Standing on the street with the host as the show closed. Ainsley said she was rooting for us.

In the latest 247 rankings, we come in at #37, a mere 5 spots behind CFP mainstay Clemson. This puts us squarely in CFP contention!!!

(that's how this class comparison thing works, right?)

That's me....and now

As the annual MLB baseball draft has taken place it will be interesting to see five years from now how many of the players drafted make it to the big league. As I attended the regionals that USC hosted I was waiting for the ticket office to open and I got to speaking with a man outside the ticket office as well. I asked him if he was a person associated with the media, he said no I am a MLB scout and I am here to scout the pitcher for Virginia and the pitchers for South Carolina. We got to talking and I asked him about the MLB teams with players mostly from the Central American countries, Japan and other foreign countries. I posed the question why is it that so many players from these countries make it to MLB over a lot of American players. He posed for a second and mentioned in a professional way, the player from the foreign countries want it more than a lot of American players who seem to have an attitude that because they were drafted high that they did not have to put in the extra work like extra film room, batting practice, fielding practice. The players from the foreign countries you go to an minor league team and they are already working on their basic fundamental skills, but the American players do not want to put in the extra work. As our discussion progressed he said look at the MLB draft from the last five years and see how many of the first rounders are on MLB rosters. Very few, a lot of the players have been told that they are going to be organizational players and that is what their future will be. So like when they were in college they got treated with first class education, transportation when they go on the road, the food is prepared by professional people who manage their diets. When they get in the minor league for whatever team that drafted them, they play in stadiums with maybe 100 people, after the game they get food from a fast food place, and then they have about a 2 to 3 hour bus drive home or to another minor league stadium. So after maybe 5 years they realise that it is probably best that they retire from baseball and get in the real world and find a job. Where as on the other hand you look at the MLB rosters and see how many foreign players are on their rosters. Like the scout told me the foreign players want it more and they do not have this sense of entitlement that american player seem to have. The scout mentioned that this sense of entitelment comes from their parents and from way society is today in American. Finally the scout told me less than 1% of all the players drafted make it to MLB. Lastly we got to talking about the slot number and amount of money these players get he mentioned that at the end of the year the players will get a 1099 and they will be responsible for the federal and state taxes of the state they live in and the state where they play baseball. Take for instance a player gets a slot of $8m for being the first player drafted in the MLB draft, well take about 40% of that for federal taxes, then another 10% for state taxes, then another 6 - 10% to the agent who represents them. Probably after everything they will get $4m, which is still a lot of money. So whatever they decide to do with that money is left up to the individual. A lot of these kids do not invest this money wisely, because after their signing slot money the MLB teams pay these players maybe $25,000 - $35,000 a year to play in the minor leagues. This is just a scenario for a first round pick, do the math on the other slots and you will see after everything the players need to really be wise and invest their money wisely. Sadly time and time again you read about these athletes who are bankrupt. Where the really big money is if a player makes it to the MLB roster and gets a really good contract say after 5 years then that is where the really big money is, but sadly only about 0.01% of all the players drafted make a mlb roster.

Announced a top 3:

Alabama
Miami
South Carolina

Decision by the end of the month.

Would love to land him if we have room.

CornerstoneColumbia.com

*** South Carolina currently has a pair of commitments from interior defensive linemen, with Shane Beamer looking to add a couple more before the 2022 cycle is over.

In the latest edition of The Insider Report, we'll take a closer look at where things stand with remaining candidates.

*** Jamaal Whyce was the first to drop, with the Miami product making his pledge on Father's Day. That was not long after an unofficial visit to Columbia, where he connected with defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey and other members of the staff.

It was then Felix Hixon's turn, as the Georgia native committed silently to Beamer with one more official visit left on his summer docket. He went public with that choice on July 5, giving South Carolina its current pair.

*** A lot of attention has been given on social media and The Insiders Forum to four-star Nick James, an Alabama native who plays at IMG Academy in Florida.

James was among South Carolina's official visitors last month, and his offer list and ranking have made him one that Gamecock fans have paid plenty of attention to along the way.

The short version is that we simply aren't tracking James as heavily as we were in the month of June. He's not a likely addition to the Gamecocks' 2022 class.

*** One prospect with which there is still heavy interest is Florida's Jamari Lyons, who made an unofficial visit to South Carolina in June and is slated to return for an official the weekend of the Kentucky game.

Lyons' mother is expected to join him for that follow-up visit, and the aforementioned Lindsey has done quality work in getting South Carolina firmly in the mix. The chief competition here is Florida, and the Gators are indeed a big factor. Lyons has been to Gainesville, has a good relationship with Florida lineman Gervon Dexter, and it's the in-state program. Florida's been named the outright leader at times, or even with South Carolina (and Indiana, which has also done a good job with Lyons).

South Carolina is recruiting Lyons hard and looking to go the distance with him.

