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Wes Mitchell
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** This morning I entered a South Carolina Futurecast with Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley class of 2020 four-star wide receiver Michael Wyman.
The reason for the prediction now is twofold. I believe South Carolina has been in the best position for Wyman since his January junior day visit (and possibly before that) and I think it's very possible you see Wyman end his recruiting process sooner rather than later.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pounder has been on a roll lately, adding offers from schools like Georgia, Southern Cal, LSU and Notre Dame lately and will reportedly official to Oklahoma in April. But it looks like a very real possibility that he could make his decision before then. Stay tuned there.
** Another wide receiver that South Carolina made a move with during a recent junior day visit is McDonough (Ga.) ECLA class of 2020 future four-star Justin Robinson, though I believe Carolina still trails other schools here.
Robinson was more impressed than expected with what the program has to offer (as is usually the case with prospects who have never been to USC before) and likes what he heard from offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon. But Georgia will likely prove to be tough to beat in the long run and other out of state schools like Notre Dame and Virginia (Bronco Mendenhall and company got in early) also have grabbed his attention.
** Remember the name Gavin Blackwell as one to keep an early eye on in the 2021 class as the Monroe (N.C.) Sun Valley wide receiver has several ties to South Carolina, as a state, university and football program. The 6-foot, 155-pounder, who was in Columbia for a recent junior day, has family in Columbia, an aunt who attended USC and his cousin is former Gamecock Justice Cunningham. It's very early in the recruiting process for Blackwell, who has a USC offer already, but I like the Gamecocks as an early favorite.
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The most interesting recruiting development of the weekend came, not on the football side, but from the men's basketball program with the visit of class of 2019 four-star wing Christian Brown, who was in Columbia for Saturday's win over Arkansas. Collyn Taylor caught up with Brown follow that visit (you can see his thoughts on it here) and I've reached out to several people for the latest on Brown's situation the last couple of days.
Here's what I've gathered. Going back to Brown's A.C. Flora days, the local prospect was a known national-level prospect and he never really seemed to have much interest in the South Carolina program. The Gamecocks recruited him early on, but at some point both sides sort of mutually moved on with Brown focused on other programs and South Carolina focused on other prospects.
The split, combined with Brown's move away from home to Virginia, has resulted in a renewed interest in possibly playing close to home again and it was actually Brown who reached out to South Carolina about checking out the program again prior to this past weekend's trip.
As Collyn reported in his story, Frank Martin met with Brown and his family again on Sunday. The weekend has offered an opportunity for Brown and family to see some of the other sides of Martin as a person and role model, as opposed to just what is seen on gameday. The fact that freshmen A.J. Lawson and Keyshawn Bryant played so well Saturday and that Trae Hannibal, a well-respected player in the state, was on campus to help recruit on Saturday, are other factors that don't hurt Carolina.
We'll continue to track the situation, but from everything I've gathered, the interest in South Carolina is real and there are some close to Brown who would love to see him back close to home, though it's ultimately his decision. N.C. State appears to be South Carolina's biggest threat with Illinois also a program to watch.
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