Live updates from Stegeman Coliseum, where I am out on the road tonight covering the Gamecocks. Tip coming in hot about an hour from now.

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DT Elijah Davis was bumped 22 spots in the final JUCO rankings, which is more in line with what we think at GamecockScoop. Davis is now 7th overall and #1 DT at the JUCO level.

With the addition of Wendell Gregory the Gamecocks now sit at #6 in the Rivals team rankings. A long way to go still, but you couldn't ask for a much better start for Coach Beamer and his staff. I've been saying for a while now that this could be the breakthrough class folks have been looking for. Some of these long relationships are coming to roost. Gregory, who was eventually recruited by tons of major programs, was first offered by South Carolina, and that's the case with several of these guys.

Rivals released the final position rankings this week. Listed below are where Carolina commitments landed.

LaNorris Sellers = #7 Dual-Threat QB
Dontavius Braswell = #19 RB
Elijah Caldwell = #105 WR
Connor Cox = #43 TE
Tosin Babalade = #30 OT
Markee Anderson = #21 OG
Trovon Baugh = #34 OG
Xzavier McLeod = #14 DT
Zavion Hardy = #13 SDE
Monteque Rhames = #20 SDE
Desmond Umeozulu = #10 WDE
Grayson ”Pup” Howard = #22 ILB
Jalon Kilgore = #58 S
Zahbari Sandy = #61 S
Elijah Davis = #29 JUCO Overall

Notable omissions are Kelton Henderson and Vicari Swain. I believe this class is underrated despite many of the players having a national ranking at their position. I may be biased (even though I try not to be) but I suspect if the film were turned on, without the knowledge of which schools offered or who the commitments were to, many of these players would have a higher ranking.

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2024 Top250 LB Wendell Gregory is set to announce at 4:30 today on social media. I’ve had a futurecast for him to South Carolina for a bit and don’t plan on changing it.

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Come hang out and ask questions!

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Justin King and company do it again.

This team has shown no improvement. They aren't even competitive.

South Carolina:
Xzavier McLeod = #2
Monteque Rhames = #3
LaNorris Sellers = #4
Markee Anderson = #5
Elijah Caldwell = #7
Judge Collier = #20

Georgia:
Zavion Hardy = #12
Dontavius Braswell = #29
Jalon Kilgore = #71
Trovon Baugh = #81
Vicari Swain = #89
Jatavius Shivers = #91

Florida:
Grayson “Pup” Howard = #82

Maryland:
Desmond Umeolulu = #3
Tosin Babalade = #4

District of Columbia:
Zahbari Sanders = #4

Alabama:
Kamron Sandlin = #34


Not Ranked:
Reid Mikeska = TX
Tyshawn Russell = PA
CJ Adams = GA
Cameron Upshaw = FL
Connor Cox = FL
Kelton Henderson = FL

...has been talking with the police and a grand jury will decide whether to charge him? This article is a couple of weeks old, but I didn't see anything about it in the now deleted thread that devolved into mayhem. They still haven't released his name.


https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-gr...-shot-killed-robbery-suspect-criminal-charges

Well, that was fun yesterday, wasn't it? As I predicted on Friday, we saw 4 #welcomehomes (though I don't think we are done with commitments from this weekend, some just have a couple more visits before making their final decision). Hopefully, that begins to put to rest some concerns from people who were worried that the number of commitments was "falling behind" others.

For the record, there are currently 2 Welcome Homes that haven't been announced, one from January and one from Sunday.

We are going to dig deeper on all 3 public commitments (and the likely to be public this week 4th) throughout this week, but my one-line summary on each is:

Connor Cox: He's not going to get confused for Jaheim Bell anytime soon as far as athleticism, but I would say his upside is somewhere slightly north of new transfer TE Trey Adkins. That is to say that I expect Cox to fill out his frame once he's on a college nutrition and S&C program, and then be a solid in-line blocker with the ability to catch passes as needed. There aren't going to be entire plays designated to getting the ball in his hands, but he has solid hands and a good work ethic that will make him a valuable piece of the TE puzzle as the team attempts to reload that room in the next year or two.

Kelton Henderson: The lazy comparison that everyone keeps throwing out is Deebo Samuel, and I get why, but I'd say he's more like Pharoh Cooper. That is to say, he's an elite athlete with excellent vision, and short-area quickness but probably doesn't have the game breaking speed that Deebo had. That said, he's got a little more of Deebo's propensity for seeking contact. I'm expecting Rivals to wake up and recognize that Henderson is a 4-star talent, and I think that the only thing that's taken so long is that he's been used as a utility player so much that he hasn't had time to develop fully anywhere yet. Make no mistake, the fact that he's played running back, and that he's shown a knack for laying the wood on defense is a feature to his ability as a WR, not a detriment. Expect to see Henderson making defenders miss on slip-screens on a TV near you in the next few years.

Cameron Upshaw Jr: I think @Perry McCarty did a good job in the free article about his commitment breaking down some things to like about Upshaw. He's actually my favorite DB recruit that the Gamecocks were targeting in this class, and I think he has the most upside. (Not that I don't like Sandy, Kilgore, etc.) The offer list, and the defensive minds behind some of them, tell me all I need to know about how good Upshaw can be at the next level: Arkansas, Florida State, Nebraska, Iowa, Louisville, Michigan State, Penn State among others.



The Week Ahead:

Stay tuned here for follow-up on all the commitments, coverage of the bonus OV from WR Tyler Williams coming up on Tuesday, coverage of Jalon Kilgore's announcement Wednesday, catching up with Dylan Lonergan in advance of his Stanford visit, and July 7th commitment announcement, a podcast breakdown on Thursday, and a Recruiting Rundown on Friday that will be jam-packed with information as we begin to look ahead at who is next on the commitment watch list. Maybe I'll even throw in a few more futurecasts so I can keep building upon my 100% success rate. And then somewhere in there I might actually sleep.

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Pretty good take.

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Bumps the Gamecocks up to #19 in the Rivals team rankings

Checking in from Founders Park, where Mark Kingston will speak to preview the season soon

I will have a few more updates on him in the Weekly Recruiting Wrap-Up on Friday, but Shane Beamer has his final in-home meeting with Harbor in Maryland tonight. Needless to say that's an important one. He's still got an OV to Oregon left this weekend.

EDIT: Newer info further in thread, but I got Maryland and Michigan dates mixed up. Thanks @coolcock# for catching it. Beamer got final in home but Harbor will be in Eugene this weekend.

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Do you folks agree?

Looks like this will be a hard game to watch.

Only the Gamecocks and LSU are undefeated now.