South Carolina signee Brandon Clarke selected in the MLB Draft
Brandon Clarke, a pitcher from the State College of Florida, recently committed to take his talents from the junior college level to the University of South Carolina and entered his name into the MLB Draft.
According to Baseball America, Clarke is ranked the No. 289 prospect in the prospect pool. With the 148th pick in the fifth round of the MLB Draft, Clarke’s dream of being drafted came true.
Clarke was selected by the Red Sox on Monday. In his most recent season at the State College of Florida, Clarke put up a 6-2 record with a 4.36 ERA in 74.1 innings pitched.
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Clarke is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound left-handed pitcher that has high upside with his pitching arsenal.
Clarke throws a fastball in the 93-95 MPH range and can throw up to 99 MPH. His fastball speed would give South Carolina a hard-throwing pitcher in their pitching room.
Clarke also has a curveball that he throws in the upper 70s and a changeup that can get up to the high 80s.
In addition, Clarke is ranked the No. 6 pitcher and the No. 11 player overall in the junior college class according to Dream Big Athletics. Clarke was the only junior college player to attend the MLB Draft Combine in June.
Although Clarke has an injury history from injuring his back in 2022, the talent from Clarke is certainly there.
Clarke is no stranger to playing in a league of high level college baseball either. Before going to the junior college level, Clarke was a redshirt freshman at the University of Alabama in the 2022 season.
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Due to his back injury, Clarke never pitched for the Crimson Tide, but did earn SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.
After South Carolina experienced a disappointing end to its 2024 season, the Gamecocks fired former head coach Mark Kingston and hired former LSU head coach Paul Mainieri out of retirement.
If Clarke decides to play for South Carolina next season, it would give Mainieri and his staff a solid addition early on in his first offseason as the Gamecocks head coach.
Mainieri won the 2009 National Championship with LSU and led the Tigers as the national runner-up in his most recent coaching appearance in the College World Series and will look to bring the Gamecocks back to the College World for the first time since 2012.
