A CFL source requesting anonymity told The Canadian Press on Thursday the Ticats are actively shopping the sophomore receiver, who was the first player taken in last year’s Canadian college draft.

But O’Billovich said that’s simply not the case.

“No,” he said emphatically. “I’m not sure who starts those rumours.

“He’s definitely in our plans. We’re not making a decision on his future.”

Bauman, 23, is currently listed on Hamilton’s injured list with a hamstring ailment. He was held out of the club’s season-opening 33-10 loss to Montreal but practised well this week, raising expectations that he’d suit up for Thursday night’s road game against the Toronto Argonauts.

“What this is about is Chris was hurt during camp and didn’t have a stellar camp,” O’Billovich said. “But we’re expecting him to come around and do some positive things for us.”

Hamilton selected Bauman first overall last year after a very productive college career at Regina. The native of Brandon, Man., appeared in 24 games with the Rams, registering 81 catches for 1,705 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Last year in Hamilton, Bauman started 12 games for the Ticats, including the club’s final nine regular-season contests. He finished with 30 catches for 370 yards and showed flashes of brilliance with an offence that often struggled to muster any sort of consistency and featured four different quarterbacks under centre (Jason Maas, Timmy Chang, Richie Williams and Casey Printers).

After Hamilton finished last in the East Division with a CFL-worst 3-15 record, the Ticats made the decision to move the six-foot-four Bauman from wide receiver to slotback this season to better take advantage of his physical tools. Bauman was so pleased with the move that he spent the off-season working out to get stronger and reported to training camp weighing 225 pounds, some 12 pounds heavier than he was as a rookie.

What’s more, Bauman also spent a lot of time in the off-season working out with Printers and looking to develop a chemistry with the Ticats starter.

But questions about Bauman’s future in Hamilton began to surface this week when the Ticats signed receiver O’Neil Wilson, a Toronto native recently cut by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Wilson, in his fifth CFL season, had 38 catches for 366 yards last year with the Bombers and also dressed for the team’s 23-19 Grey Cup loss to Saskatchewan.

Wilson’s best CFL season came in 2006 when he had 46 catches for 528 yards with Montreal and played in the team’s Grey Cup loss to B.C. in Winnipeg. Wilson spent his first three CFL seasons with the Alouettes after being selected in the third round, 25th overall, in the ‘04 Canadian college draft out of UConn.

“I think that might have been a wakeup call for Chris because he had has his best week of practice since I’ve been here after we got O’Neil,” O’Billovich said.

Talk that Hamilton would trade a player it coveted just a year earlier was indeed surprising. Especially considering the Ticats are rebuilding and sentiment following the ‘07 draft was Bauman would be a big part of that process.

However, it was former Ticats GM Marcel Desjardins who drafted Bauman and not O’Billovich, who succeeded Desjardins following the ‘07 season.

But O’Billovich re-iterated Bauman remains very much in Hamilton’s plans.

“We think he can become a very good inside receiver for us,” he said.