Hero of South Carolina baseball's NCAA tournament regional to transfer
South Carolina baseball junior outfielder Danny Blair will transfer from the program to the University of Tampa, a Division II program, he announced Wednesday.
"The (past) three years have been the best years of my life," Blair wrote in a tweet explaining his decision. "I've met people at USC that I will be friends with for the rest of my life. The opportunity I was given to play baseball at a school like South Carolina was a dream come true and I truly cherish that. ...
"With that said, I have decided to transfer schools to continue to pursue my dream of playing baseball at the next level. Leaving is not and will not be easy, although it is what's best for me to reach my goal."
After spending most of 2018 on the bench, Blair was named Most Outstanding Player in the Gamecocks' NCAA tournament regional in Greenville, N.C., after hitting a go-ahead three-run home run for USC in its tourney opener against Ohio State. He finished the regional going 5-10 from the plate, with four runs and four RBIs.
He then started twice in Carolina's Super Regional against Arkansas, going 1-6 with one walk. On the year, he finished with a .230 batting average with two home runs and seven RBIs in 41 games and 12 starts.
Blair's playing time peaked in 2017, as he started 25 games and hit .258. He ends his South Carolina career with a batting average of .247, three home runs and 20 RBIs.
Former teammate LT Tolbert chimed in on Blair's decision on social media, writing on Twitter that Tampa "is getting the best CF in the country! I've seen what this dude can do with confidence on a daily basis and there's nobody better."
Blair is the third reported transfer from USC this offseason, joining freshmen Kyle Jacobsen and Elijah Bowers in leaving coach Mark Kingston's program.
With Blair's departure, Kingston will only have a few returning outfielders — senior TJ Hopkins, who missed the latter half of the season with a back injury, and senior Jacob Olson and sophomore Noah Campbell, both of whom are expected to move to the infield. The only other outfielder currently on the roster is freshman Ian Jenkins, who redshirted this past season.
In the incoming recruiting class, however, Kingston will have options with freshmen Xavier Bussey, Joel Brewer and MLB draft picks Brady Allen and Josiah Sightler, assuming neither decides to turn pro — Allen, a 39th-round pick, is widely expected not to do so, while Sightler, a 12th-round selection, has yet to decide.
This story was originally published June 20, 2018 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Hero of South Carolina baseball's NCAA tournament regional to transfer."