When Elijah Lambros decommitted this summer from Virginia Tech, four teams quickly jumped out as the favorites to land the 2021 outfielder.
South Carolina was one along with Clemson, North Carolina and Texas Tech with the two ACC schools almost landing his pledge this summer.
The Gamecocks ultimately won, toppling the two perceived favorites this summer selling him on playing SEC baseball.
"There were points where I said, ‘Oh, I’m going to commit to North Carolina’ or ‘Oh, I’m going to commit to Clemson.’ Then once I got all the offers from schools I wanted, I sat and I prayed about it,” Lambros said. “I felt like God wanted me to go to South Carolina. South Carolina is SEC baseball. The stadium’s gorgeous. I love the dorms. The things that separated it from North Carolina and Clemson was it’s the SEC. I want to play in the SEC. I want to play against LSU and Florida and Vanderbilt.”
The Gamecocks first started showing interest in Lambros after he backed off his commitment from the Hokies, offering him and ultimately landing his commitment in mid-August.
It was really Mark Kingston who handled the bulk of the recruitment, sealing the deal by pushing the SEC baseball angle.
He was trying to sell the SEC the most. He was originally going to take the head coaching job at Virginia Tech and instead went to South Carolina,” Lambros said. “I put those two together since I was committed to Virginia Tech. he said, ‘Why not go bigger if you’re going to de-commit?’”
Lambros is one of three outfielders committed in the Gamecocks’ 2021 class joining Thad Ector and Dariyan Pendergrass.
PerfectGame considers the 6-foot-2 outfielder the No. 387 player in the class and the 71st best player at his position.
His 6.56-second 60-yard dash time is in the 97th percentile for players in his class.
“I would say I have a plus arm, plus speed, I track down balls in the outfield really well in the gaps,” he said. “The only thing I say I don’t do is use my legs in my swing. Once I get that, I’ll be good.”
Lambros is one of nine top 500 players committed in the Gamecocks’ 2021 class that’s ranked No. 15 nationally by PerfectGame.
He’s really excited for the opportunity to play in the SEC and compete for a starting spot once he arrives on campus with some other talented outfielders.
“I love the competition there’s going to be for a starting spot. I love that Thad’s going to be out there with Brandon Fields and Shuler,” Lambros said. “I love competition like that. I’m going to love going there and competing for a position and playing with them after everyone’s earned their spot against schools like LSU. I mean I want to win a ring.”
