LOUIS KEITH COLLIER grew up playing baseball at Roseland Little League at the age of seven years old.  Lou made every All-Star team from the age of seven years old to thirteen years old in Roseland Little League.  He enrolled in Chicago Vocational High School and played Frosh-Soph his freshman year and was the ace pitcher and starting shortstop.  That summer Lou started playing for the 14-15 year South Shore Mets and led them to the 1988 Illinois State Championship, where he stole home to win the Championship game.  In his Sophomore year, Lou was promoted to the Varsity team and was the starting third baseman, earning All-City honors.  In the summer Lou joined the South Shore American Legion team (16-18) coached by Michael Mayden and started turning the corner against the great competition he faced playing American Legion Baseball.  The team traveled to Tennessee every summer and faced some of the top teams in the south.  By Lou’s junior year he was moved back to his natural position of Shortstop and went on to make All-City, All-Area, and All-State in his junior and senior campaign.  In Lou’s Senior season, he was offered a scholarship to play baseball at Southern University in Baton Rouge and was drafted by the Houston Astros. 

Lou was an academic qualifier out of high school, but elected to attend Kishwaukee Junior College, one of the top junior colleges in the nation at the time, to improve his skills and garner a second opportunity to get drafted the following year. At Kishwaukee,  Lou was 1^st Team All-Conference and named to the Regional All-Tournament Team.  That year he received scholarship offers from the University of Arkansas, Illinois State and Indiana State, while being redrafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 31^st round. He did not sign.  The scout that drafted Lou was his coach at Kishwaukee Tom Barnard who left the school to become a full-time scout.  Lou decided to transfer to powerhouse Triton Community College for his sophomore year and went on to have a monstrous year. 

At Triton, Lou received a host of honors including All-Conference, Region IV MVP, Region IV Big Stick Award, Triton’s Most Valuable Hitter, 1^st Team All-American, and to top it off Lou was named National Junior College Player of the Year.  His stat line for the year was .468 10 hrs, 50 RBIs, and 39 stolen bases.  Lou led Triton to the Juco World Series and they eventually lost to Yavapi, AZ in the championship 7-4.  Lou received offers from Arizona State University and Mississippi State but elected to sign a pro contract with the Pittsburg Pirates who still owned his rights before the draft.