South Carolina baseball has been busy in the transfer portal this offseason. The Gamecocks have brought in a large transfer class and might not be done adding players through the portal.
Outfielders Kennedy Jones (UNC-Greensboro) and Austin Brinling (North Florida), infielder Parker Noland (Vanderbilt), and pitcher Ty Good (College of Charleston) headline the class for the Gamecocks and all likely will play important roles on the 2024 Carolina ball club.
Unfortunately, not every player in the transfer portal can end up as a Gamecock. Despite a hard pursuit in which head coach Mark Kingston and associate head coach Monte Lee traveled to the Cape Cod League, infielder and Clemson defection Billy Amick elected not to transfer to the University of South Carolina.
On Thursday, the All-American from Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina announced where he would be playing next season.
Excited for what is next! Go vols! @Vol_Baseball pic.twitter.com/kxC2nNIr40
— Billy Amick (@billyamick) July 6, 2023
In the end, Amick committed to the Tennessee Volunteers and head coach Tony Vitello.
It was believed for most of the early days of his transfer portal recruitment that Amick was deciding between South Carolina baseball and Florida, but things went quiet over the last two weeks or so. The Vols had been involved but really made their move in recent weeks to nab one of the top players in the transfer portal.
Missing out on Amick hurts for the Gamecocks because every team should want to add a player as talented as he is. However, Amick seemed pretty set on being a third baseman (it was part of why he left Clemson in the first place), and South Carolina has a perfectly capable third baseman already in Talmadge LeCroy.
Certainly, if the Gamecocks could have landed Amick, they would have found a place for both he and LeCroy to play, but the hot corner was not considered a position of need for Carolina this offseason.
South Carolina baseball did not need to land Billy Amick, but it sure would have been nice to add another All-American to a lineup returning two from a season ago (outfielder/third baseman Ethan Petry and catcher Cole Messina).
There is still time for the Gamecocks to bring in another player or two before the transfer portal window closes. Central Connecticut State transfer pitcher Dominic Niman is still a name to watch in the portal, and the Gamecocks could be in the market for a middle infielder or pitching help (every team wants to add more pitching).