re: Baseball Recruiting Discussion

quote:

---

-- Class of 2016 uncommitted left-handed pitcher Ryne Huggins (Newberry/Newberry) will visit North Carolina this week for the first time. UNC assistant coach Scott Forbes was by a couple of weeks ago to see Huggins pitch and thought enough of him to invite him up on a visit. The Tar Heels have always been a school that interested Huggins, but we believe that he will ultimately stay in state and decide between South Carolina and Clemson.

Huggins is a Clemson legacy and has been on several visits to both Columbia and Clemson. Once his trip to Chapel Hill is complete, he will have visited his top three schools and taken the full tour at each place. Huggins has stated publicly he would like to commit sometime this summer but it isn’t completely out of the question a decision happens before then. Huggins’ season ends this week but he’s unlikely to play as he’s had some back soreness over the last couple of weeks.

-- Another uncommitted 2016 player to keep an eye on is third baseman Carson Spiers (Greenville/Greenville), who is the nephew of former Clemson first round draft pick and 12-year MLB veteran Bill Spiers. Carson’s father, Michael, also played baseball at Clemson for four years.

Carson has been recruited by South Carolina for baseball since coming to a camp last December. He’s been down to several games this season, most recently for the Florida series. He is, however, an All-State quarterback for Greenville High School’s football team and is starting to earn some interest in that sport as well. He was invited to Clemson for their Orange & White Spring Game and made that visit. He’s up in the air as to what sport he wants to play in college but, as it stands now, he’s likely to focus on one at the next level. Baseball is probably his ticket for the future but he’s going to participate in 7-on-7s and do some football camps this summer as well as play for the Diamond Devils showcase baseball team.

The Gamecocks’ coaching staff has positioned itself very well for Spiers, who really enjoys the atmosphere within the program as far as how the coaching staff relates to the players. There probably won’t be much movement on his recruitment, regardless of sport, until this summer.

-- Another 2016 prospect to follow is uncommitted outfielder Brandon Tillmon (Lexington/River Bluff), who is going to be a two-sport prospect at the next level. Tillmon is a linebacker on the football field and has made unofficial visits to South Carolina, Clemson and UCF. For the Gamecocks, he would likely find himself at the SPUR position. The feeling is that he is talented enough to earn football scholarship offers, which would render any baseball scholarship offer moot. He is going to camp at several schools this summer for football, including South Carolina.

He’s a tremendous athlete and can play several places on the baseball field. He sees himself as an outfielder though, which is probably his best position. He has tremendous power and finished second in the state last season (as a freshman) in home runs when he was edged during the playoffs by former senior Nick Pappas, who is now playing everyday at College of Charleston. Tillmon has tremendous bat speed and is going to be a player coveted by every baseball school, but we’ll have to see which schools offer for football because playing both sports is extremely important to him.

---

quote:

---

Recruiting

-- One of South Carolina’s top 2016 targets, left-handed pitcher Ryne Huggins (Newberry/Newberry) took his visit to North Carolina over the weekend to see the Tar Heels take on Virginia Tech. He went to the game on Saturday night and took a tour of the facility and campus and had a sit-down meeting with the coaching staff on Sunday prior the game. Huggins, who was on the trip with his entire family, left prior to Sunday’s game.

The feedback we received following the visit is that South Carolina has a narrow lead in the race for his commitment. Clemson and North Carolina are running even and are not too far behind the Gamecocks. At one point, Huggins wanted to make a commitment over the summer. It isn’t out of the question he makes a decision sooner than that though.

-- The biggest unofficial visitor to campus this weekend was 2015 left-hander Jared Padgett (Graceville, Fla./Graceville Vocational), who is a two-sport athlete at his high school but wants to focus on baseball at the college level. He’s at least going to make his college decision based on baseball and not football and if something comes up with the school he chooses, he will cross that bridge at that point in time.

Padgett took a two-day visit to South Carolina spending Saturday and Sunday taking the full tour and going to Saturday’s game. He wrapped up the visit on Sunday morning meeting with the coaches before departing back to the Sunshine State. The Gamecocks have offered and do want him to commit. The chief competition is Mississippi State with Florida State and Florida also in the picture. Word is though, he wants to go out of state to play baseball.

---

quote:

---

-- Class of 2014 signee Alex Destino (Weaverville, N.C./North Buncombe) finished his regular season hitting .556 with 14 doubles, 12 home runs and 37 RBIs at the plate and finished with an 8-1 record with a 1.64 ERA in 51.1 innings pitched. A left-hander, Destino struck out 86 and walked 30. In his final game out, he pitched a no hitter.

It only takes one team to draft a player high but in our conversations, right now, it seems like the school option is still trending with still a month remaining before the MLB Draft. The Gamecocks could certainly use his bat and power potential in the lineup next season, in addition to his 90 mph arm.

-- As far as other draft prospects go, the player who seems to be gaining the most momentum far as upward movement is infielder Madison Stokes (Columbia/A.C. Flora). He’s been a player to watch throughout the process and scouts were down on him a little bit early in the year but they’re starting to like him more recently. In fact, assistant coach Sammy Esposito will be at Stokes’ game on Monday night.

Destino and Stokes are the two chief players to track in the buildup to the draft next month. The rest of the players are fairly cut and dried. We expect Junior Harding (Cambridge, Md./Cambridge) and Brandon Murray (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) to sign professional contracts and the rest should be at school.

-- Class of 2017 uncommitted infielder Noah Campbell (Raleigh, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) only has a year of high school baseball under his belt but he’s getting close to making a college decision. Campbell was favoring South Carolina and Vanderbilt but has since added Miami to the list of schools he’s considering. He’s been on trips to all three places and should have a decision early in the summer. Campbell would be the first commitment of the 2017 class for the Gamecocks and is one of few players the staff is actively pursuing.

---

quote:

---

On Wednesday, Murray sent out a letter to the MLB Scouting Bureau detailing his bonus requirements to hedge on his commitment to the Gamecocks and join the professional ranks. While he didn’t want to disclose the number, the slot is safely inside the first round.

---

quote:

---

He will sit 92-93 pretty consistently but he's been up to 96 at a Perfect Game event and I've heard he's been as high as 97. He's a little bit like Vogel. He's more of a two-pitch guy right now but he has great potential

---

quote:

---

South Carolina signee Alex Destino (Weaverville, N.C./North Buncombe), one of the top-ranked players in the 2014 recruiting class, says he's coming to play for the Gamecocks. Destino delivered his message on Twitter but also confirmed via text message he plans to attend college.
"No draft for this guy," Destino wrote. "I'm coming to South Carolina!"

---

quote:

---

@Destino_15
Columbia, I'm coming.

---

quote:

---

South Carolina landed its fifth commitment in the 2016 baseball recruiting class as Carlos Cortes (Ovieda, Fla./Lake Howell) made his verbal pledge. An infielder with a shot to play at second base or third base, Cortes is part of the Orlando Scorpions showcase program.

---

quote:

---

Cortes is a left-handed hitter and pitcher. The plan right now is to use him as either a second or third baseman. Likely a second baseman. For those astute baseball minds, you're probably wondering how a left-handed pitcher also plays in the infield. Well, he can throw with either arm. When he plays the infield, he throws right-handed. He also plays some as an outfielder and has been used as a catcher before, too. To say Cortes is versatile is an understatement.

---