On the third day of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft Clemson redshirt sophomore Alex Eubanks was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 14th round at No. 434 overall.
Eubanks told The Clemson Insider he was ecstatic when he found out the Rangers had drafted him and that the entire process happened so quickly.
“It really all happened so fast,” the righty said. “Yesterday (Tuesday) I had been talking to them (the Rangers) a lot. I kind of thought (Tuesday) was the day. It was the eighth or ninth round and I thought it was about to happen. But things just didn’t work out. I talked to a bunch of teams this morning (Wednesday) and I didn’t really know where I stood so as the rounds kept slipping further and further I just didn’t know exactly what was going to happen.
“Then all of a sudden I got the text that said ‘Hey, we’re going to take you here’ and 30 seconds later it was over. So it happened really fast but it was really cool. It is a childhood dream come true for sure.”
As excited as Eubanks is he does have a hard decision to make as to whether or not he will play professional baseball or return to Clemson for the 2018 season.
“I really haven’t talked about that with the Rangers yet,” he said. “I don’t really know anything for sure. As the days go on we are going to talk about everything and figure it out. I have not decided either way, whether it’s Clemson or professional baseball.”
Whether Eubanks chooses to begin his professional baseball career or return to Clemson for next season, he knows his goals and work ethic will remain the same.
“Once I know everything, what I’m doing, I will be able to figure that out more but no matter where I’m playing or who I’m playing against I try to take every single day the same and just work hard and compete as hard as I can every single time that I’m out there,” he said. “Whether I’m at Clemson or in the Rangers organization it’s going to be the same. I’m just going to get better and work as hard as I can for whichever team I’m playing for.”
Eubanks also knows all he has accomplished in not only his college career at Clemson, but throughout his entire life as a ballplayer, would not have been possible without the people who mean the most to him, his dad and mom.
“My dad and my mom have just been unbelievable supporting me throughout my life, giving me every opportunity that I could ever dream of and traveling all over the country with me when I was little playing travel ball,” Eubanks said. “They come to every single Clemson game so there is no doubt I wouldn’t be here without them. I owe them the world; there’s no question.”