Kevin Schnall lands first transfer commitments for South Carolina
New South Carolina baseball coach Kevin Schnall landed several commitments from the transfer portal on Tuesday night.
Coastal Carolina infielder Walker Mitchell, catcher Brice Estep along with pitchers Hayden Johnson, Colby Richardson and Daniel Parker are following Schnall to the Gamecocks. All posted the news on their Instagram pages Tuesday night.
Schnall’s first USC contract is expected to be approved by the Board of Trustees on Wednesday afternoon. He replaces Paul Mainieri, who the school parted ways with in March.
Mitchell is a former River Bluff High School standout and will have one year of eligibility left. He started every game for Coastal this season and hit .3313 batting with 68 hits, 45 runs scored, team-high 17 doubles, one home run and 54 RBIs.
Mitchell is the son of late South Carolina quarterback Allen Mitchell, USC’s starting QB for the majority of its 1984 “Black Magic” season when the team finished 10-2. Allen Mitchell also played baseball for the Gamecocks.
“God works in mysterious ways. I’m coming HOME!” Mitchell wrote. “Go Cocks.”
Johnson was the first to announce their commitment Thursday night and will have two years of eligibility left.
“Excited for this new chapter! Go Cocks,” Johnson wrote.
The players entered the portal with a “do-not-contact” tag Tuesday, which generally indicates a player has a specific destination in mind. There will likely be several Coastal players headed to play for their former coach.
The 6-foot-5 Johnson missed the entire 2026 season with an elbow injury. As a sophomore, he had an impressive 2.28 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 24 appearances for Coastal’s 2025 CWS runner-up team.
Richardson will have three years of eligibility left and also is an in-state product, graduating from Pee Dee Academy in Mullins. This season, he had 4-1 record and a 5.10 ERA in 27 bullpen appearances.
Like Johnson and Richardson, Parker played his high school baseball in SC at Hartsville High and at P27 Academy in Lexington. He will have three years of eligibility left.
Parker appeared in 19 games (two starts) and had a 3-0 record and a 4.76 ERA. He struck out 32 batters in 34 innings.
Estep will have one season of eligibility left. The Kentucky native appeared in 43 games this season and started 33 at catcher, batting .232 with eight home runs and 25 RBI. He threw out 15 baserunners stealing, fourth most in the Sun Belt Conference.
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 7:39 PM.
