W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
** We start this weekend edition of the Confidential by going Inside the Commitment of Georgia Military College DB Isaiah Norris who announced his pledge to the Gamecocks on Christmas day. Norris technically flipped from Middle Tennessee to South Carolina, but he had already informed the Middle Tennessee staff prior to the early signing period that he was going to sign with the Gamecocks so that they could use this scholarship to sign someone else. You'll notice that the Gamecocks announced Norris' signing on their Twitter, which means he sent in his letter of intent during the early signing period but it was kept quiet so that he could announce on Christmas, so indeed this one has been in the works for a while.
Norris played his first season of JUCO ball at New Mexico before transferring to GMC and was already on the radar for the Muschamp staff as a likely late offer before the coaching change. He was one of, if not the, first offer for Shane Beamer and company when Beamer got the job. Norris also landed an offer from Tennessee around the same time, but once the T.L. Hanna grad and Anderson native got the chance to come back home and also play with one of his current teammates in Marcellas Dial, it became pretty much a no-brainer that he'd land with the Gamecocks.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder is a 10.87 100-meter dash guy and a 10' 6" high-jumper with impressive film at NM last year before the JUCO season at GMC was moved to the spring this year. Norris is a May graduate with ball skills. He was considered a ball hawk with a knack for making big plays at Hanna and would have been more highly recruited if not for his academic situation. I'm not going to put crazy expectations on him but with the Gamecocks situation in the secondary, he's definitely going to have every chance to play in 2021.
** After spending time catching up with players and their parents on the phone and Zoom when he first landed the job, Beamer hosted individual player meetings in his office last week for more in-depth discussions with each player before the players went home for Christmas.
The purpose of those meetings, I'm told, was to continue the process of getting to know the players as people and asking them why they chose South Carolina, what they think of the program, and what their assessment is of the program and where it is now. We're told that those meetings went well and that Beamer has steadily pushed a positive vibe and mindset around the program since arriving.
** There are currently several players in the transfer portal who we're tracking and who South Carolina is gathering information on. We have mentioned former Georgia Tech wide receiver Ahmarean Brown as one of those to watch in the past and believe he's a prospect the Gamecocks have focused in on. With a wide receivers coach not yet named, Des Kitchings has been heavily involved with Brown to this point.
Brown is a prototypical slot receiver at 5-foot-10, 170-pounds with quickness and speed with the added knack for getting open on the deep ball and adjusting to passes down the field.
He had a strong freshman season with a team-leading 396 receiving yards on 21 receptions to average 18.9 yards per catch. This past season, he took a step back and wasn't targeted as much, playing in just 7 games, catching 11 balls for 183 yards and a TD - a huge surprise to those who follow GT closely and saw Brown as Tech's best returning player on offense coming into the season. Obviously, something was up there, but based on his freshman season alone, Brown appears to be someone with the talent to step in and help a team from the slot. Check out the highlights below...
------------
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
