The chancellor knew about the possibility of Texas and Oklahoma joining going back to December BUT, kept his circle so tight, he didn't even mention it to the President who actually votes on the memebrship application. This has been going over as well as a wet fart in the church pew.

Welcome to another edition of Gamecock Central Braves Baseball ⚾️ Chat 💬. I am your host @Pfunk Cock along with a plethora of regular participants in the chat. The Braves begin a 5 game series with the division leading Mets whom they trail by 5 games 5 days before the trade deadline. This series will determine if the Braves will be buyers or sellers at the deadline. If they can may hay in the standings it would make sense to continue the pursuit but if they fail to make progress it maybe more appropriate for them to start preparing for next season and beyond. Nobody wants to throw in the towel with 64 games remaining but there comes a time when reality outweighs desires. The unveiling of the truth begins today with a double dose of reality as the Braves and Mets play a doubleheader beginning at 5:10 EST.

The Braves will throw Kyle Muller in the first game against Marcus Stroman of the Mets. The wily veteran faces the Braves rookie Man Mountain. 😎. The size disparity between the two pitchers is as monumental as the the experience factor as Stroman is a former all star who has plent of experience and is a very capable starting pitcher. Muller has started less than 7 games for the Braves but has proven that he has the arsenal to compete at this level. He has faced the Mets before and pitches very well against them. The element of surprise is now gone and he will have to prove it again at their home ballpark. The Braves Starting 8 have faired well against Stroman in the past but after facing Nola yesterday it is hard to imagine him being better than that and I look for the club to be aggressive and try to stake a lead for Muller as he faces a rejuvenated Mets ball club who have started getting healthy at the right time. Yes they lost Lindor for a while but Davis has returned and other members are swinging the bats well. Stay tuned with fingers crossed 🤞.

Braves Starting Lineup
Pederson RF
Albies 2B
Freeman 1B
Riley 3B
Swanson ss
Vogt C
Arcia LF
Heredia CF
Muller LHP

Mets Starting Lineup
Villar ss
Alonso 1B
Conforto RF
Davis 3B
Smith LF
Pillar CF
Nido C
Guillermo 2B
Stroman RHP

First Pitch 5:10 EST

Broadcasting
Bally Sports South East

Gamecocks Central Braves Baseball Chat is on the 🕸.

My vote would be Clempson in the SEC. Don't think it will happen. Clempson would certainly compete at football, but not at the level they are in the ACC. I hear, but we've beat Alabama twice. You've also lost twice and blown out by LSU two years ago. What ACC teams do they struggle against? Zero. The chance of winning conference championships in football would diminish greatly. Baseball would be much more difficult for Clempson in the SEC. Women's basketball and softball would be a disaster. The only sport where things might be a little easier is mens basketball, but not much. The ACC hasn't been the national power in basketball for years.

I just had this pop up for me on YouTube..... And man is it great!! I admittedly know very little of the minutiae of playing or coaching the WR position, so all of this could be bunk, for all I know. But, I'm more inclined to believe that Coach Stepp knows what he's doing, and is going to turn our WR position into one big positive!! MAN, I'm ready for Sept. 4th!!

Login to view embedded media

My gut feeling is the Braves will NOT make a major trade which is so dang depressing. If we are going to sink or swim with what we have then promote those in the minors that are having a good year. Move Panda and bring up those chomping at the bit to shine. (Yes I love the game of Drew WaWa ) Demeritte,Langeliers, and Pache just to name a few might show out.
But…
AA get off your Bravo and pick up the dang phone up ala Brad Pitt in Money Ball. We are wasting a opportunity to win win win. Yes 3 consecutive wins would be nice.

Thus far, Beamer's first full class is ranked 12th in the nation with an average star rating of 3.25.
Muschamp's first full class finished ranked 16th with an average star rating of 3.24.
Spurrier's first class finished ranked 24th with an average star rating of 3.08.
For anyone interested, Swinney's first class finished 19th with an average star rating of 3.21.

