The Clemson baseball program hasn’t had the chance to hit the brakes since the end of the 2023 season. With a wave of transfers coming in, decisions for the MLB draft and the sudden loss of Billy Amick, head coach Erik Bakich’s hands are full.

While the loss of Amick obviously hurt, star freshman Cam Cannarella is staying the course in Clemson. In his first season, he was a first-team All-ACC selection and won the ACC Freshman of the Year award. Batting .388 with seven homers and 47 RBI’s, Cannarella became a massive commodity in the college baseball world.

While speaking to media Thursday, Bakich detailed how Cannarella was also pursued by other programs through tampering.

“I love Cam, I love his family and I appreciate the loyalty. There was tampering going on with him, ” Bakich said. “Third parties and that’s how it’s done. It’s never done from direct coach to player, it’s the third party stuff. He held his ground and stuck his feet in and their family realized that he’s not only grown as a baseball player but as a person and his friends are here and he’s thriving here. You don’t want to mess with success and he’s successful here.

Cannarella is one of the strongest talents in the program, so hearing that other schools were trying to secure his talent isn’t a surprise given the landscape of college baseball. Thankfully for the Tigers, his heart is with Clemson and he’s going nowhere soon.

“It’s really exciting to think about his trajectory and about the career that he can build for himself on that trajectory and being able to play this great game for a long, long time and I love his fire and I love his competitiveness and I don’t want to lose that for one second because it’s what makes him great. He’s awesome and we love having him, I’m glad he’s on our team and staying on our team,” Bakich said.

The Tigers coach also noted how while Cannarella was a shortstop previously, he’s found a home in center field for Clemson and there’s no plans to move him considering the success.