2017 Recruiting Rankings | 2017 High School Player Rankings | Recruiting Database


6. Southern California

Full 2017-18 Recruiting Class
Head Coach: Dan Hubbs | Recruiting Coordinator: Gabe Alvarez

The beauty of this class, aside from the abundance of potential immediate impact type talent, is just how early RC Gabe Alvarez was able to assemble the core nucleus of this group. This is one of those classes that allows you to look back at pre-high school commitments and see what they’ve become as Perfect Game All-Americans Nick Allen and Ben Ramirez, as well as current top-100 ranked Nick Pratto, all committed to the Trojans prior to logging an inning of varsity baseball.

Whether it was as an eighth grader playing with CBA or under the bright lights of Petco with the West Squad in the All-American game, Nick Allen made his defensive presence felt and you’d be hard pressed to find a glove in the 2017 class who has performed at such a high and consistent level over the years. Pratto’s strength with the bat has continued to develop, as has his overall approach at the plate, and should Ramirez keep adding physicality to his long 6-foot-3 frame than Coach Dan Hubbs has an intriguing duo to lock down two key infield positions.

Sticking with the theme of long, projectable Perfect Game All-Americans, Je’Von Carrier-Ward checks off several boxes that professional scouts look for, but should he make it to campus he has the potential to become a star. There’s already a surprising amount of pop to the offensive profile given his 6-foot-5, 190-pound frame, but thanks to the looseness of his wrists and leverage to the swing path Carrier-Ward can already drive the ball deep to all parts of the diamond.

And with all this talent that has already been mentioned we haven’t even touched on the Trojans topped two ranked pitchers; righthanders Hans Crouse and Kyle Hurt, who are ranked fifth and 20th nationally, respectively. With such lofty rankings though comes the all too real possibility that both are selected within the first round or two come next June’s draft, though should they make it to campus you’re looking at a 1-2 combo similar to what UCLA had in Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer back in 2011. Crouse, a one-time Mississippi State commit, shows as much velocity as any arm in the class as he bumped 97 mph at the PG All-American Classic and was a vital arm for Team USA in capturing Gold. Hurt has continued to transform himself on the mound and now stands as one of the more polished prep arms in the class, running his fastball up to 95 mph while showing and advanced feel and ability to spot both his breaking ball and changeup for strikes. It’s also worth noting that Hurt, like the trio listed above, was an early commit, giving his verbal during his sophomore year of high school.