He [Bobo] is so confident, but he's the least arrogant kid you'll ever be around.”

Golden Eagles Head Coach Chase Jones

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – Shelbyville Central’s Stephen Bobo, the No. 115 ranked player in the Class of 2027 according to Perfect Game, officially announced his commitment to Vanderbilt on Sunday, November 2nd.  

I’m truly blessed to say I’m committing to Vanderbilt University. I would like to thank Coach Corbin, coach Ty, and the rest of the Vanderbilt staff for this opportunity. Also, I want to thank my family, friends, and coaches who have helped me along this journey. Anchor Down⚓️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/b5S18m3av8

— Stephen bobo (@stephenbobo15) November 4, 2025

“It took about an hour to kick in after I committed, but when it did I was like, holy cow this is awesome. It felt great. When it hit I was initially wondering like did I make the right decision, all that stuff, but it went by and I was just thinking, wow, this is it, this is awesome,” he told the Times-Gazette.

Bobo, who stars both on the gridiron as the Golden Eagles’ starting quarterback and on the diamond as both a starting pitcher and outfielder, plans to transition to full-time outfielder in college. 

“I’m almost positive that I’ll play in the outfield [at Vanderbilt],” he said. He still plans to play both ways for Shelbyville Central for his junior and senior seasons. 

In his sophomore season with the Golden Eagles, Bobo posted .534/.630/.757 splits at the plate for a team-best OPS of 1.387 while leading the team with 36 RBIs, eight doubles, and five home runs to go with 28 walks. On the mound, Bobo ended the year with a 6-3 record in nine appearances, posting an ERA of 1.11 as he struck out 66 batters while walking just 17 and allowing opposing batters to hit just .178 against him en route to the team finishing with a 27-10 record overall. 

“He can definitely hit for power,” Shelbyville Central Head Coach Chase Jones said, “but he’s more of a gap-to-gap hitter. He can put so much pressure on a defense with his athleticism and speed that the key for him is to just get the ball in play and force the defense to make plays on him. He’s so athletic that he’s going to win a lot of those battles.”

For Bobo, the recruiting timeline started as soon as his junior year began at Shelbyville Central.

“Schools started reaching out on August 1st. I could start taking visits on September 1st, and my first one was September 20th at Indiana. It took me a while to decide – a week-and-a-half after my last visit [at Vanderbilt],” Bobo explained.

“Ultimately it came down to Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. I honestly couldn’t really decide so I based it on location, and Vanderbilt is obviously a lot closer to home. Of course, Coach Corbin having 30 years of experience, you can’t really go wrong with that.” 

Bobo’s recruitment began on the first day of August with more than 20 schools reaching out trying to get him to take a visit, but ultimately he trimmed his visit list down to Indiana, Auburn, Georgia Tech, and Vanderbilt. He took his first visit on September 20th with Indiana, and concluded with Vanderbilt about a week-and-a-half before he ultimately made a decision.

“I told the coaches that I was going to decide when I did just so they wouldn’t have to worry or anything and it would be that day [Sunday, November 2nd] that I’d tell all the schools,” he said.

Stephen Bobo (15) finished his sophomore season batting a blistering .534 with 36 RBIs and eight doubles while working a team-high 28 walks to just six strikeouts all season. He finished the year with .534/.630/.757 splits for an astronomical OPS of 1.387.

Amy Todd - SCHS Baseball Facebook

“Going up there [to Nashville], seeing everything, I know for a fact they can develop me into a really good player. Obviously I trust their coaches, and I have a really good relationship with them too.”

The 5’10 lefty also thanks his family for the role they played in his recruitment process.

“My family definitely helped me a lot and guided me through it all. I was calling my older brother William a lot as well as my cousin, Luke, who is about to go off to Tennessee. Obviously I was talking to my dad and my mom – they made a pros and cons list, and we went over them all and discussed everything – and I even asked my little brother what he thought. He obviously said Vanderbilt, but he didn’t really help much. He just said ‘I want you to go to Vanderbilt,’ with no reason at all,” Bobo said with a laugh.

Bobo’s older brother, William, is currently in his first season at Austin Peay, playing wide receiver on the Governors football team, and William was able to give advice based on his own recruiting experience, among other factors.

Now that the three-month process is complete, Bobo is glad that the decision is behind him so that he can go back to just playing ball.

“During the process, it was fun, but it was definitely stressful talking to all the schools,” he said, “I definitely feel relieved now that I made my decision.”

Bobo recognizes that he still has a lot of room for improvement, especially since he now has clarity on his collegiate plan of being a full-time position player.

“This offseason I’m working on getting faster, getting stronger, eating and fueling my body right,” he acknowledged.

Jones offered insight on what exactly the areas are that he and his staff will be focusing on helping Bobo improve now that he’s made his decision.

“His bunt skill, he’s good at it but he needs to get better at it so he can take full advantage of every ounce of athleticism and speed that he has,” Jones continued, “We talked about baserunning – working on leads, working on getting really good jumps, working on how to read pitchers – and then working on perfecting his angles defensively in the outfield. Those are the biggest points of emphasis to help get him ready for the next level.”

Bobo, who is 100% locked in to Vanderbilt, received high praise from Jones about what the future could look like if he continues on his current path.

“He is such a natural at playing this game,” Jones concluded, “He’s just such a competitor. He is so confident but he is the least arrogant kid you’ll ever be around. He has an extreme level of confidence to where when he steps out on the field to where it’s not really a lot of thinking for him. If Stephen stays true to who he is and continues what he’s done to put himself in this position, there’s no telling how far he can go in this game.”

Shelbyville Central’s season begins in early March of 2026 with specific dates still TBA.