Another Clemson Tiger transfers to South Carolina baseball program

The transfer portal continues to be kind to new South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri, thanks in large part to the efforts of his new staff of assistant coaches. Monte Lee (associate head coach/hitting coach), Terry Rooney (pitching coach/recruiting coordinator), and John Hendry (assistant coach/assistant pitching coach/assistant recruiting coordinator) have done a great job of attacking the portal this offseason.

One somewhat surprising source of transfer talent for the Gamecocks has been the rival Clemson Tigers. Last week, Carolina brought in former Tiger utility player Nathan Hall (a Lexington, South Carolina native), and on Wednesday, they landed another player who spent two years wearing orange and white.

According to his social media accounts, former Clemson infielder Nolan Nawrocki is joining the South Carolina baseball program out of the transfer portal. During his two years in the Upstate, Nawrocki redshirted in 2023 and then was a part-time starter at designated hitter and third base in 2024. He has a background as a shortstop, but he struggled this season in the field at third.

In his redshirt freshman season, Nawrocki posted a .264/.352/.400/.752 slash line and added 4 home runs, 5 doubles, and 11 stolen bases (he was not caught stealing all year). He scored 28 runs and drove in 24 RBI. One of his 4 homers on the season came against the Gamecocks, and he had a good series overall against USC as Clemson won both games.

Nawrocki, originally from the state of New York, was a top-300 national prospect out of high school. If he can continue to develop, Nawrocki is an intriguing power-speed mix and could factor into the battles at third base and designated hitter for the 2025 version of the South Carolina baseball team. He will provide the Gamecocks with some depth on the infield, decent bat-to-ball skills, and good speed on the bases.