UCLA Star Reacts to Savage Contract Extension

It almost shouldn't have been a question on whether or not UCLA should extend Savage following their trip to Omaha that ended with a loss to No. 3 ranked Arkansas. Savage signed a massive contract extension after winning in Omaha 12 years ago, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in all of baseball at the time. And now the Bruins will be bringing him back for three more, which is coincidentally in line with his young core of freshmen and sophomores that outperformed this year.

Going from winning 19 games in 2024 to being two wins away from a national championship appearance in 2025, Savage's 29-win turnaround was one of the biggest in Division-I baseball and the trajectory of this young Bruins team is looking better than ever. Housing the Big Ten Player of the Year, Cholowsky, the roster is primed for an even better run than the one it made this season.

Under Savage, Cholowsky was a star this college baseball season, being awarded Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, the Brooks Wallace Award, District 9 Player of the Year, Perfect Game USA Player of the Year, Baseball America Player of the Year, D1Baseball Player of the Year, ABCA First Team All-American honors, Baseball America First Team All-American honors, NCBWA Second Team All-American honors, finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, all in his sophomore season.

Cholowsky is projected to be the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft, but still has another mission ahead of him -- making it back to Omaha along with a young Bruins team that, frankly, overperformed this season.

In his postgame press conference after being eliminated from the postseason, Savage was surely talking like he'd be around for the foreseeable future, detailing each spot the team would improve next season and beyond.

"You've got to evaluate everything," Savage said of where the team can improve ahead of next season, noting a list of things that include roster construction, the transfer portal, the draft and high school prospects among other things. "There's just so much that makes a program. Strength. That's the one thing that I would say that I walked away from this thing is, we got to get a lot stronger physically.

"Some of these guys are 23 and some of us are 18. That, alone in itself, makes a difference. But, at the same time, we got to get stronger physically."

The Bruins have one of the highest upsides of any program in college baseball and Cholowsky and Savage are eager to get back to Omaha next year.