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Wes Mitchell
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The busiest month in recruiting history is now two-thirds over as South Carolina has now completed eight of its 10 allotted camp days.
Technically, the Gamecocks are done with the true one-day camps, with the final of those taking place this past Saturday, but there are two days left that will once again feature an OL/DL camp at the stadium paired with a team 7-on-7 passing tournament on both Thursday and Friday of this week. Gamecock Central will continue its streak of covering every single camp day since the start of the Muschamp era by of course bringing you complete coverage of those two days.
The Gamecocks' highly anticipated second big official visit weekend is of course scheduled for this weekend with several priority targets set to hit campus for official visits.
** Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons class of 2022 three-star DE/LB R Mason Thomas is set to take an official visit to South Carolina this weekend and as we mentioned this past week, the Gamecocks appear to have some momentum here. In fact, I'll officially put him on commit watch for this weekend, assuming the official visit goes well.
Defensive coordinator Clayton White has always liked Thomas, who is listed as a defensive end but is being recruited by the Gamecocks as a true linebacker. South Carolina had him in last Wednesday on an unofficial visit and put him through a private workout that they were apparently impressed with. That was like to get a close, in-person look at Thomas' athleticism and ability to play in space.
The fact that Thomas quickly set up an official visit to South Carolina, and the positive feedback I've heard on the unofficial, tells me there's movement here. Thomas has taken an official to Iowa State and was set to see Pitt on an OV this weekend but again is now set to see the Gamecocks.
** Another prospect the Gamecocks have made quick progress with is Southlake (Texas) Carroll class of 2022 three-star wide receiver Landon Samson who landed an offer from South Carolina and Justin Stepp last week.
The Gamecocks are Samson's first SEC offer and he's moved quick in setting up an official visit to South Carolina for the final week of July.
Stepp has a strong relationship with Samson's head coach Riley Dodge dating back to his time recruiting the state at SMU and Arkansas and it appears the Gamecocks' wide receivers coach has also hit it off with Samson and his family.
Samson has taken an official visit to Nebraska - many consider the Cornhusters the current favorite - and an unofficial to Ohio State and also plans to take an official to UCF.
South Carolina already appears to have his attention is officially a prospect to track going into the Carolina OV. Samson wants to have a commitment made before his senior season begins.
As a junior this past season, Samson was the Texas District 4-6A OPOY with 74 receptions for 1,293 yds and 15 TDs.
** This week marks a key moment in the recruitment of Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson four-star RB Jaylon Glover as he is currently on his official visit to Florida State, the program that's long been considered South Carolina's toughest competition to land Glover, and will be there through Thursday. Glover has visited FSU before unofficially but this will be the program's opportunity to lay it all out there.
As for where he'll ultimately end up, there are a lot of variables to sort through here. First of all, Glover is clearly a target for the Seminoles but they also already have one commitment from a running back/athlete and are involved with a couple of other top RBs as well - so it's not exactly clear where Glover is on the board.
For what it's worth, the belief at South Carolina is that Glover had an excellent official visit and that the Gamecocks are firmly in it. Montario Hardesty has chosen to cast a small net of extremely talented backs for this class and we can tell you that Glover is a huge priority and a definite take for the Gamecocks.
To complicate matters a big more, Florida finally - emphasis on finally - came forward with an offer for Glover this past week after slowplaying him for months. Glover grew up a Florida fan and the area he's from is typically very friendly to the Gators. But with a later offer and the fact that the Gators are heavily involved with other RBs too and could be hedging their bets, it remains to be seen how much of a factor the Gators really are here. Glover also really enjoyed his OV to Georgia Tech this past weekend.
Sorting through all of the above, we could start to have a clearer picture after Thursday when the FSU official visit wraps up.
** One prospect we haven't mentioned in a while who the Gamecocks have been quietly keeping in constant contact with is Clayton (N.C.) Cleveland class of 2022 four-star RB Omarion Hampton. You may remember that name as one of Des Kitching's initial RB targets in the class.
Hampton seems to have his official visits locked in with Auburn, Florida, Penn State, Ohio State and North Carolina all either having already received official visits or getting OVs at a later date.
But Hardesty has a good relationship here and the communication is good and Hampton doesn't seem close to making a decision. Probably a bit of a longshot here, but there's been a push as of late to get Hampton to Columbia an unofficial before the summer is over, so don't be surprised if he pops up on campus at some point soon. And if he doesn't you can probably cross him back off the list.
** We've confirmed that Lexington (Ky.) Fredrick Douglass class of 2022 four-star WR Dane Key is set to officially visit South Carolina this weekend.
Key has long been considered a heavy lean to the Wildcats, though our friends at CatsIllustrated recently reported that things seem to have been hot and cold betwee the Wildcats and Key: The Wildcats led by Vince Marrow certainly seem to be turning up the heat on Key, who was rumored weeks ago to be lukewarm on the 'Cats. But things could be turning in the right direction.
That suggests that the Wildcats may still be the favorite but also that Key may be open to leaving the state and he completed his official visit to UK without pulling the trigger on a commitment. He took an official visit to Oregon this past weekend. The Gamecocks will have their chance to present their case to him this weekend.
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