*** Key to determining how things finish out in this class at DT - aside from whether or not South Carolina can pull Lyons out of Florida, of course, is the issue of slot numbers and timing. There are several offered candidates still on the board with different decision timelines and prioritizations. Keep that in mind as things unfold.

*** A pair of in-state prospects picked up offers from the staff after their camp performances with the staff this summer, adding another layer.

Sumter's Davin Jackson, who unfortunately tore his ACL recently and will miss his senior season, was one. Behind the scenes, there was a thought of commitment watch for Jackson right after he picked up the offer in June. It did not happen.

It seems more likely for Jackson to ultimately commit to and sign with another program at this point - App State, NC State, or Syracuse, for example.

The Gamecocks also unearthed a potential diamond in the rough from the Lowcountry in Fort Dorchester's Demetrius Watson. The 6-foot-4, 285-pounder is favoring the Gamecocks and is a prospect we are still monitoring throughout this month.

*** Delaware's Tomiwa Durojaiye took an official visit to Columbia last month, and the three-star is a teammate of current QB commitment Braden Davis.

Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and West Virginia join South Carolina in his final five, the group of programs he will pick from on his commitment date of August 7.

There may be a better sense of where things stand on all sides as that date moves closer.

*** One prospect that's firmly in South Carolina's crosshairs - and ours for coverage purposes - is Virginia's D'Andre Martin.

He's one of the more interesting prospects on the entire 2022 board because of his background; Martin was a wide receiver/tight end for Durham (North Carolina) Hillside all the way through his junior season prior to making the transition to the defensive line and transferring to Life Christian Academy in Virginia.

He's only played defense for a period of several months overall, and has put on about 40 pounds during that span.

Martin camped with the staff on one of the last days - June 24 - and summarily picked up an offer after performing well in drills and one-on-ones.

He's planning on releasing a final 2 at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, and South Carolina's expected to make that narrow cut. We can tell subscribers that, as soon as the offer was picked up, there were some immediate positive indications as to South Carolina's chances.

Also, Martin's planning on being at South Carolina's prospect cookout on July 31 for what we here could end up being a multi-day stay in Columbia leading up to the event.

*** 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.

Go ahead and give @ssn_gamecocks a follow on Twitter for a chance at winning the giveaway!

Login to view embedded media

I say BS

These convincing demons are evil.

Does anyo know why Mike Wyman left? It seems an odd time to go somewhere else.

huge.
If you add in Univision, it’s well over 10 million.
on par with the NBA finals, which was around 9 million for game 3.
‘Fascinating really
Big numbers for the entire tournament
Soccer will pass baseball in America. No doubt in my mind
Login to view embedded media

Nm

It was interesting to see the Braves go away from drafting high school players to older collegiate players in the early rounds.
Their first pick like last year is a kid out of Wake Forest who throws heat and can get it up to 101mph.
They drafted 4 pitchers over 6’5 “ and these kids throw between 93 to 101 mph. Once again they dipped into Canada and came up with a tall lefty who has potential. The pick I like is Adam Zebrowski a catcher who played D3 ball. Yeah yeah I know the doubters who will say it’s DIII ball and the competition is weak etc.
In 2021 he played in 55 games (D3/PGCL)and he hit 26 home runs. At 6’4” he can play 1st base and he is only 20 years old so there is room to add muscle. It makes me wonder if he can play 3rd base since Bryce Ball is ahead of him. I like this draft class even though the so called experts gave the Braves a C plus.

Anyone seen any updates on the case? I could have missed something but I haven't heard anything from the case in a while.

Braves made a trade for Joc Pederson today, relinquishing their #12 prospect, Bryce “Drago” Ball. It’s a nice trade for a guy that can player all three OF positions, and really thumps RH pitching. Maybe he helps us out of the gate, and inspires a bigger trade at the deadline.

We shall see, but it’s a solid, if not earth-shaking trade coming out of the ASG break.

@bloody spur


Login to view embedded media

this all happened yesterday evening.....like the coroner says.....the stretch between the SC line to close to Spartanburg....awful

Scott Davis' newsletter comes out every Friday.

If you don't receive it, you can sign up here: https://gcentr.al/2TELUE1

Here is today's newsletter: https://gcentr.al/36Gv1C4

Scott also writes a weekly column that appears on Gamecock Central during football season.

Scott Davis' newsletter comes out every Friday.

If you don't receive it, you can sign up here: https://gcentr.al/2TELUE1

Here is today's newsletter: https://gcentr.al/36Gv1C4

Scott also writes a weekly column that appears on Gamecock Central during football season.

Why does there seem to be a bigger effort to develop Doty than there was with Joyner. Is just timing and circumstances or is Doty just a better prospect.

Saw he got a $100k raise making him the highest paid assistant in College football - $2.5m per year.
I hope Georgia puts 50 on them - and then we put 50 on Georgia

On Heath Cline’s radio show yesterday. Good insight into the upcoming season and what to expect at the pro-am

Login to view embedded media