Paul Mainieri talks transfer portal process, how he evaluates the roster for next year
When Paul Mainieri first arrived in Columbia, he knew he had a lot of work to do. Despite seeing how South Carolina’s 2024 season ended, he saw potential. He knew this program wasn’t far off from the promised land.
In the days after becoming the next head coach, he and his staff got right to work. Since then, it’s been a busy few weeks with a lot of shifting around, specifically with constructing the roster.
Since the transfer portal opened in early June, South Carolina has continued to bring in many new players. So far, the Gamecocks have landed 12 commitments, including JUCO transfers.
The portal is set to close after Tuesday, which means players have until then to decide whether or not they want to transfer. Mainieri said they’ll still need to bring in potentially “three or four more pieces” for next year.
“Really what we’re trying to identify right now are just really good baseball players, regardless of position,” Mainieri told GamecockCentral. “I mean, there’s certain positions that you just really need to address. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out those. When you lose so many guys from a particular position on our team already, we’ve got to make sure that they have those unique skills.”
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While Mainieri has addressed some of the glaring holes, he’s ultimately been looking to bring in top talent. He said he’s been zeroing in on some specific positions in the portal. But overall, it’s still about putting together the best collection of players.
“I’ve always been one of those coaches that just wants to put the nine best baseball players that he has on the field. And it might mean you take an infielder and put him in left field and teach them how to play the outfield because he’s one of your best nine,” he said. “But you’ve got an All-American shortstop returning. So rather than be the backup to a really good player, let him be a starter at another position. I’ve done that my whole career. But once I get out in the field and get to see the kids on a regular basis, I’ll have a much better idea.”
At the same time, part of his job has been to evaluate the current players at South Carolina. After all, they should make up most of the roster. Mainieri anticipates at least 20 players returning, though he couldn’t be certain on that number since he’s still recruiting.
Because he wasn’t coaching at South Carolina last year, it’s been tough for him to get a true gauge on what he has to work with. But luckily, he’s had help from Monte Lee, who knows these players inside and out.
“His evaluation of all of them is really the gospel truth for me,” Mainieri said. “I watched a couple of games that South Carolina played this year, but never with the intention of evaluating the players for whether or not they’d be a part of the program going forward. It didn’t even cross my mind that I’d be the coach at South Carolina while the season was going on. So, Monte has been giving me some great information.”
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And with Lee, he’s also been instrumental in recruiting so far this summer. Between him, Mainieri and recruiting coordinator Terry Rooney, there has always been constant communication about what’s next.
“Well, we have a lot of three way phone calls each day, quite frankly. And then text messaging, and when they’re at the field, they’ll video the guy and then send the video back to me,” Mainieri said. “But I have to trust them, I have to trust that. I’m going to get on the road, it’s just that right now I’ve got so much stuff to do meeting with the current players and just organizational stuff.
“I’ve had (Executive Director for Athletic Performance Billy Anderson) beating my door down because he needs a schedule for the fall. I’ve got to meet with all these people across campus. My job is so much more fully encompassing. So right now, those are two guys that have been head coaches, so they know what we need and what we’re looking at. So I’m really leaning heavily on them.”
