This inside the commitment feature was compiled and written by Wes Mitchell:
With the commitment of Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Siegel four-star defensive end Joseph Anderson today South Carolina again goes out of state and pulls a priority target while continuing to add to its defensive line overhaul.
The out-of-state part of that sentence is especially important when you consider how down the state of South Carolina is in this cycle (Carolina has offers out to just four prospects with only a couple of others who could get offers) which makes it all the more important for the staff to be able to go into neighboring states and land prospects.
Running backs coach Bobby Bentley was able to go into Tennessee last class and land four-star OL Max Iyama and now goes into the state this cycle to land a four-star DL in Anderson. Tennessee is never a state that Carolina is going to load up in but just adding a difference maker or two from there each class can go a long way in the long run, especially when considering that while the state of SC is "down," the state of Tennessee is "up" right now.
Bentley did an excellent job of getting in on Anderson early and getting him on campus multiple times over the last year with the Gamecocks seemingly pushing to the front of his list during the last few months. Anderson, who had Notre Dame as his other top school, was on campus for the spring game and that visit seemed to help seal his recruitment. While Anderson chose the Gamecocks for his own reasons, and Iyama let him have his own process without getting in the way, having someone already in Columbia within the program did give Anderson a sounding board for what to expect in college.
On the field, the first thing that stands out about Anderson is that he's a hard-nosed, "mean" player who plays with an attitude in the trenches. He knows how to use his hands better than most at the high school level and will already be ahead of the curves in terms of setting the edge as a run stopper. Anderson commits to Carolina as a defensive end but is another versatile prospect who could play a number of positions on the Gamecocks "multiple" defensive front.
With the commitment of Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Siegel four-star defensive end Joseph Anderson today South Carolina again goes out of state and pulls a priority target while continuing to add to its defensive line overhaul.
The out-of-state part of that sentence is especially important when you consider how down the state of South Carolina is in this cycle (Carolina has offers out to just four prospects with only a couple of others who could get offers) which makes it all the more important for the staff to be able to go into neighboring states and land prospects.
Running backs coach Bobby Bentley was able to go into Tennessee last class and land four-star OL Max Iyama and now goes into the state this cycle to land a four-star DL in Anderson. Tennessee is never a state that Carolina is going to load up in but just adding a difference maker or two from there each class can go a long way in the long run, especially when considering that while the state of SC is "down," the state of Tennessee is "up" right now.
Bentley did an excellent job of getting in on Anderson early and getting him on campus multiple times over the last year with the Gamecocks seemingly pushing to the front of his list during the last few months. Anderson, who had Notre Dame as his other top school, was on campus for the spring game and that visit seemed to help seal his recruitment. While Anderson chose the Gamecocks for his own reasons, and Iyama let him have his own process without getting in the way, having someone already in Columbia within the program did give Anderson a sounding board for what to expect in college.
On the field, the first thing that stands out about Anderson is that he's a hard-nosed, "mean" player who plays with an attitude in the trenches. He knows how to use his hands better than most at the high school level and will already be ahead of the curves in terms of setting the edge as a run stopper. Anderson commits to Carolina as a defensive end but is another versatile prospect who could play a number of positions on the Gamecocks "multiple" defensive front.
