Clemson baseball's Max Wagner starred at Green Bay Preble. Now he's the ACC player of the year.

Max Wagner needed one year to become the best baseball player in the Fox River Classic Conference during his time at Green Bay Preble.

He needed only two to become the biggest star in one of the top college conferences in the nation.

The Clemson third baseman was named the player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference this week after a breakout sophomore campaign.

Wagner is the 14th player from Clemson to be named ACC player of the year and the first since Seth Beer in 2016.

He is hitting .380 with 26 home runs, 74 RBI and 65 runs scored. He has a .506 on-base percentage and is slugging .867, which is the best in school history for a single season.

Wagner also is one home run shy of tying Clemson’s record for home runs in a season, set in 2002 by future Major League Baseball player and fellow ACC MVP Khalil Greene.

His numbers aren’t just good for the ACC.

Wagner is tied for second in the nation in homers, ranks second in slugging percentage, is tied for fourth in RBI and is 11th in OBP.

He’s busy playing in the ACC tournament this week, but it’s safe to say he’s made family and friends back home proud.

“I don’t even think it has sunk in yet, it’s pretty surreal,” said Paul Wagner, who is Max’s father and longtime hitting coach. “It just kind of blows your mind. … It’s been overwhelming, but the support back home has been incredible. The people from Green Bay, and I grew up in Fond du Lac, the guys that I played softball with back in the day. They have all reached out and said, ‘I remember playing catch with Max when he was 7.’ He is a culmination of the guys I played ball with and the area I grew up in and Green Bay.

“He does it the right way.”

Max’s parents have attended several games this season, and they witnessed part of his ridiculous run in April when he hit 12 home runs. It included a stretch in which he homered in five straight games, including twice in back-to-back contests against No. 9 Florida State.

He started May with another two home runs at Louisville.

Max was the player of the year in the FRCC in each of his three seasons at Preble — his senior year was wiped out because of the COVID-19 pandemic — but he went through growing pains as a freshman at Clemson last year, hitting just .214 with little power in 35 games.

He talked last month about the mental side of the game that he battled as a rookie. His father remembers his son walking into the house after returning home last year, the first time he was able to take a deep breath.

A couple days later, Max told Paul he needed to go back to square one and regain his confidence before he started summer ball with the Green Bay Rockers.

They spent hours at Impact Sports Academy in the town of Lawrence working on his swing and going all the way back to when he was a child hitting off a tee.

“For me as a dad, I never really saw him on the mental side struggle,” Paul said. “I know he has the tools and I know he has the talent, but now maybe he’s questioning it a little bit. As a dad, I had to kind of renegotiate the way I was parenting at that time.

“I needed not to have a heart to heart, but to take him in my arms a little bit and kind of give him a big hug and say, ‘Here’s where we are going to start, and we are going to build you back up.’”

Max had a strong summer in the Northwoods League — he hit .313 and had an OPS of 1.051 — and carried the momentum into his second collegiate season.

The plan by Clemson early was to use him against left-handed pitching, but that went out the window when he started mashing all pitching and proved he belonged in the lineup every day.

Paul’s advice to Max was simple: Look for his pitch in the right moment and hit it as hard as he can. Wherever it goes, it goes. But if he barrels it well, the results eventually will go his way.

Even during such a big season, Max checked in with Paul when he needed advice.

The night before Easter, he texted his father. He told him he felt his timing was good but that he was chopping everything into the ground.

Paul woke up at 5 a.m. on Easter and started taking screen shots of his at-bats against Wake Forest the previous day.

Max called a few hours later after Paul sent him the pictures, along with a video of a home run he hit against Notre Dame a week earlier.

“He gets the video, and he looks at the video. He looks at the picture,” Paul said. “He goes, ‘In the video, my head never moves. In the still shot, my head moves.’

“I said, ‘Exactly. If you can keep your head still and allow your body to work through the ball, you and I know that’s the most important thing.’”

That day was the start of his five-game home run streak and his run to a player of the year award.

One thing both Max and Paul won’t comment much on is this summer, when he will be eligible for MLB’s first-year player draft.

To be eligible a Division I college player must be 21 or have completed their junior year, but the rules also state a player can turn 21 within 45 days of the draft and be eligible.

Max turns 21 on Aug. 19. The draft is July 17-19.

He said last month he only was focused on “playing good baseball and trying to win some games.”

But recent history suggests Max will be drafted and drafted high.

Of the players named ACC player of the year since the turn of the century, all 21 have been drafted and 17 have been selected within the first three rounds. It includes 14 drafted in the first round.

Many have enjoyed successful MLB careers, a list that includes Mark Teixeira (Georgia Tech), Ryan Braun (Miami) and Buster Posey (Florida State).

In his most recent mock draft last week, Keith Law of The Athletic projected Wagner to be selected by the Boston Red Sox with the 24th pick.

It’s a good bet even lifelong New York Yankees fans like Paul and Max Wagner would be OK with that.

CONTINUE YOUR SUPPORT: Thanks to our subscribers for making this coverage possible. Be sure to download our app on the App Store or Google Play. Follow us on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Newsletters

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Clemson's Max Wagner was Green Bay Preble star, now ACC player of year