Meadows plays the waiting game: Clemson or pro baseball?

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Sat May 18 10:40:31 GMT-04:00 2013

With the 2013 Major League Baseball draft less than a month away, Loganville (GA) Grayson’s Austin Meadows and his family are playing the waiting game.

Meadows, a left-handed hitting and throwing outfielder, committed to Clemson over a year ago. However, Meadows is projected as a certain first-rounder in the draft – his stock is anywhere from early in the round to mid-round depending on which service you look at, and some even have him as the country’s best prospect– and he said he hasn’t made up his mind if there is a dollar figure that will cause him to forego his college career.

“Right now, me and my family haven’t really talked about the numbers,” Meadows told TigerNet this week. “Right now, we are just playing the waiting game. We are going to wait a couple of more weeks and get closer to the draft, and then we will have a pretty good idea of where we are. Right now, I just want to focus on finishing out my senior year strong and put in hard work. It’s just a waiting process at this point.”

Meadows hit a robust .538 this season for Grayson, with four homers, despite not seeing many good pitches to hit.

“I had to change my approach at the plate a little bit,” he said. “I knew that some of the kids we faced weren’t going to throw to me. I felt like I had a good senior season, especially considering all of the attention and stuff. It’s hard to live up to all of that and still enjoy the friendships you have. But I didn’t have too many slumps throughout the season, and I played pretty consistent all year.”

Meadows has had pro scouts lining the bleachers and fences at his high school games and tournament showcases for a few years now, something he has gotten used to.

“It hasn’t really fazed me at all,” the 6-3, 200-pounder said. “I have gotten used to it, especially with events like the East Pro Showcase. None of that has bothered me at all – I was used to it. I just go out and play my game and I don’t worry about the scouts.”

Despite all of the attention and the possibility of getting a head start on a professional career, Meadows said there was a reason he chose Clemson.

“I went up there and really just enjoyed being around the coaches and the players and I really loved the atmosphere,” he said. “I went to the Florida St. football game when they played the Seminoles at home, and that was wonderful. It was a great official visit, and I had fun just hanging out with some of the guys. That brought me closer to the program. They brought me in and made me feel like family. I really love Clemson because it’s close to home, and my family supported me with that decision. Clemson just stuck out to me.”

Meadows had offers from all of the big-time programs and had Georgia and Vanderbilt in the early running before narrowing it down to his top two choices – Clemson and South Carolina.

“Those were my top two schools,” he said. “I looked really hard at both of them, but in the end it wasn’t really even a competition. Clemson was the one for me from the beginning.”

The end of Meadows’ senior year means he has to say goodbye to several close friends, including former Clemson commit and Ole Miss signee Robert Nkemdiche. Whether he joins his other friends like Wayne Gallman, Ryan Carter and Nick Schuessler is still unknown.

“It’s been fun to have all of us here at the same school at the same time,” he said. “I love to see what they are doing. I have played ball with all of them since we were little, and I knew they were all going to be great athletes. I look forward to seeing what they all do in college. It’s been a really fun process for all of us, and it will be interesting to see what level we all achieve.”