Former USC softball star finds value in returning to school

Samie Garcia uses the off season to finish her degree

There is a growing trend amongst professional athletes; those who leave their Universities early are coming back to school to finish their degrees.

Most commonly heard of in the NFL due to the leagues incentive policy for players who left school early, the trend isn't immune to other sports too. In this particular case, softball.

Samie Garcia came to South Carolina as a highly recruited junior college player from Cerritos College in Norwalk, CA. just 30 minutes from where she grew up in Los Angeles. But she found herself instead going 2,431 miles across the country to continue her softball career.

In her three years in garnet and black Garcia complied a masterful career at shortstop not rivaled by many other Gamecock players. She left Columbia with a .364 batting average, 12 home runs, 71 RBI's and 44 stolen bases as a regular lead off hitter. A two-time All-SEC selection, her senior season this past spring she led the conference with nine doubles and was second in the conference in assists with 58.

Her career ended appropriately as she was drafted by the newly founded New York/New Jersey Comets of the NPF, National Pro Fast Pitch, the country's only professional fast pitch softball league. She was taken with the second pick in the fourth round as the fourteenth overall selection.

Garcia's rookie season was primarily spent as a utility player, playing all positions on the field. She finished 2013 with a .187 average, a home run and five RBI's in 150 plate appearances. But instead of staying up north in the busy metropolis of the big apple, Garcia decided to spend her off season where she got her big break, Columbia, SC.

Garcia's days at Cerritos got her behind with her required course load at South Carolina, so technically when she left she still had one year of classes to take. Garcia knew the value of what a college education could do for her, so she had her mind made up even before she was drafted back in May.

Garcia, with the help of softball academic adviser Rob Campbell, used an NCAA rule where an athlete who transferred from a JUCO is allowed five years of eligible scholarship money. Luckily for Garcia, she still had one year left and can use the money to pay for her expenses at USC.

The California native is in the sport and entertainment management track, where she hopes she can use her degree to one day coach the sport she loves, softball. Not only is she finishing out her degree, but in the spring Garcia plans to intern as a special assistant along side head softball coach Bev Smith to help her old team.

The NPF will start up again in May, but when Garcia returns she'll have a degree in hand.