He's been called the best shortstop to come through college baseball in at least two decades. He's the centerpiece of a loaded UCLA team that has all the makings of a team capable of winning the national championship. He's long been projected to be the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft in July.
Roch Cholowsky embraces all of it.
“I enjoy expectations. I enjoy trying to go after something,” Cholowsky said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The main goal obviously is what we’re doing with the guys here at school.”
Cholowsky, named 2025 national player of the year by multiple outlets, begins his third season with the Bruins on Friday when they open at home against UC San Diego. He'll be the most-watched college player in the country the next four months as he tries to lead the Bruins back to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
UCLA coach John Savage, understanding the pressure Cholowsky will be under, set up a lunch for his star player with Phil Nevin last week. Nevin was picked No. 1 in the 1992 draft, by Houston, the same week he was playing in the CWS for Cal State Fullerton.
Nevin played 12 years in the majors, coached and managed in the minors and majors and now works for the Chicago White Sox as a special assistant for player development. The White Sox, it so happens, have the No. 1 draft pick.
The conversation between Nevin and Cholowsky during their hourlong lunch mostly was about their similarities at the same stage in their careers and the ways Nevin approached the day-to-day of his draft year.
“We didn’t talk too much about the White Sox or what they’re thinking about,” Cholowsky said.
If Cholowsky wants more insight on pro ball, he can always talk to his dad. Dan Cholowsky was the No. 39 overall pick in the 1991 draft, by St. Louis, after playing second and third base at California. He spent eight years in the minors before going into scouting. Roch said he and his dad talk baseball every day.
Roch Cholowsky arrived at UCLA from Chandler, Arizona, as part of the heralded 2023 recruiting class. He started every game and batted a team-best .308 as the Bruins struggled to a 19-33 record in 2024. The players could have splintered and high-tailed it to the transfer portal, but Cholowsky said he and his teammates believed in Savage's plan and the hard times strengthened their resolve.
“The conversations we had were more about what we could change to turn it around rather than looking at other options and finding the easy way out,” he said.
The Bruins finished last season 48-18 overall and 22-8 in their first year in the Big Ten. They swept through regionals and super regionals and went 1-2 in the CWS.
Cholowsky broke out, winning the Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s top shortstop and Big Ten player of the year and defensive player of the year. He led the Bruins in batting (.353), home runs (23), total bases (179), slugging percentage (.710), on-base percentage (.480), hits (89) and runs scored (80). According to his draft thumbnail on MLB.com, some scouts consider him the top all-around college shortstop since Troy Tulowitzki, the No. 7 pick in 2005.
“We’ve had some really good shortstops here, and Roch clearly is elite — not only for his play but for his loyalty,” Savage said. “He’ll do anything to win. He’s very unselfish, not really caring who gets the credit. Obviously there’s a lot of hype around him and a lot of stories and so forth. He understands team and he understands the progression of what a good team has to go through.”
UCLA begins the season ranked No. 1 by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com, and Savage credits Cholowsky for keeping the group of juniors together to make one more run at a title before many of them head to pro ball.
“He's an exceptional clubhouse guy,” the coach said. “His makeup, his leadership, his body of work in terms of his work ethic in the weight room, drills, practice, meetings... It's all about winning with him. Whenever you have your best player as one of the best workers, that’s giving the right message day in and day out and makes life much easier."
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
FILE - UCLA's Roch Cholowsky (1) bats during an NCAA baseball game against BYU on Feb. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog ended a contentious four-day visit to Australia on Thursday that brought comfort to Sydney’s Jewish community traumatized by a recent antisemitic mass shooting, but also attracted large-scale demonstrations protesting the civilian toll of the Gaza war.
Herzog has been dogged by protesters who label him a war criminal as he visited Sydney, the national capital Canberra and Melbourne in the first Australian visit by an Israeli head of state in six years.
Authorities estimated 10,000 protesters shut down several downtown Melbourne streets with a rally Thursday evening as Herzog left the country. The largest protest of his visit was mostly peaceful, with only a single demonstrator facing a charge of assaulting a police officer, a police statement said.
Earlier, Herzog challenged protesters to target Iran, which he described as an "empire of evil” that had killed tens of thousands of its own citizens.
Addressing a Jewish community gathering in Melbourne under tight police security, he referred to Iran's ambassador to Australia being expelled six months ago over allegations the Revolutionary Guard had directed antisemitic arson attacks in Melbourne and Sydney. Australia's two largest cities are home to 85% of the nation's Jewish population.
“I say to all those protesters outside, go protest in front of the Iranian embassy or whichever embassy they have,” Herzog said.
Earlier in his Australian visit, Herzog said such protests were mostly attempts to “undermine and delegitimize” Israel’s right to exist.
Herzog and the Australian government agree he was invited to support a community reeling from a Dec. 14 attack, allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group, on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead.
Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler, who accompanied Herzog during his Australian travels, appealed to protesters to consider the grieving Jewish community.
“The community in Sydney is feeling extremely uplifted and seen following his visits,” Leibler said.
Herzog’s critics take issue with another stated purpose of his visit. Herzog told The Associated Press in a statement last week his visit would “reinvigorate” bilateral relations and “dispel many of the lies and misinformation spread about Israel over the last two years.”
“Now that means his visit is not a visit to mourn, but it’s a visit that is political, that is in fact propaganda,” Australian human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti said. “So his view seems to be different from the Australian government’s view as to the purposes of his visit.”
Sidoti was one of three experts appointed by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council to an inquiry that reported in September last year that Herzog, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had incited the commission of genocide in Gaza.
Bilateral relations have been strained over the plight of Palestinian civilians since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, particularly since Australia decided to recognize a Palestinian state six months ago.
Herzog said on Thursday his discussions with Australian political leaders and “opinion shapers” this week had been “conducted with candor, open-mindedness and a great deal of mutual respect.”
“I found serious partners who are willing to hold serious conversations and address the vile rhetoric, the misinformation, the shameful antisemitism head on,” Herzog said.
Police said a planned visit on Thursday to the ruins of Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue, which Iran is accused of torching in late 2024, had been cancelled due to security concerns.
Anti-Herzog graffiti left overnight at a Melbourne University campus was removed early Thursday.
“The university stands firmly against antisemitism. Racism, hatred and violence have no place in our society or our nation. We became aware of the offensive graffiti on the edge of our Parkville (suburban) campus this morning and immediately sent cleaners who swiftly removed it,” a university statement said.
On his first day in Australia on Monday, Herzog laid a wreath at Bondi Beach. He also met survivors and bereaved families.
He addressed the media at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday, describing his visit as an opportunity to reset bilateral relations on a “new beginning and a better future.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at a Jewish community event in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Demonstrators gather in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, to protest the visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Demonstrators gather in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, to protest the visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Demonstrators gather in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, to protest the visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at a Jewish community event in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
