2027 commit Christian Spivey makes big statement about South Carolina as 'by far the best visit I went on'

It would’ve been easy for Christian Spivey to have his sights set on South Carolina and nowhere else. This had always been one of his dream schools.

Spivey grew up down the road in Lexington. Both of his parents went to South Carolina. He’s been a Gamecock fan his entire life, going to countless football and baseball games over the years.

When he heard from the baseball program in his recruitment process, it was certainly exciting. But he felt he’d be doing himself a disservice if he didn’t at least see what else was out there.

“I wanted to go into this process with an open mind,” Spivey told GamecockCentral, “open to going to any other school, like if they’re more interested in me, if they have a vision for me, this is where I’m going to take my talents to. So it wasn’t just, ‘I’m going to go to Carolina because that’s my dream school.'”

As he promised himself, Spivey took visits to Alabama and Virginia Tech, as well as a few others. But once he went on his visit to South Carolina, that’s when he knew this was where he wanted to be. That was the immediate feeling he got while there. Other programs weren’t like this one.

“They were by far the most interested in me. I was getting calls from the coaches every other night, asking me how I’ve been doing,” said Spivey, who officially committed on Sept. 30. “… I felt like if I go to Carolina, I’m going to get treated the best. I’m going to become the man that God wants me to be, I’m going to develop into the being the best player I can be to get to the pro level.”

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Spivey said South Carolina was “by far the best visit I went on, and it wasn’t even close.” Being close to home also played a factor in the decision, but it was more of a bonus on top of everything else.

“I’m 30 minutes away from my house, so my parents could come watch me play. I’m home,” he said. “It’s even better because I’ve gone to so many baseball games at Founders Park. … I had no regrets at all when I committed.”

Entering his junior season at Lexington High School, Spivey clocks in at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds. He plays both corner infield spots at first and third base as well as in the corner outfield. Although he’s open to playing any position that the Gamecocks need him to play, once he gets to campus.

Spivey’s bat is undoubtedly his strength, though, and he knows it too. As a sophomore last season, the left-handed hitter slashed .348/.461/.625 with eight home runs and 31 RBI over 36 games.

One thing that he prides himself on is his plate discipline and not chasing pitches. The numbers would back that up as he only struck out seven times in 112 at-bats. Only five of those strikeouts were looking.

“I’m one of those guys where you have to throw three strikes to me, because I’m not going to chase off the plate,” Spivey said. “And if you do make that mistake pitch, I have that power where I can really punish you for it. One thing that the Gamecocks really love about me is that I take a lot of good quality at-bats. I’m not going to go up there and go three straight or punch out. I’m going to make the pitcher work.”

While there’s still a lot of time before Spivey begins his college career, he’s already setting the bar high for himself when that day comes. He’s good friends with current Gamecocks first baseman Beau Hollins, who started in 42 games as a freshman in 2025. He also saw KJ Scobey start right out of the gate as a freshman at third base. Spivey has no reason to believe he can’t do the same.

“I’ve always been told by my advisor, you want to go somewhere you’re going to play because you’re not going to get seen when you’re on the bench,” he said. “Seeing (Hollins) and KJ Scobey play as freshmen and actually having a lot of success, really, I mean, it has said a lot for me. … (South Carolina) gives freshmen shots, and a lot of the freshmen that do have the shots, they take it and they do well with it.”

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