W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
** Since news broke that four-star cornerback Jaycee Horn will make his decision on July 15, I've done some checking around on both sides and I feel comfortable in predicting him to the Gamecocks at this time. I don't believe he's made his final decision yet, but I've been leaning towards it being South Carolina for some time and the latest I've heard only strengthens that. The relationships built here by Travaris Robinson and Will Muschamp and Carolina's need for talent like him has been a big factor.
** As the days wind down to four-star defensive lineman Stephon Wynn's announcement on Saturday July 1, there's still no consensus on where the former T.L. Hanna standout is headed. From what I've gathered Wednesday, Wynn has not made his final decision internally but hopes to have that made within the next 24 hours or so.
Georgia held a sizable lead here for some time and that was pretty apparent when asking around, but South Carolina has made a huge push down the stretch of his recruitment leading into Saturday's announcement. From what I've heard both staffs feel good about their respective chances. We hope to gather a bit more in the next day or two when Wynn makes up his mind. Carolina certainly has the momentum here, but we haven't reached the "we feel good about Carolina's chances with a wink" stage of it yet.
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TEAM NOTES:
** It's common for there to be a number of transfers when a new coaching staff takes over and that was obviously the case for South Carolina and Will Muschamp. Transfers are almost always a positive thing and generally those who are left are the ones who completely "buy in" to the new staff's blueprint for the program.
One thing that's been apparent in the staff's second offseason in Columbia is that this group of players has started to take on the personality of its coach. It's a blue collar group that goes to work and doesn't complain about it. That doesn't guarantee Ws, but it's a good start and the type of culture Muschamp wants in Columbia.
** I was asked on here about the progress of JUCO transfer Javon Kinlaw and I was told that Kinlaw is adjusting well and just as he predicted would happened (Kinlaw told us he loses weight easily on signing day), has already shed a bunch of weight. Kinlaw has lost around 30 pounds since signing day and is making steps towards getting to playing weight.
** Sophomore defensive lineman Keir Thomas isn't someone we've talked about much this offseason, but he's in position to have a good year. He's slimmed down to defensive end size and could push for a starting position there while also rushing the passer inside on third downs. Both he and DJ Wonnum were singled out to me as having strong summers.
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BASEBALL COACHING SEARCH THOUGHTS:
I've been a believer for some time that if you're Ray Tanner you want to go out and hire the best coach available. That doesn't necessarily mean the biggest name or the best resume, it means you want the best fit for the program who can recruit, develop and lead. At a place like South Carolina, the rest will take care of itself.
Obviously, if you can get a Kevin O'Sullivan, you go get Kevin O'Sullivan, but if you can't, you want the next Kevin O'Sullivan. The guy with the most potential to be the next big thing. Most of the guys who have already won big aren't leaving the place where they've won big. And most of the guys who are looking to leave, probably aren't the coach you want in the first place.
As far as SEC baseball goes, you can point out assistant coaches who have succeeded to the very top (O'Sullivan, Tim Corbin) as well as head coaches with some of the best resumes (Dave Serrano, Scott Stricklin) who have failed. With that said, short of an absolute no-brainer like O'Sullivan, you want your AD to be able to see through the obvious stuff and pick out the best coach and the best fit. Then that coach can make his own name at South Carolina versus making it somewhere else and then coming to Carolina.
This isn't a football search where most of the coaches out there are already celebrities and known by fans. There are very few "name" coaches in college baseball. When the word that Mark Kingston was a candidate leaked out, I asked a buddy who follows baseball in the state of Florida as closely as anyone I know what he thought of Kingston.
"I think he's a future star in the coaching industry," he said. "The turnaround at USF has been impressive but it's a lot more than their record. He's recruiting really well and people around the state of Florida love him. He'd be a great hire. He's going to get an elite job soon whether it's Carolina or somewhere else."
Kingston recently interviewed at Virginia Tech, but the sense in Florida is that if one of the Big Three jobs down there were to open in the future that he'd be one of the first candidates Florida, FSU or Miami would look at.
Just food for thought.
** As the days wind down to four-star defensive lineman Stephon Wynn's announcement on Saturday July 1, there's still no consensus on where the former T.L. Hanna standout is headed. From what I've gathered Wednesday, Wynn has not made his final decision internally but hopes to have that made within the next 24 hours or so.
Georgia held a sizable lead here for some time and that was pretty apparent when asking around, but South Carolina has made a huge push down the stretch of his recruitment leading into Saturday's announcement. From what I've heard both staffs feel good about their respective chances. We hope to gather a bit more in the next day or two when Wynn makes up his mind. Carolina certainly has the momentum here, but we haven't reached the "we feel good about Carolina's chances with a wink" stage of it yet.
------------------------------
TEAM NOTES:
** It's common for there to be a number of transfers when a new coaching staff takes over and that was obviously the case for South Carolina and Will Muschamp. Transfers are almost always a positive thing and generally those who are left are the ones who completely "buy in" to the new staff's blueprint for the program.
One thing that's been apparent in the staff's second offseason in Columbia is that this group of players has started to take on the personality of its coach. It's a blue collar group that goes to work and doesn't complain about it. That doesn't guarantee Ws, but it's a good start and the type of culture Muschamp wants in Columbia.
** I was asked on here about the progress of JUCO transfer Javon Kinlaw and I was told that Kinlaw is adjusting well and just as he predicted would happened (Kinlaw told us he loses weight easily on signing day), has already shed a bunch of weight. Kinlaw has lost around 30 pounds since signing day and is making steps towards getting to playing weight.
** Sophomore defensive lineman Keir Thomas isn't someone we've talked about much this offseason, but he's in position to have a good year. He's slimmed down to defensive end size and could push for a starting position there while also rushing the passer inside on third downs. Both he and DJ Wonnum were singled out to me as having strong summers.
------------------------------
BASEBALL COACHING SEARCH THOUGHTS:
I've been a believer for some time that if you're Ray Tanner you want to go out and hire the best coach available. That doesn't necessarily mean the biggest name or the best resume, it means you want the best fit for the program who can recruit, develop and lead. At a place like South Carolina, the rest will take care of itself.
Obviously, if you can get a Kevin O'Sullivan, you go get Kevin O'Sullivan, but if you can't, you want the next Kevin O'Sullivan. The guy with the most potential to be the next big thing. Most of the guys who have already won big aren't leaving the place where they've won big. And most of the guys who are looking to leave, probably aren't the coach you want in the first place.
As far as SEC baseball goes, you can point out assistant coaches who have succeeded to the very top (O'Sullivan, Tim Corbin) as well as head coaches with some of the best resumes (Dave Serrano, Scott Stricklin) who have failed. With that said, short of an absolute no-brainer like O'Sullivan, you want your AD to be able to see through the obvious stuff and pick out the best coach and the best fit. Then that coach can make his own name at South Carolina versus making it somewhere else and then coming to Carolina.
This isn't a football search where most of the coaches out there are already celebrities and known by fans. There are very few "name" coaches in college baseball. When the word that Mark Kingston was a candidate leaked out, I asked a buddy who follows baseball in the state of Florida as closely as anyone I know what he thought of Kingston.
"I think he's a future star in the coaching industry," he said. "The turnaround at USF has been impressive but it's a lot more than their record. He's recruiting really well and people around the state of Florida love him. He'd be a great hire. He's going to get an elite job soon whether it's Carolina or somewhere else."
Kingston recently interviewed at Virginia Tech, but the sense in Florida is that if one of the Big Three jobs down there were to open in the future that he'd be one of the first candidates Florida, FSU or Miami would look at.
Just food for thought.
