Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Slugger Named Guest Picker for ESPN College GameDay

The former Indiana Hoosier and current Philadelphia Phillies star will be in attendance as College GameDay makes its first ever appearance on campus.

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

One of the Philadelphia Phillies sluggers will be heading back to his roots on Saturday. 

It was announced on Thursday that slugging outfielder Kyle Schwarber will be the guest picker on ESPN’s College GameDay this weekend.

For the first time ever, the flagship college football pregame show will be in Bloomington, IN. 

The game will feature Schwarber's alma mater, Indiana University, where he played college baseball. After three straight losing seasons, the Hoosiers are 7-0 and ranked 13th in the country. They will host the Washington Huskies, a team that made the National Championship last year. 

“Can’t wait to see all you guys there on Saturday to cheer on the Hoosiers and also can’t wait to be the celebrity guest picker for College Football Gameday. It’s going to be exciting, and it’s going to be fun,” Schwarber said in a video posted on social media. 

2x MLB ALL-STAR AND FORMER INDIANA HOOSIER KYLE SCHWARBER WILL BE OUR GUEST PICKER IN BLOOMINGTON 🙌@kschwarb12 pic.twitter.com/yYK9k2mAtI

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 24, 2024

The two-time All-Star had a tremendous collegiate career at Indiana.

During his time at his alma mater from 2012-2014, Schwarber was named a two-time First Team All-American and ranks sixth all-time in program history with 40 home runs, while also having a career batting average of .341 across 180 games.

He was then drafted in the first round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs with the fourth overall selection. He is the highest drat pick in Indiana baseball history. 

Schwarber has been with the Phillies since the beginning of 2022 and has become a staple in the middle of the lineup for the organization. He has 131 home runs in the regular season since joining the club, as well as 12 playoffs homers that is tied with Bryce Harper for the most in Philadelphia's franchise history. 

It will be nice to see the Phillies slugger take some much-needed time off from preparing for the upcoming season after their recent elimination at the hands of the New York Mets in the National League Division Series. 

College GameDay will air on ESPN beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

The three hour program usually has its guest picker on towards the end of the final hour, so fans can tune in to see Schwarber closer to that time.

The kickoff for the game between Indiana and Washington is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET.