Cal transfer ready for ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to play in SEC, for Gamecocks
.jpg "April 26, 2022; California Golden Bears pitcher Nick Proctor during a game against the University of the Pacific Tigers on Evans Diamond at Stu Gordon Stadium. (Robert Edwards/KLC fotos)")
Nick Proctor grew up about a half hour away from the University of California-Berkeley.
After four years of pitching with the Golden Bears, Proctor is taking an almost 3,000 mile leap of faith to Columbia for his final year of college eligibility.
After receiving an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, he was enticed to get a new experience.
“That was the main thing, I kind of wanted something fun, something new and honestly go somewhere with a good culture and a winning program,” Proctor told The State.
The right-handed pitcher announced his intentions to transfer from Cal to play as a graduate transfer for South Carolina on June 9 via Twitter.
Proctor said the recruiting process while he was in the transfer portal was “pretty crazy,” with several schools reaching out to him.
“There was a lot of schools I was talking to, which was honestly really cool because out of high school I never really went through the recruiting process because I wasn’t very good,” Proctor told The State. “So I guess this time around it was cool to see that schools actually liked me and believed in me because I never really had that before.”
A mutual contact of Proctor’s put him in touch with the South Carolina staff, and it eventually led to his commitment.
Proctor said the Gamecocks were looking for experienced arms to add to the roster, and he certainly fits the bill.
Through his four years at Cal he’s made 68 pitching appearances and pitched 90.1 innings. He also added a season-high 48 strikeouts this season to help him eclipse the century mark for his career.
In the 2021 season Proctor made 26 appearances out of the bullpen, the most of any pitcher on the Golden Bears’ roster and had a team best 1.21 WHIP.
With South Carolina’s need for bullpen help and Proctor’s urge for something new, the mutual interest between the two turned into a perfect match.
“Ideally I’d like to throw more innings, but what coaches want is stability out of the bullpen, so I mean that’s my goal,” Proctor told The State. “I want to come in and want them to be able to rely on me. I want to have high-leverage situations where the game kind of hinges on those big innings, and I want to get those outs.”
It’s too early to determine what Proctor’s exact role will be in the upcoming season, but regardless he plans on carving one out for himself in the spring.
“I’m gonna fight for it,” Proctor told The State. “We can talk about roles all we want, but the bottom line is I’m going to show up on campus Day 1, and that’s when I’m gonna start earning my role and that’s what I’m gonna be trying to do, trying to become a staple of the bullpen.”
Regardless of his role, Proctor will likely have to make an adjustment to the grind of SEC baseball.
While the PAC-12 will have Stanford as its representative in Omaha this year, the SEC currently has four teams in the college world series.
Proctor said he’s excited for the “once in a lifetime opportunity” that is playing in the SEC and he’s confident that his development over the last few years will show that he’s prepared.
“I think it’s gonna be really fun to see how I size up compared to the SEC, especially against some of the teams that are obviously always just top-ranked teams,” Proctor told The State. “In the Pac-12 we obviously face really good talent and it’s always a challenge and I know the SEC is gonna be even more of a challenge but I think I’m ready for it. I’m honestly pretty excited.”
Proctor doesn’t know quite when he’ll be on campus in Columbia, but he said he’s already prepared to come in and be a veteran presence on a team that went 27-28 and missed that NCAA tournament in 2021.
“I want to come in and win,” Proctor told The State. “I want to go deep into the playoffs because it’s gonna be my last year of college baseball and I don’t really want to come to South Carolina and just kind of mess around and have fun. I want to come and win.”
Proctor will join three other transfers on the South Carolina baseball roster, including Dylan Brewer and Jonathan French from Clemson as well as Chris Veach from Presbyterian.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 1:50 PM.
