He will now get the chance to fulfill that dream with a hometown team, as the Cubs selected Howard at No. 16 overall in the MLB amateur draft on Wednesday evening.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Howard, 18, was considered the top defensive prospect in the draft class by some scouts. He hit .421 with 11 doubles, four triples and three homers in 35 games as a junior at Mount Carmel in 2019. The coronavirus led to the cancellation of his senior season.
Howard was recommended by Cubs area scout John Pedrotty.
"Since I was like seven years old and started playing, I always said I wanted to grow up and play in the big leagues," Howard said on Hit & Run on 670 The Score back in March. "I never had another dream job. It was always my goal to play baseball my whole life."
Howard first landed on the radar locally as the starting shortstop on the Jackie Robinson West team that advanced to the championship game of the Little League World Series in 2014.
Howard is first Illinois high school position player to be selected in the first round of the MLB draft since Jayson Werth in 1997, according to the Cubs. Howard is also the first high school player whom the Cubs have selected in the first round since they took outfielder Albert Almora Jr. in 2012.
The amateur draft has been shortened to just five rounds this year as part of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and MLB's initial return-to-play agreement. The final four rounds will be conducted Thursday.