Two-sport Tiger? Local Clemson baseball commit picks up football offer, too
It’s been quite a week for two-sport standout Will Taylor.
Taylor, a senior at Dutch Fork, picked up a football offer from Clemson on Monday. Then on Thursday, he was selected to play in the Baseball Factory All-Star Game in Frisco, Texas on Oct. 4.
The game features 40 of the top senior baseball players in the country. It is usually held at Wrigley Field in late Aug. but was moved because of COVID-19.
Taylor will play in Dutch Fork’s football game on Oct. 2 and then fly to Texas for the game.
Taylor has been committed to play baseball at Clemson for more than a year. But playing football for the Tigers might also be an option. Clemson offered him.
Taylor is the first in-state offer by Clemson for the Class of 2021. He got the phone call from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on Monday. New Tigers receivers coach Tyler Grisham has been handling Taylor’s recruiting.
“It was kind of a rough day at practice yesterday so that call kind of pumped me up. I didn’t sleep but a couple hours so that was exciting,” Taylor said.
South Carolina also has expressed interest in Taylor for football and he visited the Gamecocks back in January. Both Clemson and USC are recruiting him as a receiver. Taylor plays quarterback at Dutch Fork.
Clemson already got one former baseball prospect to play football when Georgia baseball commitment Bubba Chandler pledged to the Tigers in May.
“It is a special opportunity to go play both sports,” Taylor said. “Not many people get that opportunity. I thought about it a bunch so we gonna see what ends up happening. I am just very thankful for the opportunity.”
Taylor has had a productive summer playing baseball for the Diamond Devils travel baseball squad and was invited to East Coast Pro Showcase last month. MLB.com highlighted Taylor as one of the standout performers in the event and he is considered a high-round prospect for the 2021 MLB Draft.
Taylor played his first three years at Ben Lippen before transferring to Dutch Fork in January. The Silver Foxes are the four-time defending Class 5A champions and ranked No. 18 in USA Today Super 25 poll.
Dutch Fork begins its season Sept. 25 against White Knoll.
Taylor, a dual-threat quarterback, threw for 1,647 yards and rushed for more than 1,549 yards with 25 total touchdowns last season at Ben Lippen.
An outfielder in baseball, he hit .432 with 24 RBIs during his sophomore season at Ben Lippen. He didn’t play his junior year at Dutch Fork after the coronavirus shut down spring sports around the state.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 9:19 AM with the headline "Two-sport Tiger? Local Clemson baseball commit picks up football offer, too."
