Gunnar Alm Confident He Made the Right Choice

NC State freshman outfielder Gunnar Alm discusses turning down the MLB Draft, his first weeks on campus, and why he believes Raleigh is the best place to reach his potential.

What was this process like going through your senior year while also dealing with the MLB Draft? How did you balance everything?

I really just relied on all the resources I had and, with my family, tried to make the decision that was best for me. As far as balancing everything, I just took it one day at a time and stayed present. If I had a high school game that day, that's all I was worried about. Then I'd deal with the draft stuff when it was time to deal with it.

NC State obviously wanted you on campus, but they also wanted you to make the best decision for yourself. What was the communication like with the coaching staff throughout the process?

I'm really close with Coach Chris Hart. He didn't want to get too involved because he wanted me and my family to make the decision ourselves. Obviously, he told me what he thought and gave me some really good advice, but he never tried to pressure me. He just let us know he'd love to have me at NC State and that it was our decision to make. I'm really glad with the decision I made.

Without getting into financial specifics, how much do high school players know about where they're going to be drafted before the draft actually starts?

The biggest thing for high school players is your signing bonus. I had some dialogue with a few teams on the first day of the draft, and once those teams didn't select me, I figured they probably weren't going to meet the signing bonus it would take to pull me away from school. Around the fourth round, I had a pretty good feeling I was going to NC State.

You still get some calls later on Sunday, but once you get into those later rounds, they're generally not going to meet the number it takes. That's probably when I knew I was going to school.

Have you already been on campus?

Yeah. Me and all the other recruits have been here since June 23, so we've already been here about three weeks.

What's that experience been like?

It's been the best. The resources here are unbelievable. The coaching staff has been phenomenal. They can't actually coach us yet because of the rules, but they've been great about helping us adjust, giving us advice, and making sure we know what we're doing around campus.

The weightlifting has been awesome, too. Some of the toughest lifts I've ever done, but you feel so much better afterward. Between the strength program, rehab, and everything else available here, it's incredible. Honestly, once I got here and saw everything, it raised the amount of money it would've taken for me to sign professionally. It's phenomenal here.

I've compared your path a little bit to Ty Head in the sense that you're a highly-regarded prep outfielder who could spend two years at NC State before becoming draft eligible again. Seeing him become a second-round pick this year, does that give you confidence in your decision?

Yeah, it definitely made me feel a lot better. I was watching when he got picked, and I thought, "If this whole thing didn't work out, I think I'm in a pretty dang good spot."

I already felt really good about my decision, but seeing him go where he did was kind of the icing on the cake. It definitely reinforced that I made the right decision.

How would you describe your game?

I'd say it's built around power and speed, along with being able to play any outfield position at a really high level.

I pride myself on being able to get my best swing off every time I'm at the plate, playing lockdown defense, stealing bases, and impacting the game in a lot of different ways. Those are things I've always been good at, and now I'm working even harder to improve them.

What are the biggest areas you're trying to improve over the next couple of years?

The biggest thing is shrinking my strike zone. I've always been kind of a free swinger because I love to hit, so now it's about attacking pitches in the zone and taking the ones that aren't.

That was the biggest adjustment I made during my senior year. I ended up walking about 40 times, so I feel like I'm already making progress. Scouts wanted to see me stop chasing pitches and get on base more consistently, and I think I'm in a much better place with that now.

Have you had a chance to get familiar with some of the returning players?

Yeah. I already knew a few of them, and we've been lifting together since we got here. We've gotten really close with several of the returning guys.

Jacob Smith is one of my best friends, so it's been great being around him. I also went to East Coast Pro last year with Landon Church and Christian Serrano, so I've known Christian for a while. He's a great dude.

There are only about six or eight returning players here every day right now, so we've gotten to know those guys pretty well. There are still a lot of players we haven't met yet, but once fall gets here, we'll get to know everyone.

Is there anyone who's really impressed you since you've arrived?

I already knew everybody here was talented, but a guy like Drew Lanphere has really stood out because of the way he carries himself. He's done a great job helping all of us freshmen understand how everything works around here.

[Luke] Hemric has been great, too, and Caden Morris has been a huge help. When you first get here, you're not really nervous, but you don't know where everything is or how things work. Those older guys have made the transition a lot easier.

Just watching how they work every day has been eye-opening. It really shows you how good you can become if you're willing to put in the work. They get after it in the weight room, and it's been really cool to see.

Coming from a small town in western North Carolina, what's the adjustment to Raleigh been like?

My county has about 22,000 people, and my hometown has around 1,500, so coming somewhere with 40,000 students is definitely different.

Even with most of the students not here yet, you can already tell it's a much bigger place. But honestly, it hasn't been a huge adjustment because I'm pretty outgoing anyway. I enjoy being around people.

One of my favorite things already is just having so many food options. That's been pretty nice.

Yeah, NC State has some incredible dining facilities. Sounds like you’ve experienced those.

Yeah, me and my roommate have already put on more than 10 pounds since we've been here.

The food has been great, and it's healthy, too. I've heard Case Dining Hall has unbelievable dinners for the athletes, and Fountain Dining Hall was a lot nicer than I expected. There's another place with a bunch of free food, too.

Putting on good weight definitely isn't going to be a problem here.

Looking at your numbers, a lot of people knew about your speed, but you also hit 11 home runs this past season. Has the power always been there?

It's kind of always been there because I've always taken really aggressive swings.

When I committed to NC State, I was probably 14 or 15 years old and weighed around 140 pounds. I was hitting the ball hard then, but those balls were getting caught at the warning track.

Now I'm around 170 pounds, and those same balls are clearing the fence. I think something really clicked during the summer after my sophomore year, and ever since then the power has continued to develop.

I just try to get my best swing off every time, and it's led to good results.

What have you seen from fellow freshman Landon Church?

He's actually my roommate, so we've gotten really close.

We're pretty similar in terms of our mindset. We both came here with the goal of giving ourselves a chance to play every day as freshmen.

He turned down professional opportunities, too, because he believed in coming to NC State. We're going to push each other every day, work as hard as we can, and hopefully put ourselves in a position to contribute right away.

He primarily plays infield, but he can play the outfield, too. He can really run.

Now that you've officially decided to come to NC State, what has the reaction been from the coaching staff?

I called Coach Hart after I made my decision, and he sounded really excited.

Throughout the process, they talked to me about both professional baseball and college baseball, and after weighing everything, I really felt like the pros of coming to NC State outweighed the cons.

You've got one of the best hitting coaches in the country in Bo Robinson, and the entire staff has been excited ever since I made my decision. We can't officially start working with them until the rules allow it, but we're all excited to get going. It's been a really cool experience already.