“I want to go fly planes and kill bad people, and if baseball opens up, then I’ll do that.” This is probably a common thought for someone who plays baseball at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs! Wait, is it not the same place where Paul Skenes, Olivia Dunne’s boyfriend, once was? Not just once, Paul has spent a memorable time there by embracing a life in the ‘structured confinement.’ And in fact, these words are from Skenes himself. So how did a career in the major leagues open up to the pitcher?

Currently, Paul Skenes is someone with a big name in Pittsburgh. Two years ago, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft inked a deal of a whopping $9.2 million with the Pirates. The number easily went past the 2020 No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson’s $8.42 million deal. And Skenes set such things at just 20 years of age. Unbelievable, no? But all this could not have been possible if Livvy’s boyfriend had failed to decide something at a key time. What was that?

In the interaction with GQ Sports, Paul explained the scenario from where he said yes to the Pirates. The story goes that after his sophomore year at the Air Force Academy, a further stay would have made him spend four years in the same institute, despite being drafted by a pro team before. So? Meanwhile, Paul’s coach came forward with an effective suggestion. 

“He was like, You either stay here and when you get drafted, you walk across the stage in your flight suit, and every time you pitch you’re a recruiting ad for the Air Force, or you go somewhere that’s going to make you the first overall pick,” Skenes said. At first, Skenes shrugged it off. “Yeah, dude, whatever. That’s not going to happen,” he thought. But as time passed, he realized the weight of those words. What if he did leave? What if he did go somewhere that maximized his potential?

Paul Skenes ended his sophomore year at Air Force by making history—leading the Falcons to their first NCAA baseball regional since 1969. It was a monumental achievement, but even in that moment of triumph, a hard decision loomed.

As we have discussed before, Air Force coach Mike Kazlausky saw the bigger picture. He knew that if Skenes stayed for his junior year, his future would no longer be in his own hands. Graduation from the academy would mean a mandatory military commitment, with his MLB dreams left at the mercy of ever-changing government policies on pro athletes in the armed forces. But there was another path. If Skenes transferred then, he would be draft-eligible in 2023, free to start his pro career immediately—no red tape, no delays.

The choice was clear. It wasn’t about walking away from the Air Force—it was about running toward an opportunity that might never come again. And when he took that leap, he didn’t just step into college baseball’s spotlight; he stormed into it, becoming the No. 1 overall pick and setting himself up for a future that no rulebook could hold back. The names just changed, first LSU Tigers and then Pittsburgh Pirates. Skenes didn’t hold up, and numbers kept falling. In LSU, he was compared to Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole. And now, in 2025, the comparisons have yet to be stopped. But where is Olivia Dunne? How does she stand in this story?

Olivia Dunne stands by Paul Skenes’s side 

“I taught him that,” Olivia Dunne playfully claimed in an Instagram story during the first week of March. Confused? The post featured a video of Paul Skenes unleashing a filthy cutter against a Baltimore Orioles hitter in a spring training game. The cutter—his latest weapon on the mound—has quickly become one of the most talked-about and devastating pitches in his arsenal. Was Livvy joking? Of course. But the chemistry between them? That’s as real as it gets.

Dunne and Skenes have been one of the most high-profile athlete couples in sports, blending the worlds of baseball and gymnastics with effortless charm. While she may not have actually taught him how to throw that cutter, there’s no doubt she’s been in his corner as he sharpens his game and takes the MLB stage by storm. Need proof?

Just look back at last year when she hopped on a flight to Pittsburgh to watch him pitch against the Chicago Cubs. As Skenes fired blazing fastballs, Dunne couldn’t hide her excitement—or the nerves that came with watching someone she cared about compete at the highest level. “I can’t control — I don’t know how to throw a 100 mile (per hour) fastball, but it’s hard to have no control,” she admitted. “Especially with gymnastics, when you’re just watching. But I know he’s got this, and I just have a lot of confidence in him.” For all the internet chatter about their relationship, at its core, it’s simple—two elite athletes, each excelling in their own arena, cheering each other on every step of the way.