“Ryan Sloan is the best high school pitcher I’ve seen in my 34 years of coaching Illinois high school baseball. His efforts are smooth and easy and he is one of the few high school athletes who appears so polished at such a young age. He is composed and mature well beyond his years.”

Paul Belo

Head Coach head coach at Palatine High School

Athletic Excellence

At the time of his selection, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior right-handed pitcher had led the Dukes (29-8) to the Class 4A sectional final this season. On the mound, Sloan compiled 0.18 ERA, a 0.50 WHIP and held opposing hitters to a .117 batting average through 37 games. In 39.2 innings of work, he struck out 79 and walked just four. Ranked as the nation’s No. 6 prospect in the Class of 2024 by PrepBaseballReport, he was a 2023 Perfect Game All-American Game selection and earned First Team All-State honors as a junior.

Academic Achievement

Sloan has maintained a 4.28 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at Wake Forest University this fall, but is projected as an early round selection in July’s Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.

Exemplary Character

A member of his school’s economics club, Sloan has volunteered locally as a youth baseball coach.