Gamecocks 'as good as it gets' for newest baseball commit
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL
James Nix considers himself a pretty calm and calculated person when he’s making big life choices; he’s not usually one to hurry a decision.
That somewhat went out the window Friday in Columbia.
After seeing everything the Gamecocks had to offer, the highly-rated junior college prospect didn’t wait to pull the trigger, committing on his visit to Founders Park to become a big piece of South Carolina’s 2019 class.
“I’m glad I finally found my home. I couldn’t be more excited. It was not a difficult decision for me to make. Coach asked me right after I told him I was on board and I said, ‘Honestly? No.’ I talked with my family and we decided it’s not even close; this is the place. Usually, I’m a pretty calculated person and take a step back, but I said there’s no need. I knew what I wanted and this was it,” Nix told GamecockCentral. “This is as good as it gets.”
Also see: Latest scoop on on this weekend's official visitors
South Carolina was one of three schools Nix visited during the recruitment process and was blown away with what the Gamecocks had to offer.
He said everything was “really perfect” all the way down to the little things like the playing surface and the dimensions of the park.
One of the biggest things he liked was the availability of data players get to see and use in the batting cages to help their games saying it’s such a “massive part of success in baseball today” and South Carolina understands how to use those numbers to their advantage.
He committed after getting to meet the entire coaching staff and left impressed with their plan to develop him over the next few years.
“I just kind of knew it was the right fit. There’s opportunity, of course. At CF, I got the feeling when I came that I was desired by the coaching staff, they wanted to coach me and improve me as a baseball player and as a person. I got the exact same vibe, and I hadn’t quite got that anywhere else,” Nix said. “The coaches here had a good plan of how to get me better and attack my weaknesses. It’s just a great fit for me, on both ends. It worked out perfectly.”
Also see: Breaking down this year's matchup with Alabama
Nix is coming off a dominant year with the College of Central Florida, earning First-Team All-State and Florida’s junior college player of the year honors.
He’d finish the season hitting .462/.593/.739 with nine homers and 48 runs driven in, drawing 40 walks to just 16 strikeouts playing right field for CF.
Despite coming off a really solid year in junior college, he stills sees room to grow and thinks Mark Kingston and his staff can get him there.
“I think I bring a little bit of everything; I think that’s the cool thing about me,” Nix said. “I have a speed, I have power, I’m a capable defender. I think I bring a little bit of everything, honestly. Everything can still be improved, which I think is a beautiful thing. I can’t wait to get with the coaches so they can help me out. That was the huge part of it: they seemed to have a great idea how to develop players. Not everywhere I got that vibe from.”
Also see: The latest on Seventh Woods
Nix is a name to watch in the MLB Draft, which starts Monday and continues throughout Wednesday.
The outfielder comes into draft week as PerfectGame’s No. 14 junior college prospect and No. 307 overall player in this year’s draft pool.
“It’s an interesting process, that’s for sure,” Nix said of the draft. “There’s more questions than answers with a lot of that stuff. If you asked me direct questions about stuff, I literally could not answer them because I don’t know. It’s just a lot of uncertainty. I’m in a position where I can’t lose. I seriously feel that way. I go to South Carolina and I’ll be the happiest guy. If I sign, there’s a reason I’m signing. It’s got to be something special. It’s just a lot of uncertainty with the draft. I’m looking forward to it being all settled so I can start planning for my future and figuring everything else out.”
View a full list of the Gamecocks' 2019 commitments here.