The University of Southern California (USC) recruited Seaver to play college baseball. Unsure as to whether Seaver was worthy of a scholarship, USC sent him to pitch in Alaska for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the summer of 1964. After a stellar season, in which he pitched and won a game in the national tournament with a grand slam, USC head coach Rod Dedeaux awarded him a scholarship. As a sophomore in 1965, Seaver posted a 10–2 record for the Trojans, and he was selected in the tenth round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Seaver asked for $70,000, however, the Dodgers passed.