Clemson Baseball adds another huge transfer
Erik Bakich has had a busy week. He has been mentioned as a candidate for multiple open positions, though college baseball insiders have confirmed that he is locked in with Clemson.
While all the coaching carousel drama dominated the headlines, Bakich closed on another big transfer for 2025.
Luke Gaffney has committed to Bakich and the Tigers.
Gaffney was a Freshman All-American with Purdue last season.
Per his Instagram, 1B Luke Gaffney is committing to #Clemson.
— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) June 26, 2024
In 2024, Gaffney was the Big Ten Freshman of the year and a second team Freshman All-American.
A huge pickup for Erik Bakich. pic.twitter.com/GTRFWtP5eQ
EA Sports catches flack for their most difficult stadium list
One of the biggest conversations on social media on Tuesday was the announcement of the top ten most difficult stadiums to play in on the upcoming EA Sports College Football video game. It was a popular subject with Clemson fans because Death Valley wasn’t included in the Top 10.
EA has Texas A&M’s Kyle Field was ranked No. 1 overall. Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, and Georgia rounded out the Top 5.
EA Sports College Football 25, the new video game scheduled for release in July, has unveiled the game’s rankings for the toughest places to play in college football. It factors in historical home win percentage, home attendance, etc.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 25, 2024
Let the debating begin… pic.twitter.com/au58H97AmY
Clemson was ranked 12th, behind Penn State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Florida State, Florida and Oregon.
Clemson’s Assistant Athletic Director for Football Communications, Ross Taylor, offered EA this input on X.
In case our friends at @EASPORTSCollege want to add a relevant data point to their Toughest Places to Play formula, here are rankings on the most opponent false starts drawn in home games the last 5 & 10 years. (Thanks to research assistance from the team at @StatsPerform!) pic.twitter.com/LLlxOhvx2C
— Ross Taylor (@ClemsonFBRoss) June 26, 2024
Food for thought.
Other news and notes from around Clemson athletics:
4-star prospect Jamarion Batemon has included Clemson Men’s Basketball in his Final 4 schools.
NEWS: 4⭐️ Jamarion Batemon (@JamarionBatemon) is down to four schools and will announce his college decision on Monday, July 1st, he tells @On3Recruits.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) June 25, 2024
The 6-3 Shooting Guard is the No. 51 overall player in the class, per On3.https://t.co/9BVTgHjuq3 pic.twitter.com/IgHkKJiUjw
He is a member of the Class of 2025. He is also considering Iowa State, Marquette, and West Virginia. Batemon plans to announce his college destination on Monday, July 1st.
Batemon is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Another prospect, Chance Mallory, has included Clemson in his Top 6.
NEWS: Chance Mallory, On3’s No. 35 overall ranked recruit in the 2025 class, is down to six schools, he tells @On3Recruits.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) June 25, 2024
The 5-9 PG is currently in the process of scheduling official visits. https://t.co/RbY1tbSsqO pic.twitter.com/nUJR7rptBm
Former Clemson Women’s Basketball coach Amanda Butler is joining the staff of the Louisville Cardinals.
Welcome to The Ville @CoachAB34 ‼️
— Louisville Women’s Basketball (@LouisvilleWBB) June 25, 2024
📰 https://t.co/fwKhal4iE0#GoCards pic.twitter.com/ywrf45gaFx
Butler will be coaching Imari Berry, who originally committed to Clemson before Butler was dismissed.
Clemson Women’s Soccer alum Hal Hershfelt has been named as an alternate for the US Women’s National Team for the Summer Olympics.
@halhershfelt will CU in PARIS! 🤩
— Clemson Women's Soccer (@clemsonwsoccer) June 26, 2024
Congratulations to the former Tiger who was named an alternate on the 2024 @USWNT Olympic Team Roster, in her FIRST season in the pros! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/VnhsOEY76F
Clemson Men’s Soccer alum Ousmane Sylla has been nominated for the Best Male College Athlete ESPY this year.
The best college soccer player is now an ESPY nominee! 🐅
— Clemson Men's Soccer (@ClemsonMSoccer) June 27, 2024
Vote now at https://t.co/O8M8z6JcRc to help Ousmane become the second Tiger to win this honor.#ClemsonUnited pic.twitter.com/hzE37PTSQX
You can go to ESPN to vote for Sylla.
Lastly, Clemson Men’s Basketball alum PJ Hall did not hear his name called in the first round of the NBA draft last night. The second round commences today at 4:00 PM Eastern.
Final pick of the first round.
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) June 27, 2024
Clemson's PJ Hall still hasn't been selected, which isn't a completely unexpected result.
Second round is tomorrow and is slated to begin at 4 p.m. https://t.co/estRMP9AhE