Even in preseason scrimmages, South Carolina coach Chad Holbrook could not stop talking about the presence junior college transfer Jacob Olson brings to the Gamecocks’ batting order.
“He gives our lineup an attitude,” Holbrook said. “I’m glad he’s on our team.”
Part of that attitude Olson plays with, or as teammate Alex Destino calls it “country boy swagger,” comes from being passed over by colleges through his high school and junior college career.
Olson, who was in USC’s starting lineup on Opening Day and has started every game but one since, had one Division I offer coming out of Monroe Area High in Monroe, Ga.