Thus, so far, so good, for Shane's first class, in comparison to the others. It remains to be seen how he finishes this class.

No one really doubted that Muschamp could recruit. But, his Florida experience raised doubts as to whether he could coach. And, as we saw, Muschamp proved for a 2nd time that "coaching" was not his forte. If Shane can "coach" like Steve or his Dad, Frank, we may be in for some great years. You don't necessarily have to be the best recruiter to win big nor the best game day coach to win big. You just have to, at least, be good in both phases.

Does anyone know what Shane's or Satterfield's offensive philosophy is? Thanks.

I don't get the impression that he is a take just yet. Am I missing something?

Guilty! Life in Prison for Nathaniel Rowland!

Keep the East and the West or go to more of a quad type conference approach?

Whichever you choose what teams should be in each group?

Jeesh. It looks like those 2 exhibition losses were no fluke. Plenty of NBA and top talent now spread around other teams. Still, the USA has the best high school and AAU leagues in the world and the best of these move to the NBA. Do we just have bad chemistry, too many stars that are not playing as a team or something else? Another thread on this subject was locked so starting a new one.

After learning things they were unaware of?

Any Gamecock football/recruiting questions? I’ll be glad to answer right here. Thanks for being a member of GamecockCentral.com!

I assume Iowa St and Kansas will move to the Big 10 to solidify their super conference. Should the Big 12 try to keep the core of TCU, Baylor, Tx Tech, K State OK State, WV and add S. FL, C FL, Cincy, Temple, Houston, SMU, LA, Troy, Memphis, possibly App St or Temple and rebrand or do they fold in another direction.

Big mistake

I mean, there are billions, probably trillions of birds in the world and they can't live forever. Just by sheer volume you would think there would be bird skeletons all over the place. What's up with that? They have to die somewhere. Where do they go?

I'm trying to find a print to put in a rental. Does anyone have any connections?

CornerstoneColumbia.com

*** When we rolled out the early edition of Monday's Insider Report, it was noted that South Carolina was still receiving confirmations and building out its visitor list for Saturday's cookout prospect event.

By this evening, those confirmations had rolled in and the list became even more impressive.

*** Wes Mitchell rolled out the updated list earlier, but here's more information on where things stand with several prospects heading into Saturday.

2022 Commitments
OL Ryan Brubaker
QB Braden Davis
LB Nick Emmanwori
DB Emory Floyd
OL Cason Henry
DL Felix Hixon
OL Grayson Mains
WR Landon Samson
EDGE Donovan Westmoreland

The cookout - slated to begin around 11:00 a.m. - will certainly be more of an informal event, designed to maximize face time between coaches and prospects, a way to continue building bonds and relationships that were forged earlier. It shouldn't really come as a surprise, then, that the largest group in terms of number that is projected to attend comes from South Carolina's crop of 2022 verbal pledges.

The lone commitment who has not seen Carolina up close is Samson, so the productive Texas wideout will get his first in-person look at the program. He committed on the heels of a lengthy virtual visit back that took place back in June.

The group includes all of the Gamecocks' offensive line class. Davis, the Gamecocks' quarterback pledge, is back after taking a multi-day unofficial visit plus his official visit last month.

Hixon and Floyd have already made their official visits, while Westmoreland still has his official visit in his pocket to use during the season.

2022 Targets
DL D'Andre Martin
EDGE James Pearce
WR Antonio Williams

We have written numerous times that - due to space and prioritizations alike - South Carolina's 2022 target board has narrowed substantially in the last several weeks. Yet this category for Saturday's event does hold some guys that South Carolina would like to move from target to commitment.

Martin is down to a public final two of Virginia Tech and South Carolina, and last we heard, the trip to Columbia was slated to be a multi-day venture. If all goes well, this is one we'll be monitoring closely.

