South Carolina’s 2027 baseball class keeps growing, and the latest addition comes from inside the state line.
Right-hander Cooper DeVries has become the Gamecocks’ ninth commitment in the class, a quick turn in a recruitment that had been slowed by a major injury before suddenly taking off. After Tommy John surgery last spring, DeVries was sidelined until a recent showing at the Border Battle, where he reached 96 mph and drew immediate attention from South Carolina, Clemson, Coastal Carolina and College of Charleston.
Once South Carolina brought him to campus, the process moved fast.
"One of the things that really stood out to me was the pitching program," DeVries told Gamecock247. "At Coastal, Matt Williams was doing really good things, and I got a chance to see that over the weekend and talk to some of the players. All of them spoke very highly of what he has to say pitching wise and all that he takes them through."
Even though DeVries has lived in South Carolina for nearly half his life, he had never been to Founders Park or the school’s campus before that recruiting visit. What he saw around head coach Kevin Schnall and the staff left a strong impression.
"The environment really stands out," DeVries said. "Just from a culture standpoint, you can tell the guys on the team really get along and they're a tight-knit group.
Baseball wise, that's what you need. You need a group of guys that are going to go out there and compete with each other."
DeVries’ fastball has already been back up to 96 mph, matching the velocity he had before the injury. He also works with a tight slider, and after the torn UCL, he switched from a splitter to a changeup.
"I threw last Sunday and that's when everything started to pick up," DeVries said of the recruiting process. "I had a really good outing and got a bunch of interest because of that.
I knew going in that it might not be the best that I wanted it to be, but when I got done, I felt pretty good. It was good to be able to get back out there."
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound DeVries is one of six right-handed pitchers in the 2027 class, and he now joins the Gamecocks as the ninth player overall to commit.
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