusing on baseball for now but did not rule out playing both at some point. He also broached the idea of forgoing college if he's selected in the major league draft, but only if he's offered an "ungodly" amount of money.