ATLANTA -- Three years ago, Jason Heyward would have been one of those Henry County High School seniors who gathered on Tuesday to see him return to his old gymnasium to provide them some words of encouragement.
Now with Tim Hudson, David Ross, Glenn Hubbard and other members of his Braves family sitting behind him, the 20-year-old phenom returned to his old stomping grounds and somewhat bashfully accepted the fact that he found yet another environment where he was the center of attention.
"It doesn't seem like it's all happened that quick, but then again, it does," Heyward said. "I'm enjoying it, and time flies when you're having fun."
The Braves Caravan's schedule on Tuesday began with this stop at McDonough, Ga., where Heyward talked to students about the importance of setting goals. In addition, he took time to say hello to his favorite teacher, Tammie Ruston, and his former baseball coach, Jason Shadden.
There was no need for Heyward to spend much time catching up with Ruston and Shadden. Since graduating, he has made a point to stay in touch with them and a few other members of the high school's faculty.
Heyward's bond with Ruston was strengthened after her son, Andrew Wilmot, died in an October 2006 car accident. Just two years earlier, Wilmot had served as the catcher for a state championship baseball team that featured a sophomore that has evolved into the giant the baseball world knows as Jason Heyward.
"You see him at least once a week around here and he'll text me on the holidays," Shadden said. "Any time I text, he's always quick to come back to me and keep me in the loop. You can tell by the way he treats people and respects his parents that he's a great guy."
Along with staying close to his roots, Heyward has provided every indication that he's remained the same grounded kid that his parents -- both Dartmouth graduates -- raised.
When asked about the fact that just last week he had learned MLB.com was the latest media outlet to tab him as the game's top prospect, Heyward once again showed appreciation and quickly turned the attention toward his goal to fulfill the opportunity he's been given to exit Spring Training as Atlanta's starting right fielder.
"Everybody knows that's something special on the way to getting where you want to go," Heyward said in reference to the top prospect honor.
So when Spring Training begins in two weeks, will Heyward show some of the same nerves that were understandably present during the early portion of his short address to the students Tuesday?
"It's baseball, I'm going to have fun," Heyward said. "All I have to do is put my pants on, my cleats on, my jersey on and just go out there and have fun, and everything else will take care of itself."
An assistant coach during Heyward's first two high school seasons, Shadden has many great memories of watching the game's top prospect blossom into a potential superstar.
When asked about specific memories, Shadden remembered a two-strike walk-off grand slam against a county rival. In addition, he reminisced about the time the 6-foot-4, 220-pound outfielder used a broken wooden bat during batting practice and still drilled a baseball over the fence.
But more than anything, Shadden remembers Heyward displaying the same infectious work ethic that he was attempting to relay to the students once again during this return to his alma mater.
"He did everything above and beyond," Shadden said. "If I asked him to do long toss, he did longer toss. If I asked them run a certain number of poles, he ran more. He just pushed himself and if he didn't run more, he ran them harder. You never had to worry about him doing less than what was asked of him."
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