W
Wes Mitchell
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** One of the biggest trends we're seeing with South Carolina's 2021 recruiting class is a heavy emphasis on prospects with versatility. Obviously, Chris and I have already talked a ton about the hurdles South Carolina specifically (disappointing season last year, down cycle in state) and that all football programs (no in-person evals, no in-person visits) have faced this recruiting cycle, so we won't go into all of that again. But there are advantages in recruiting players who play multiple positions and could potentially help at another position if it doesn't work out at their primary or first spot.
That also allows Carolina to be a little more lenient with the by-positions numbers. For example, we've been asked quite a bit how many wide receivers the staff will take, but there's not really a hard number there. The plan is to take as many "playmakers" as possible among the skill player positions and let it all sort out when they get to campus.
** Speaking of that, another prospect who fits in that category for South Carolina is Riverdale (Ga.) three-star ATH Derwin Burgess, who has been recruited as both a receiver and defensive back by various teams. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Burgess has said that he's planning to announce soon and I consider the Gamecocks to be the favorite here. I'll be putting in a Futurecast for them at some point.
Georgia Tech is South Carolina's biggest competition here but he also has offers from FSU, Tennessee and West Virginia, to name a few. Burgess fits into the slot receiver mold on offense. Check the highlights below and let me know what you think...
** As I've said before, South Carolina plans to sign two running backs in this class with one already in the boat. I still expect the other slot to be taken by one out of the group of K'Wan Powell, Antario Brown, Ke'Travion Hargrove and Jaylin White.
It's still hard to predict which prospect it will be, because it largely will be determined by timing, but I'd say there's been a slight shift here in who is most likely if you handicapped it. At this point, there's some definite traction with Brown and I would say the Gamecocks are trending there.
If you were going to list them from most likely to least likely, I would probably have Brown at the top now. I likely would have had White near the bottom of that list when I first made it, but I would move him up at this point too as I think Carolina has more traction with him as of late and the state of Alabama in general as they're selling several from that state on playing together.
We will, of course, continue to monitor that.
** Speaking of Alabama kids, I continue to hear that South Carolina is in great shape with Fairfield (Ala.) three-star WR Malachi Bennett. Bennett told Phil Kornblut that he's set an official visit to South Carolina for the weekend of Oct. 10, when South Carolina plays Tennessee. Bennett remains a priority target for the Gamecocks.
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