USC baseball gets commitment from son of tennis greats Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf

Tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have steered their children away from the game that made them famous, but that didn’t stop their eldest, 15-year-old son Jaden, from becoming a terrific athlete. He just chose to use his hand-eye coordination to strike a different ball.

Instead of a racket, Jaden wields a baseball bat and strives for a different kind of grand slam than his parents once did.

Jaden has become a national recruit on the diamond, playing in high-profile tournaments around the country. On Monday, his hard work (with a little assist from genetics) paid off as he announced, in an Instagram post, his verbal commitment to play baseball at USC.

The Class of 2020 prospect is a star two-way player for LV Recruits travel team. He was named the Most Valuable Pitcher helping LVR win the Perfect Game West MLK Championship at the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch spring training facility in January. He also made Perfect Game’s 2016 All-Tournament Team after batting .405 and allowing one run in 23 innings at Perfect Game events throughout the year.

Jaden is being recruited as a two-way player, but most coaches and scouts believe that his future is brightest on the mound. The right hander’s fastball was clocked as high as 87 mph at the January tournament in Arizona. With a 6-foot-2, 187-pound frame, Jaden’s velocity is only expected to increase.

In a 2014 interview with Hello Magazine, Graf said Jaden tried other sports, including soccer, but has always been mad about baseball — so much so that he keeps his parents on the move in the Las Vegas area.

“He plays more baseball tournaments than we played tennis tournaments when we were young.”

Agassi is USC’s ninth commitment for the 2020 class.