Auburn baseball gets a shortstop, three other commits in the transfer portal
As the College World Series gets underway in Omaha, Auburn head baseball coach Butch Thompson is busy building the core of the next Auburn team that will push to make a return trip.
Leading that charge will be Miami-Ohio SS Cooper Weiss, who committed to transfer to Auburn earlier this afternoon.
The junior from Ft. Myers, FL was a Freshman All-American at Coastal Carolina in 2020 before transferring to Miami (OH) for the 2023 season. He made the most of his single season in Ohio, being named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year and earning a spot on the conference's All-Defense Team.
On the season, Weiss hit .303/.424/.567 with twelve homeruns, twenty-eight extra base hits, and led the team in stolen bases with seventeen (in eighteen attempts).
Weiss had narrowed down his choices to Auburn and Arkansas, visiting Fayetteville on Thursday before announcing his commitment to Auburn on Friday morning.
Weiss's commitment makes it a four player transfer class for Auburn so far, with the shortstop joining Jacksonville State outfielder Mason Maners, UAB infielder Christian Hall, and UAB pitcher Carson Myers.
Maners, a rising senior, hit .341/.449/.556 for the Gamecocks, with twelve doubles, twenty-seven extra base hits, and nine stolen bases.
Talking to 247's Jason Caldwell, he called Auburn his "dream school," saying "I have always been an Auburn fan. There was that pull initially in the back of my head knowing that I had a chance to play at my dream school that I have been a fan of my whole life." but acknowledging that the team's culture was the biggest draw for him. "They’re really focused on creating a great culture."
UAB is losing two players to Auburn in the aforementioned Hall and Myers. Hall, a grad transfer, hit .317/.4147/.528 in his two years for Casey Dunn, with nineteen homeruns and forty extra base hits. After working exclusively as the DH in 2022, he spent time in both the outfield and first base in 2023. Formerly the #2 outfield prospect in the state of Alabama for the 2020 prep class, he started his career at UT-Martin before transferring to UAB.
Joining Hall in Auburn is pitcher Carson Myers. The lefty from Bowling Green, KY made thirteen starts for UAB, going 3-5 with a 3.52 ERA. He struck out seventy batters in his seventy-one and two-thirds innings, walking thirty-four. He allowed only two homeruns all year, with opponents batting .231 against him. A rising junior, he has two remaining years of eligibility.
The four transfers join a growing junior college class that includes a projected starting outfielder in Jackson Castillo (Southern Nevada), amongst others. Castillo is currently not on campus, as he's playing for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League. Seen as the most prestigious of the wood-bat summer leagues, the Cape Cod League has over 200 alumni in MLB and is heavily scouted and supported by MLB. Castillo's sharing time in the outfield with Auburn's Chris Stanfield, who is also on the Braves.
Joining Castillo and Stanfield in Cape Cod is Auburn's Ike Irish, who will play for the Brewster Whitecaps. Those interested in watching the action over the summer can visit D1Baseball.com for free streams of all Cape Cod Baseball League action over the summer.
UPDATE: Cooper Weiss is also playing on the Cape this summer, per reports.