re: Baseball Recruiting Discussion

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-- Just before the VIP Room was posted, we learned that class of 2015 right-handed pitcher Sam Finnerty (Pelham, Ala./Pelham) committed to South Carolina. We are working on tracking down some information on him. He actually committed on Saturday when he was down on a visit for the football game. Finnerty is ranked as the No. 461 player in the country regardless of position and can also play in the outfield.

-- Class of 2015 uncommitted catcher Chris Cullen (Cumming, Ga./West Forsythe) made it in for his scheduled visit on Saturday for the Vanderbilt game. He is ranked as the No. 66 player in the country. Some of the better schools in the country are after him, including Vanderbilt, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida. He’s in the process of taking visits right now but he really liked what he saw at South Carolina. Word is that the Gamecocks are his leader at the moment.

-- Class of 2014 outfield commitment O’Kevius Conway is still on the road to recovery from his torn ACL suffered in December 2012. He has been swinging the bat for a while and is also throwing bullpens (he pitches as well for his high school team). He is set to be fully cleared on October 21 by USC team physician Dr. Jeff Guy, who performed his surgery.

-- Class of 2015 shortstop commitment LT Tolbert (Piedmont/Wren) made a two-day trip to Columbia this weekend to spend some time around the program. He had the opportunity to meet with head coach Chad Holbrook and spend some time interacting with the players, including current junior Elliott Caldwell. The two went to the same high school and have become close friends.

Tolbert is a player who is a potential early round draft pick in June 2015 and will have a lot of money thrown his way when the time comes. What will take him to the next level is a prospect is improving his speed. He has typically been timed around 7.3 seconds in the 60-yard dash. Good speed for a shortstop is certainly sub-7.0. He’s worked very hard on his speed from late in the summer until now. He’s already cut a couple of tenths off his time predominantly just from learning how to run with proper form. With his size and tools, if he gets his speed to 6.8 or 6.9, he is almost certain to be a first or second round kind of pick.

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Junior college transfer Elliott Caldwell is the latest to trade his orange for garnet. A lifelong Clemson fan growing up in Piedmont, the opportunity to play at one of the big two schools in the state didn’t present itself.

After a year at SMC, both South Carolina and Clemson came calling. The Gamecocks didn’t make it easy for Caldwell to choose the upstate program. They brought him in for a visit and put on the full court press.

Caldwell then visited Clemson, left the campus thinking he’d be a Tiger, but woke up the next day with Carolina on his mind.

“I visited Carolina first and it was fine. I had a good time,” Caldwell said. “I enjoyed everything about it. I visited Clemson and once I left, I told my parents on the ride home, I’m going to Clemson. My dad told me to sleep on it. I woke up thinking I didn’t want to be in that kind of program. I wanted to be in Carolina’s program where I thought I’d be cared about more.”

“I just felt like (South Carolina) wanted me more,” Caldwell said. “I felt like South Carolina was the best decision for me even though I grew up a Clemson fan. I’m so glad I didn’t pick Clemson. I’m so glad I’m a Gamecock.”

Take us back to recruiting - why did you pick South Carolina? … The main reason I chose South Carolina was because of the coaches. I felt comfortable with coach Holbrook, coach Espo and coach Meyers through the whole recruiting process. Everytime I went on a visit, all of them were always there and that was the biggest key. The other thing was the level of play. South Carolina is the best and I want to play with the best.

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Stokes committed to The Citadel shortly after his sophomore season to play with his older brother, Johnathan Stokes, who is the starting shortstop for the Bulldogs.

Clemson and North Carolina were the first two schools to contact Stokes with South Carolina following closely behind. Reason being, recruiting coordinator Sammy Esposito waited to speak to an assistant coach at The Citadel before making any contact.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder visited South Carolina several times unofficially, including for the first scrimmage of the fall and on Tuesday, a visit that solidified Stokes’ decision to come to South Carolina.

In the end, Stokes picked South Carolina over North Carolina and The Citadel. The Tar Heels were very close to nabbing a commitment prior to Stokes’ visit this week. Stokes also never eliminated the Bulldogs from consideration, even after he decommitted.

South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook made an in-home visit to see Bryant last week. The parties conversed about early playing time and it wasn’t something that Holbrook was ready to promise.

Following the in-home visit, Bryant and his father traveled to Columbia on Sunday to watch the Gamecocks go through their sixth scrimmage of the fall. That night, Bryant informed several of the commitments that he was going to reopen his recruitment the following day.

The departure should have minimal effect on South Carolina.

When Bryant waivered on his commitment, the South Carolina staff was OK with him looking around. It was a difficult decision for Holbrook to make though as there are close ties between the families. Chad Holbrook’s father, Eddie, is a former head basketball coach at Furman. KJ Bryant’s father, Kevin Sr., played for Eddie Holbrook in the Paladins program.

Bryant's decommitment also opened the door for South Carolina to put the full court press on Stokes.

At one point during the spring, Bryant almost decommitted to go to Furman. The prevailing thought is that is was where he would land after backing off his pledge to South Carolina. From what I can gather, there isn’t a lot of ill will from the Gamecocks’ side of things.

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Insider Notes on Martin & Bodison

-- Martin stands 6-foot, 195-pounds and he has been scouted twice by recruiting coordinator Sammy Esposito. He hit .337 as a freshman in the spring and threw out 56 percent of runners who attempted to steal against him. Martin came in on an official visit this weekend, which started on Friday afternoon when he arrived for the baseball scrimmage. Martin was accompanied on the trip by his parents.

Martin has put up some pretty good numbers offensively but his strengths are behind the plate. He receives well, is athletic and has a strong and accurate arm on his throws. He's not shy about throwing behind runners, too. He will provide a great defensive option and would probably hit somewhere around 6 or 7 in the batting order. I can tell you the staff is thrilled with his commitment, which came on Sunday morning.

South Carolina landed its first commitment in the 2016 class infielder Grant Bodison. Offensively, the games I've watched, he hasn't had a lot of great results. He does have some bat speed and a good plate approach. As he gets bigger and stronger, I imagine he's going to hit for some power. There's a lot to like about where he's going and he's a player with a lot of raw talent.

Behind the scenes, he was a little bit cool on South Carolina early because of some things people outside of the program told him. Esposito didn't let that deter him though and made sure to get him down on a visit. Once they had the chance to spend some time together and Bodison talked with some of his future teammates, he had his concerns eased and decided he was ready to commit.

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Gamecocks pick up Elite 2016 Infielder

The recruiting process happened quickly for Bodison, who also had conversations with College of Charleston and Clemson, to go along with his offer from the Gamecocks.

“South Carolina was the first school to really come after me. I liked everything about the school and thought it was the best fit for me,” Bodison said. “I’ve heard really good things about South Carolina. I’ve talked to a lot of players who are there or are going to go there and they had nothing but great things to say.”

“The program is one of the tops in the nation. South Carolina was always at the top of my list,” Bodison said. “I talked to some of the players and other guys who are committed and they’ve had nothing but great things to say about the program. The football game was the first I’ve been to. It was a great environment to be in. The fans go crazy up there.”

Bodison hit .407 last season for the Mavericks, the same program that produced College World Series MOP Scott Wingo. He had six doubles, a pair of triples and a home run to go along with three stolen bases and 18 RBIs.

“I really like the academic programs the most because I really want to have my major in sports management,” Bodison said. “I also really like the facilities. I loved the whole park. It’s an unbelievable setup.”

Perfect Game ranks Bodison as the 10th best shortstop in the country and the No. 52 player nationally regardless of position. They also have him as the top-ranked player in the state in his class.

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