South Carolina Baseball: Gamecocks land elite commitment

South Carolina baseball head coach Mark Kingston and his superstar recruiting assistant coaches have been working tirelessly to remake the Gamecock roster.

The Gamecocks had six scholarship players (Jack Mahoney, Will Sanders, Noah Hall, Braylen Wimmer, James Hicks, and Cade Austin), one transfer pitcher (Matt Duffy), and two high school signees (George Wolkow and Raudi Rodriguez) selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, and a handful of other players left via the transfer portal. USC also lost key senior Will McGillis.

On Friday, a major 2024 target revealed he was ready to join the program and announced a commitment to the South Carolina baseball program. Florida native KJ Scobey pledged himself to the Gamecocks via an announcement on Twitter.

Scobey is a shortstop prospect who moonlights as a pitcher and outfielder for McKeel Academy of Technology in Lakelands, Florida (not to be confused with Land O’ Lakes, Florida where Gamecock slugger Ethan Petry is from).

Scobey is ranked as the 232nd-best prospect in the country according to PerfectGame. Scobey is one of four high school shortstops committed in the class, but his versatility could lead to him finding another spot when he arrives in Columbia next fall.

At 6’2″ and 185 pounds, Scobey has plenty of power potential if he can adapt to the college game. Hitting well equates to playing time for the Gamecocks as Coach Kingston and his staff have shown a willingness to play guys at multiple positions if their bats deserve to be in the lineup.

The South Carolina baseball team began fall practice about two weeks ago, and some of the Gamecocks’ class of 2023 have already made a solid impression. Next year, that could be Scobey and his class of 2024 teammates.

The Gamecocks will begin their season in less than four months, and the SEC slate will begin just over a month later on March 15th when USC travels to Ole Miss. The full out-of-conference slate is not yet known.