WE KNEW CHAD HOLBROOK COULD RECRUIT … BUT CAN HE GUIDE GAMECOCKS BACK TO THE TOP?
By FITSNEWS || For the second year in a row the University of South Carolina baseball team has landed a top five national recruiting class. According to Baseball America, the Gamecocks 16-member incoming class is the fifth-best in the nation.
Last year’s class ranked No. 3 nationally – meaning third-year head coach Chad Holbrook has proven himself an adept recruiter at South Carolina (not surprising given ESPN once rated him among the top ten recruiters in all of college athletics).
Now the only question is whether he can translate that success into a return to prominence in Omaha … where South Carolina won back-to-back College World Series (CWS) championships in 2010 and 2011 under former coach (now athletics director) Ray Tanner.
Obviously Holbrook was an integral part of that staff … but there has been a decline in South Carolina’s postseason fortunes in each season since he took the reins of the program in December 2012.
For those of you keeping score at home, Louisiana State’s class was ranked No. 1 this year – followed by Virginia, Florida and Arkansas. So yeah … four of the top five classes in the country belonged to Southeastern Conference teams.
Which underscores Holbrook’s challenge each year …
Holbrook’s team posted a 43-20 record in 2013 – his first season at the helm. This year’s team went 44-18 – but lost in the regional round for the first time since 2009 (and lost a regional round for the first time at home since 1976). That’s not exactly the sort of history South Carolina fans were hoping to make given the lofty heights the program has achieved in recent years.
Anyway, we fully expect Holbrook to reorient the trajectory of the program given the talent he’s brought in … as well as some of the stars he’s already landed for the 2015 class.
9 comments
I’m just hoping his public speaking skills have improved. I don’t know who’s more uncomfortable, Mr. Cliche or those who have to listen to him.
I’d say Jack Leggett is the most uncomfortable.
Hah hahah #7 is a Jackleg
Oh Lord, please save me from any more “Gamecocks Top Ten In Polls”. I’d muuuuuch rather be unlisted in the polls and run the table as the “Cinderella story”.
Most Carolina’ fans have become unrealistic,after the back to back CWS championships,but Carolina has had it going on,long before then.To boil it down,Gamecock baseball fans have become spoiled brats.
unrealistic? USC has been considered in some form or another a national championship contender in college baseball for many many many years. They have 30 NCAA tournament appearances with 11 trips to Omaha (out of only 66 years of playing the tournament which started in 1947, so almost 1 of 2 years to make post season play and 1 of every 6 years to make Omaha), and on top of winning it twice they played in the national title series or game (if you go back to win it was just one game winner take all in the finals) on 5 separate occasions and 4 since just 2002. Not many other programs in the country can even come close to claiming that. So USC is nationally considered an elite baseball program now and its fans expect it to play like one. Nothing unrealistic there. Now some of its fans are indeed spoiled but no more than any other schools fans. Unrealistic would be thinking the team from upstate would win it seeing as they haven’t even made it to the finals before and their fans are spoiled for no reason..
That’s what I’m saying,but many fair weather fans think they should go to Omaha every year. I’ve been going to games since,Bobby Richardson was coach.
True, but I don’t think a “real” fan would expect them to go to Omaha every year. People who don’t understand the game might. They (a real fan) should ‘think” they should, or want them too, but no team goes every year and a real fan knows that. I don’t think it wrong however to expect the NCAA tournament every year, even though that cant happen every year either. I think the spoiled brats you speak of are the same ones that use the lingo “we” when they don’t play, or use the quote “they owe me because I pay for tickets, or pay a donor level”. Those are the worst kind of fans there are. like you said fair weather.
I completely agree. I’ve seen the ups and downs since 1970,but like I said,referring to the back to back,CWS wins;’Carolina has had it going on,long before then.’