In some ways, maybe Ryan Wideman was always destined to finish his career at Clemson.

With his father Tom starring for the Tigers’ basketball team back in the 1990s, Wideman grew up an avid fan. HIs family ties to Clemson run deep, and when he was younger he spent a lot of time on campus, attending baskteball games and football games.

Now, everything has come full circle, as Wideman, who just earned All-American honors after a stellar season at Western Kentucky, announced a commitment to Erik Bakich and the Clemson baseball program on Wednesday.

“When I was younger, I would come up, probably two or three times a year,” Wideman told The Clemson Insider. “I mainly came to basketball games growing up. I don’t remember being at a lot of baseball games, maybe one or two, but I was a kid who did a lot of Clemson basketball games. Growing up, I was around Clemson. I went to the Clemson national championship game in Tampa Bay, when the Deshaun (Watson) threw that touchdown to Hunter Refrow. I’ve just grown up around Clemson, being a huge fan, it just felt like the right fit with coach Bakich.”

Wideman, along with his father, visited Clemson last Saturday, with both coming away overly impressed with Bakich and how he runs his program.

“Bakich spent about five hours of time with me,” Wideman said. “It was really cool how he just took a lot of time with us. My dad was there as well, so it was good to have my dad back up on campus. After we left, my dad said what a good dude Bakich is. He’s just a really good dude. He said he could see me playing for him and I agreed. I could see myself playing for him. It’s always been kind of my dream school growing up.”

The two may have come away even more impressed by Bakich the person.

“I could just tell right off the bat that he was just a really good dude, just genuine,” Wideman said. “I’ve taken visits in high school and taken visits in junior college, and it’s really rare when a head coach for a big program spends all that time with you. It just makes you feel wanted. I think that was such a big thing for me was making me feel wanted. I haven’t really gotten to know him a ton, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Wideman spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at the JUCO level, starring for Georgia Highlands College, where he was a two-time JUCO All-American and also appreared in the JUCO World Series.

The outfielder then transferred to Western Kentucky for his junior season, where he hit an eye-popping .398, with 10 home runs and 68 RBI. He also had 20 doubles, six triples and 45 stolen bases.

While he is grateful for the opporunity he had with both of those programs, Wideman would like to finish his college career by not only playing for his dream school, but against some of the best competition in the country.

“I want to play in a harder conference and I’d say the ACC is a premier conference,” Wideman added. “We’re going to play some really good teams next year. And that’s just a part of it. My dreams are to play professional baseball, and I just feel that Clemson is going to be the right spot. They’re going to keep developing me to be the best player I can be.”

Wearing the orange and purple in front of a capacity crowd at Doug Kingsmore is something he has always dreamed about.

“Just the environment; playing for a big-time program,” Wideman said. “Western Kentucky was a great spot for me. I played junior college a year and a half ago, and we played in front of about 15 to 20 fans most games. Until we got to the JUCO World Series. So I’m looking forward to playing in a great environment. I’m looking forward to engaging with the fans.”

Being a rising senior, Wideman is also draft eligible, and after the junior campaign he just had, there’s always the possibility he hears his name called at some point during the MLB Draft being held July 13-14.

However, for now, Wideman is just celebrating committing to the school he grew up rooting for, and thinking about adding to the Wideman legacy his father cemented for himself as a member of the basketball team.

“My dad, me and my family, we’re all diehard Clemson fans, so just being able to put that jersey on and represent Clemson,” Wideman said. “I play really hard on the field. Some people haven’t really seen me play. That’s all good, but I play really, really hard. I just, I’m looking forward to doing that for Clemson. Everyone wants to go to Omaha, so that’s gonna be the goal next year.”

Photo courtesy of Ryan Wideman on X (formerly known as Twitter) @RyanWideman03