re: Baseball Recruiting Discussion

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LHP/OF Alex Destino: For quite a while, it looked like Destino was trending towards the professional ranks. He had a great summer with Team USA flashing some fastballs in the low 90s from the left side. Some scouts saw him as a potential Carlos Rodon, N.C. State’s lefty who will go in the top five picks overall this year. Destino was unable to replicate those summer numbers with any amount of consistency this high school season. He’s fallen off the radar for a lot of teams since then as a pitcher. He, however, is unlikely to get the kind of money he wants. Confidence level he comes to school: High

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RHP Junior Harding: One of the first players to commit in the 2014 class, Harding is one of the least likely to come to school and has been for a long time. The hard-throwing righty who will get his fastball up to 97 mph on the radar gun should find himself in the seventh round range. That slot should be good enough for him to skip school. Confidence level he comes to school: Very low

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RHP Brandon Murray: One person in the South Carolina program told me the Gamecocks got one victory in the SEC Tournament. While the team was in Hoover, the coaches and Murray had several conversations and the belief is now the right-hander is going to come to school. Murray, like Harding, can run his fastball into the 97 mph range but he sits pretty comfortably around 92-93. Confidence level he comes to school: Moderate

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OF Clark Scolamiero: Scouts love his athleticism and makeup, his arm and defensive abilities. But he also has a desire to come to school for three years. Teams like the Cardinals, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Mariners and Pirates have all been after Scolamiero hard but he’s just not going to get enough money for his liking to skip school. Confidence level he comes to school: High

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INF Madison Stokes: When Stokes flipped his commitment from The Citadel to South Carolina, we wrote he likely wouldn’t see campus. Since then, Stokes has gone back and forth between school and professional baseball. Right now, he’s trending towards skipping school. Confidence level he comes to school: Low

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C Hunter Taylor: The scouts have started to turn up the heat a little bit on Taylor lately but the belief is he will still end up at South Carolina. He’s OK to admit publicly that his price tag is a half million dollars and a team that meets that demand will get him to skip school. Confidence level he comes to school: High

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RHP Braden Webb: A power arm from the right side, Webb was getting some major heat before having season-ending Tommy John surgery in April. A team may still pick him late in the draft as a courtesy. Confidence level he comes to school: Very high

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