Pearce, who rarely grants media interviews, returns to campus after a summer visit to Columbia as well. He - along with Maryland's Jaishawn Barham - have appeared to be at the top of the board in the edge category for South Carolina.

Williams, as we reported, has official visits slated to South Carolina and Ole Miss for this season and is unlikely to render a choice until closer to Dutch Fork's playoff run. The Gamecocks are in a position that could be classified as enviable, although the Rebels are a factor and he could scheduled some other officials at a later date. He and his family have gotten plenty familiar with South Carolina's campus this summer, and this is just another opportunity for more face-to-face contact for Justin Stepp, Erik Kimrey, and Shane Beamer.

2023 Targets
OL Markee Anderson (2023)
B Troy Ford Jr. (2023)
DL Zavion Hardy (2023)
LB Grayson Howard (2023)
DL Xzavier Mcleod (2023)
EDGE Monteque Rhames II (2023)

One aspect that stands out about this list? Aside from the talent listed on it, it's the simple fact that the coaching staff already hosted each of these prospects for campus visits and/or camp experiences just last month.

Anderson took a visit last month that seemed to open his eyes to the South Carolina program, while Ford Jr. absolutely raved about his trip. The latter was in town with his family and milled around the prospect camp that was ongoing.

Mcleod worked out with defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey in camp, and the signs here have been quite encouraging for South Carolina's chances ever since Shane Beamer was hired. If one guy had to be picked out of the 2023 crop that the Gamecocks have the best shot with, he'd have a strong argument.

Howard was on campus over the summer and his return is a nice sign for a prospect that South Carolina's expected to push hard for in this class.

Hardy is another target of Lindsey's in the 2023 class in which a very good relationship has been established. Rhames, who folks around Sumter speak very highly of, is another Palmetto State priority that took an unofficial visit to Columbia last month.

2024 Targets
DL Hevin Brown-Shuler (2024)
DB Asaad Brown (2024)
DB Jayden Coleman (2024)
DB Cayden Jones (2024)
OL Kam Pringle (2024)
OL Josiah Thompson (2024)

Brown-Shuler is a prospect we've already written plenty about, with him being from Columbia and returning often to visit and train with former Gamecock Corey Miller. It's early here, for sure, but South Carolina's done well for itself to this point.

Two of the best prospects in this class in the defensive secondary will get a look in Brown and Coleman. Brown is from Virginia, which Shane Beamer has made clear will be an area that South Carolina hits hard, while Coleman heads in from Alabama.

Jones is a Charlotte prospect that earned an offer from the Gamecock staff in camp this summer. That 2024 class in Charlotte, by the way, is a strong one, with several prospects nabbing offers from Carolina last month.

Although it's early, Pringle and Thompson are both significant priorities for Greg Adkins, both national-level prospects in the Palmetto State for that class even as youngsters. Both camped at South Carolina this summer, and the Gamecocks are expected to have a say until the end.

*** Any follow-up questions or something I didn't address that you'd like me to address? Let me know.

*** Today's Insider Report is brought to you by Cornerstone Financial Management. Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Good Life Advisors, LLC, a registered investment advisor. Cornerstone Financial Management and Good Life Advisors, LLC are separate entities from LPL Financial.

Clearly they hop to grab some Big 12 leftovers that can't get a Pac-10, Big Ten or ACC invite. Maybe TCU, Baylor, TxTech, or Kansas State.

Shoot me a direct message or email ... wes@gamecockcentral.com

Florida State's lack of interest in the SEC is what opened the door for us. I'm grateful to the Seminoles everytime conference realignment is on the table.

Horns Down trauma like the Big 12 did?

When they are left in the ACC to die?🤣🤣

I had a high school teammate playing for the Xavier TBT team (JP Macura) and while watching their games, it got me thinking. If SC had a TBT team, who would you all like to see on the roster? Would be super fun to see some of the former players back playing together.