** Take a moment. Now relax. Breathe in. And exhale. I know that June itself isn't actually over, but in recruiting terms a new dead period has hit, and the busiest month in recruiting history is officially over. But if you think that means the flurry of recruiting activity is going to slow down - think again.
We said multiple times throughout the months leading up to June that we felt that South Carolina's class would start to shake out in the summer and that's certainly been the case with 10 public commits in the boat and now three more that have pledged to the staff but haven't announced their commitments publicly yet. It's been a month of extremely hard work from every single person in the Long Family Football Ops building and a month of trying to separate the prospects who are truly interested in the program from those who aren't. And a month of laying the groundwork for future classes.
And while a dead period is now in place again - that means no in-person visits until the final week of July - many of these prospects who spent all of June traveling from campus to campus will now sit down and try to make a decision in the coming month as they try to get a decision out of the way before their senior seasons begin.
That's a trend I believe we'll see with both South Carolina targets in particular - some have already mentioned exact dates or wanting to commit soon - and with recruits in this class in general. Generally speaking from a national standpoint, I think you'll see a run of prospect commits in the next couple of weeks combined with a group of prospects who want to sneak in one or two more trips in that last week of July before making a decision. In other words, the visits have stopped for now, but don't expect the news (or the coverage here) to stop.
** Hopefully you've been following our coverage throughout the weekend on Gamecock Central, but if you haven't, be sure to check out our
Sunday update thread and
our reaction stories from 11 of the 12 prospects who took official visits this weekend. We're working on making that 12 of 12 soon (and I'm going to drive to Delaware to make it happen if I have to.)
** Based on his feedback Sunday afternoon after his official visit finished up, we're not sure it could have gone any better for South Carolina with four-star tight end
Oscar Delp. Whether it will be enough to unseat Georgia - we've long thought this was a South Carolina-UGA battle - remains to be seen and it's a recruiting battle that will go until Delp makes a decision.
But as far as the Gamecocks putting their best foot forward with Delp, that definitely happened. It's not just lip service or a recruiting pitch when South Carolina tells Delp how he will be used in this scheme. By all indications, the Gamecocks plan to fully feature the tight ends in their scheme this upcoming season and will do the same with Delp's skillset if they land him. The official visit did it's job of presenting that to Delp - he seemed intrigued by that possibility - and reminding him of all the connections he and his family have to the university.
Major kudos to freshman quarterback Colten Gauthier as well who we're told did a fantastic job of hosting Delp and his family and making them feel comfortable while not being pushy about the school. Delp had originally toyed with making a decision on Sept. 30 but now says it could come much sooner than that. He's going to use the next couple of weeks to process what he saw during June - it was an OV-heavy month with trips to SC, UGA, Florida and Michigan and then go from there.
** We first told you about the strong mutual interest between South Carolina and Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons class of 2022 three-star
R Mason Thomas before the official visit weekend and it appears to be even stronger now after this weekend's official visit.
Thomas, who has also taken an official visit to Iowa State is eyeing early July as a possible commitment timetable, he told us after the visit.
While some schools have been a little slow to push for Thomas, seeing him as a possible tweener, South Carolina took advantage of the newly allowed private workouts and was thoroughly impressed with his natural ability to run and move in space both from a testing and eyeball test standpoint. Put simply, the Gamecocks love him as a prospect and he's a great kid on top of all that.
Thomas likes the way South Carolina plans to use him as the 6-foot-2, 217-pounder is seen as someone who will start out as a true inside linebacker but could grow into an EDGE player. The Gamecocks should like their current position here.
** While he was not an official visitor this past weekend, a noteworthy update nonetheless on Southlake (Texas) Carroll class of 2022 three-star wide receiver
Landon Samson: things continue to progress fast here as Samson and his family took a virtual visit to South Carolina on Friday and the feedback we've received there has been beyond positive.
Samson and his family were blown away with the coaching staff we're told and they loved the feedback from Derrick Moore and how he would be used in Marcus Satterfield's scheme.
From what we've gathered, there's a ton of mutual interest here and it's growing by the day. Again, Samson is planning to take an unofficial visit to the school the last week of July. Put it this way, the Futurecast currently points towards Nebraska, but I'm really liking the Gamecocks position here, even without the visit taking place yet. Samson doesn't seem to want to let the process linger out either.
** Four-star WR
Dane Key, who took an official visit to South Carolina over the weekend, is in no hurry at all to make a decision at this point but Key's OV, his first ever time on campus, seems to have laid the groundwork for the Gamecocks to be a major factor here.
When I say Dane doesn't want to decide right now, it really doesn't seem like he wants to if he follows through with plans. He wants to see several schools - South Carolina, Oregon and Michigan - again and see Mississippi State for the first time.
While other prospects are trying to knock their decisions out, he seems to be playing the long game and it's hard to project what impact that may have on how his recruitment plays out. Kentucky, where his dad played, still seems to be the team that will ultimately be tough to beat, but the Gamecocks put their best foot forward and we'll get him back in for a game.
As I mentioned before, there are also several connections here with the Key family and the Carolina staff, so there's a comfort level there. If Key follows through with his plan, this is one we'll be tracking for the long haul.
** As I hinted at above, several Carolina targets have mentioned commitment dates or general commitment timetables recently, and these are just ones that have mentioned it recently. There certainly could be more.
Commit dates and timetables:
Three-star S
Nick Emmanwori - July 1
Four-star DL
Nick James - July 3
Four-star OL
Ryan Brubaker - July 4, 3 p.m.
Four-star DB
Chris Graves - July 9
Three-star LB
R Mason Thomas - "Possibly early July"
Three-star DT
Felix Hixon - "Sometime in July" - Will announce exact date on Tuesday
Four-star DB
Trequon Fegans - Sometime in July or August
Four-star DB
Emory Floyd - "I was really thinking about deciding around August, but it isn't a rush."
Four-star DB
Keenan Nelson Jr. - "Probably sometime over the summer"
Three-star WR
Landon Samson - Before senior season
Stay tuned....
------------
Today’s Carolina Confidential is brought to you by Herring Insurance Services. Call, email, or PM Gamecock Central member Brent Herring today to discuss your home and auto insurance needs.
Located in Lexington but serving all of the Carolinas
803-356-0763
Brent@BrentHerring.com
@BHerring06