Clelland Happy To Be Staying A Buckeye

Andrew Clelland RHP / 3B / Harrison Central, OH / 2020

CADIZ - A new coaching staff at one school and an opportunity to be a two-way player at another in his home state helped Andrew Clelland make one of the hardest decisions of his life.

The Harrison Central junior was going to decommit from Pittsburgh and, soon after, a commitment to Ohio State was made.

“I committed to Pittsburgh in February two years ago,” Clelland reflected. “It was my freshman year and I had just turned 15 three days before. Back then everybody was talking SEC and ACC. I always liked the thought of playing in the south.”

But the recent coaching moves at the Atlantic Coast Conference school brought a change of heart from the third-ranked player in Ohio’s 2020 class.

“They made a coaching change and I didn’t know what to expect,” Clelland explained. “It’s never a guarantee. I just didn’t feel as comfortable.”

So Clelland went to a PBR showcase in August for committed prospects with the idea two-fold.

“My main goal was to get my numbers updated and also to keep my arm going,” Clelland said. “At the time I had no plans of changing, but the past few months with the coaching change, it just felt weird to me and I opened up my options."

Another showcase was followed by an Ohio State camp.

“I planned on decommitting, so a couple weeks ago I went to an Ohio State camp,” noted Clelland, a right-handed pitcher/corner infielder. “The coaches were awesome and the campus felt right. To me it was what I needed to do.”

Ohio State liked what they saw in Clelland, who had become the only player in the top 15 ranked players in the state’s 2020 class not committed.

“They talked about my projection at 6-5/190 and still growing,” Clelland said about OSU. “They saw the possibility of a mid-90s arm. In talking to coach (Greg) Beals, he said he’d be crazy to not go after one of the top kids in the state.”

But there was more than pitching noticed about Clelland.