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DRAFT 2008 - STATE-BY-STATE PREVIEW
SOUTH CAROLINA

2008 FOLLOW LIST

OVERVIEW: With South Carolina and Clemson as its flagship schools, South Carolina is a hotbed for college baseball. Both schools have loyal fan bases, have made an imprint on the College World Series in the last decade, and annually produce more than their share of talent. Clemson had five of the first 125 picks in the 2007 draft and South Carolina has three players in this year’s draft who could all be gobbled up in the first 50 selections.

Coastal Carolina and the College of Charleston (and even Winthrop occasionally) have also made inroads on the national landscape with Top 25-caliber teams in recent years, and both those schools will weigh in heavily in this year’s draft with the possibility of 15 picks between them.

The South Carolina high school ranks, meanwhile, rarely produce more than a handful of draft picks each year and have only one player projected to go in the first 10-15 rounds this year. When it’s all said and done, it’s possible that not a single South Carolina high school player will sign a pro contract this year as South Carolina and Clemson have commitments from almost every top prospect—and they rarely let an in-state player get away, to pro ball or even to an out-of-state college.

There may not be another state in the country that annually sees more disparity between the caliber of its college talent and its high school talent—especially signable talent—than South Carolina, and the power of the state’s college baseball programs has much to do with that.

In 2005, first baseman Justin Smoak and shortstop Reese Havens were rare home-grown high school products who were legitimate prospects for the first round. Every club in the game put a full-court press on them, enticing them to sign, but both ended up sliding to the later rounds—Smoak to Oakland in the 16th round, Havens to Boston in the 29th—as teams feared they would end up in college at South Carolina if they risked an early-round pick on either. The A’s and Red Sox tempted the two right to the deadline with significant bonus offers, but the pair stuck to their guns, honored their unwavering commitment to South Carolina and enrolled in college. Three years later, Smoak and Havens—the state’s two top prospects—are finally ready to cash in and both are solid bets to be drafted in the first round.

STRENGTH: Trio of University of South Carolina prospects.
WEAKNESS: High school position players.
OVERALL RATING (1-to-5 scale): 3.

Best Out-of-State Prospect, South Carolina Connection: Jeff Ussery, 2b, Georgia Tech (Attended high school in Hilton Head.
Top 2009 Prospect: Madison Younginer, rhp, Mauldin HS.
Top 2010 Prospect: Drew Cisco, rhp, Wando HS, Mt. Pleasant.

Highest Pick, Draft History: Kris Benson, rhp, Clemson U. (1996, Pirates/1st round, 1st pick).
Highest Pick, 2006 Draft: Tyler Colvin, of, Clemson U. (Cubs/1st round, 13th pick).
Highest Pick, 2007 Draft: Daniel Moskos, lhp, Clemson U. (Pirates/1st round, 4th pick).

Best College Team: Coastal Carolina.
Best Junior College Team: Spartanburg Methodist.
Best High School Team: Brookland-Cayce (Cayce/West Columbia).

TOP PROSPECTS / By Allan Simpson

GROUPS (College, Junior College, High School)
 1 Premium-round draft (Rounds 1-3)
2 High-round draft (Rounds 4-10)
3 Mid-round draft (Rounds 11-25)


GROUP ONE
Rank Player Pos. Class B-T HT WT College Hometown Prev. Drafted B’date
1 Justin Smoak 1B Jr. B-L 4-Jun 215 South Carolina Goose Creek Athletics ’05 (16) 12/5/1986
SCOUTING REPORT (3/1): Smoak cemented his status as a top prospect for the 2008 draft when he was just a freshman at South Carolina. He hit 22 home runs that year and was arguably one of the top hitting prospects to play in the Cape Cod League in years that summer, drawing regular comparisons to Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton. He won league MVP honors after a huge year at the plate that included a league-high 11 home runs. He was a mirror-image from both sides of the plate, showing smooth, fluid swings with outstanding bat speed and an easy lift. He has the ability to hit balls high and far and takes a very healthy cut. Smoak hit 17 homers as a sophomore as he was pitched more carefully, but was humbled last summer with Team USA. He hit just .223-3-19 overall and failed to homer in his final 102 at-bats. It was the first time in his career that he had ever really dealt with failure and he appeared to lose his confidence. More than anything, he got eaten up by changeups; he found himself getting overly anxious and continually off balance at the plate as he tried to reach for pitches. At his peak form, Smoak has exceptional power from both sides, especially from left center to right center, and stays inside the ball well but may need to pull balls more often as a number of his deep drives to center field are caught on the warning track. Scouts say he needs to stay through the ball longer to maximize his pull power. Defensively, Smoak is a top-notch first baseman, but he could improve his footwork around the bag and ability to come in on balls. He has a playable arm for the position. But scouts say he doesn’t spend enough time working on his defense as he concentrates most of his time with swinging the bat. First base is a premium position at the college level in the 2008 draft, yet it would be a surprise if Smoak is not the first first baseman drafted—his struggles last summer aside.—ALLAN SIMPSON
UPDATE (5/15): Smoak became a more complete hitter this year than in his first two college seasons. He topped South Carolina with a .389 average (entering the Southeastern Conference tournament), up significantly from the .303 and .315 figures he posted as a freshman and sophomore. He took what pitchers gave him more willingly and used the whole field as his hitting domain — as evidenced by a team-best 18 doubles. He also was more adept at staying balanced and patient on off-speed pitches, and generally showed outstanding plate discipline in the process. His 51-26 walk-to-strikeout differential was one of the best ratios in the country. It didn’t hurt that he had James Darnell and Phil Disher, who combined for 34 home runs, hitting behind him in the Gamecocks order, but Smoak became a legitimate candidate to be one of the first 5-6 players drafted when he became one of the hottest hitters in the country over the second half of the season—both for power and average. In addition to his near-.400 average, he led the Gamecocks with 20 homers.—AS
 


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