re: Baseball Recruiting Discussion

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-- 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.

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