A forever South Carolinian, Drew Meyer has NCAA tournament advice for Gamecocks
Drew Meyer was a career .320 hitter for South Carolina, but it’s an off-the-field 15-for-15 performance he perhaps values more.
“I had 15 classes when I came back,” Meyer said, “I and got 15 As and had a 4.0 to finish it out.”
Meyer’s alma mater begins play in the NCAA tournament at 2 p.m. Friday against Ohio State in Greenville, North Carolina. The 2018 Gamecocks (33-24) are now coached by Mark Kingston, USC’s second manager since Meyer starred for Ray Tanner in the early 2000s.
But don’t think the former All-American shortstop has lost touch with his forever program. He’s a Charleston native – and a USC graduate.
When Meyer was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame on May 14, he took time at the podium to reflect on the importance of sticking around.
“One thing my parents always kind of taught me growing up,” he said, “to continue life after baseball, you almost need to do it in your own state, where fans can gravitate to what you do. They can listen to you on the radio – there wasn’t much TV back then – they can attend your games and keep up with you in the paper.”
Meyer, who out of Bishop England High School chose USC over North Carolina, left the Gamecocks in 2002 after he was selected 10th overall by the Texas Rangers in the MLB draft. He returned to Columbia nine years later to serve as a student-assistant on Tanner’s staff. He earned his degree in 2012, departing as an A student.
“For me, that was just the next competitive thing in my life,” he said, “something I wanted to challenge myself. I was coaching with the team at the time and I’m going, ‘I got nothing to do. It’s not like I’m running around Five Points like I did back in the day. I’m helping with the team and going to school. Those are my responsibilities now.’
“It was a fun time.”
Meyer is now the owner of Meyer Insurance Group in Charleston. Success in his business career is often connected to the 162 wins he was part of in a USC uniform.
“Look,” he said, “insurance is the product that’s on the table, but at the end of the day, sales is all about relationships and talking to people. And when I can talk to other sports fans and stuff and share my experiences of what I’ve done and hear their experiences going to this sporting event, you’re going to connect better with people.
“So that’s been the most fun part. Instead of talking about the weather and stuff, we share sports stories.”
Meyer played a role in three Carolina trips to the super regional round, including a College World Series runner-up finish in 2002. Via social media this week, he’s offered advice to the current Gamecocks.
“The path to Omaha has been set,” he tweeted Monday. “The hard work and preparation has already been done. From here on out, hustle, attitude and focus will determine who moves forward. And a little bit of timely hitting.”
Carolina, looking out of the Big Dance picture in mid-April, rebounded to take its final five SEC series.
“There’s a lot of seniors on that team that don’t want this to end the way it was headed a month ago,” Meyer said. “So that’s a huge credit to (Kingston) and his staff.
“I don’t try to bother (Kingston) too much, but I will (text), ‘Hey, good job tonight, keep ‘em rolling.’ And he’ll send me the emoji fist-bump back kind of thing and the ‘Go Cocks.’ So I stay out of their way and I keep rooting those guys on.”
This story was originally published June 1, 2018 at 9:11 AM with the headline "A forever South Carolinian, Drew Meyer has NCAA tournament advice for Gamecocks."