Clemson transfer Hudson Lee ready to help South Carolina 'win in any way that I can'

As a South Carolina native, Hudson Lee comes from a house divided, with family ties to both Clemson and South Carolina. His dad went to Clemson, and his brother, former quarterback Hayden Lee, played football at South Carolina in 2022.

There’s a definite split amongst his family over where their allegiances lie. Some of his extended family members are Gamecock fans, while his closer family is more connected to Clemson.

Where does Lee fall in all of this? Well, it’s a little more complicated.

He started out his college baseball career at Wake Forest and spent two seasons there before transferring to Clemson ahead of the 2025 season. But now, he’ll get to take in the other side of the rivalry as the left-hander committed to the Gamecocks.

“I was confident that Carolina was the right fit for me,” Lee told GamecockCentral. “I hope to kind of help turn the program around and get us going in the right direction.”

A lot went into Lee’s decision to transfer for a second time in as many years. But the main factor for him, though, was being able to stay close enough to his home in Roebuck.

“My grandpa is 90 years old, and he loves coming to watch baseball games,” Lee said. “So the fact that he’ll be able to still come and watch me play games, only about an hour and 15 minutes from my house, is very significant.”

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Lee’s journey to South Carolina is one filled with some ups but also a lot of downs. He came to Wake Forest as the No. 9 player in South Carolina, but he’d miss his freshman year in 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery during his senior year at Dorman High School.

Lee watched on as the Demon Deacons went to the College World Series for the first time in 68 years.

“I think that was one of the best years for me,” Lee said. “Even though I wasn’t able to play, I was able to be with a lot of guys who were really good at baseball. That was the year that Wake Forest went to Omaha, and I was able to learn from guys like Rhett Lowder and Cam Minacci.”

He returned late in the next season after tweaking his shoulder, which pushed his college debut into early May. In two appearances, he gave up two runs and struck out three with a walk in an inning of work.

Lee logged more innings in summer ball, where he went 2-1 with a 3.28 ERA, 35 strikeouts and 22 walks. At that point, he decided that he needed a fresh start, which he found at Clemson.

In his first full season, he made 15 appearances out of the Tigers’ bullpen and had a 5.79 ERA with 19 strikeouts and 13 walks. He held opponents to a .192 batting average and didn’t throw any wild pitches all year.

“I got to learn a lot, just because it was really my first time, kind of getting real meaningful innings in college baseball,” Lee said. “After being hurt for a couple of years, you kind of realize how much you missed the game. … So I was able to throw some innings against some really good teams and had a little success, a little failure.”

Now that he’s fully healthy again, Lee is hoping to put it all together at South Carolina. He joins a revamped pitching staff as the team’s most recent acquisition from the portal.

“I know that I can 100 percent do it, and I think this year, I’ve been training at the Florida Baseball ARMory this summer. I think this year could really be the year for me,” he said.

“My plan is just to help Carolina win in any way that I can. I mean, I’m gonna do everything on my part that I can to help us win ballgames. Go back to Omaha and win it would be the dream.”

Of course, it may take time for his Clemson family members to see him in garnet and black next year. But Lee knows he still has their full support in this next step of his baseball career.

“They’re always excited for me, rooting for me, no matter what I choose,” Lee said. “They like Carolina’s atmosphere and everything. They knew this new coaching staff coming into Carolina would kind of turn things around a little bit. And they were just excited, happy for me.”

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