The South Carolina baseball coaching staff has been busy in the transfer portal since the Gamecocks’ season ended less than two weeks ago in the Gainesville super regional.
Carolina has added a catcher from Presbyterian in Dalton Reeves, an infield transfer from VMI in Zac Morris, two outfielders in North Florida transfer Austin Brinling and Charlotte defection Blake Jackson, and three pitchers in College of Charleston graduate Ty Good, Liberty grad transfer Garrett Gainey, and Virginia Tech reliever Tyler Dean. Now, one of the top players in the transfer portal will be joining them in Columbia.
Kennedy Jones, the dynamic centerfielder from UNC-Greensboro, will be a member of the South Carolina baseball program next season. D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers broke the news, and Jones confirmed it with retweets from his personal Twitter account.
Really good get for the Gamecocks. Kennedy Jones is a real hitter, and still scratching the surface of his upside, I think. Serious juice. https://t.co/QTdYakQ9mB
— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) June 21, 2023
At UNC-Greensboro, Jones played in 118 games and had a hit in 97 of them. He has a career OPS of 1.014 and has 60 extra-base hits in two seasons. Jones’ defense in the outfield is very good, and he can play all three spots. His efforts earned him a Freshman All-American nod in 2022 and a First-Team All-Southern Conference selection in 2023.
Jones is the type of player that should be expected to start somewhere for the Gamecocks next year. He has primarily been an outfielder during his college career, but he is capable of playing in the infield on the corners at 3B and 1B. His bat fits any spot in the order, as well, and he has enough speed to make some things happen on the basepaths at the top of the order.
South Carolina baseball’s future defensive alignment is still very much up in the air, but Mark Kingston’s crew is starting to take shape on offense as Jones joins Ethan Petry, Cole Messina, Gavin Casas, and Talmadge LeCroy as players almost guaranteed to be in the opening day lineup next spring.
South Carolina baseball has also had several portal defections so far this offseason. Infielder Michael Braswell will play at LSU next season and Brett Thomas, Caleb Denny, and Trey Wheeler will no longer be with the program.