Brandon McIlwain's first semester of college: graduated a semester early from Council Rock North High School in Newton, Pennsylvania, made the the decision to pass up a likely seven-figure signing bonus by withdrawing from the MLB Draft, enrolled in his first college classes, made his preseason collegiate baseball debut in his first month on campus, learned a new offense in football workouts and then passed for two touchdowns in the Garnet & Black Spring Game. He wouldn't even turn 18 until a few weeks after the semester ended.
Brandon McIlwain's second semester of college: entered a three-way battle for the starting quarterback job, eventually won the job after sparking the Gamecocks' offense in the second half against Mississippi State, made his first career start in a win over ECU, effectively lost his job to fellow freshman Jake Bentley, handled a controversy where his mother criticized South Carolina's coaching staff for not giving him a fair opportunity, all while still trying to carve out time to get into the batting cages.
Brandon McIlwain's third semester of college: look to win a starting job in South Carolina's outfield. That's it. For the first time since arriving on campus, he will really be able to prioritize one sport, working with the baseball team full time.
"It's definitely nice to be able to focus on one," McIlwain said before South Carolina's first spring scrimmage on Jan. 27, his first time ever addressing the local media. "There's a lot that goes into being a college athlete, and being able to really focus and figure out a good schedule in baseball and to help myself find the time that I need to excel in baseball is going to be really good this semester."
McIlwain did suffer from his late start and overload of responsibilities in his first spring, not benefiting from the fall workouts like other freshmen on the team. He appeared in just eight games, collecting one hit in 10 at-bats while striking out four times. As the season progressed, his responsibilities began to shift to the gridiron, limiting his potential to make an impact on the baseball field.
“He seems like a kid,” South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook said. "He's smiling — he's having fun. I might've thrown too much on him last year at this time, with all that was going on and all the expectations that were on him in both sports."
Despite his limited playing time in 2016, McIlwain's ceiling remains tantalizingly high on the diamond. He was ranked the No. 16 prospect in the country by Baseball America in high school. He has since benefited from a year of cross-training with both team's conditioning programs.
"Physically and mentally, I am completely changed. I am much better than I was in high school," McIlwain said. "I am a lot stronger, faster — more explosive, and also I have learned the game a lot better."
"He's looked great in January, in fact he has been one of our bright spots in workouts," Holbrook said. "He's hitting the ball out of the park, he is hitting it with authority."
McIlwain will face a daunting task in breaking into the starting lineup, even with the holes in the outfield from last year's team created from the departures of Gene Cone and Dom Thompson-Williams. Sophomores Danny Blair and T.J. Hopkins have the upper hand on McIlwain after being fully immersed in the program for almost two years now, and both figure to project well in both right and center field, while McIlwain profiles better in right field for the time being. Junior slugger Alex Destino appears poised to start in left field after rotating between the outfield, designated hitter and first base in the past. Freshman Carlos Cortes, who homered in his second spring scrimmage game, could also factor in to the outfield rotation.
McIlwain will continue to compete in both sports, even with Bentley seemingly having locked down the starting quarterback job for next fall. He will continue to work on football on his own time, with both coaching staffs continuing to assist him with balancing his training schedules, but baseball will take precedence for now.
"I've always wanted to play both sports and that's what I came here to do," McIlwain said. "As long as I can do both, I am going to do both, and whenever one plays itself out, that's the decision."
McIlwain didn't appear in the fist scrimmage on Friday, dealing with a minor abdominal injury, but made his season debut the following day.
McIlwain will continue to play catch-up to a certain degree, but for the first time in quite a while, he will have the opportunity to just be a ballplayer — to just be a kid.