As we have mentioned before, South Carolina is set to enroll an unprecedented number of prospects in the month of January for the 2018 cycle. The Gamecock staff, counting current commitments plus remaining targets, should have 12-14 early enrollees in this class. That would make for the highest number Will Muschamp has had in a recruiting class he’s been associated with in the past, and of course it’s always a positive to get prospects acclimated early and going through spring ball.
Ten of USC’s current pledges will be enrolling in January:
Wyatt Campbell
Kingsley Enagbare
Deshaun Fenwick
Ernest Jones
Dakereon Joyner
Hank Manos
Max Iyama
RJ Roderick
Darius Rush
Lavonte Valentine
Current commitment Ronald Jamison was originally slated to be an early enrollee, but as is sometimes the case with junior college prospects, there is further academic work to do there that could prevent that.
2017 grayshirt Tyreek Johnson will also be in the January crop of early enrollees.
Out of several remaining targets, defensive back Israel Mukuamu is also an early enrollee, as is defensive lineman Jarrett Jackson. Those two, which have been in Wes Mitchell’s latest edition of his “projected class”, could add a couple to the final tally. Junior college target Saivion Smith could also be a midyear enrollee, although we still feel Alabama is the team to beat there.
I mentioned in the last Insider Report that Muschamp and running backs coach Bobby Bentley recently conducted in home visits with Deshaun Fenwick and Lavonte Valentine in Florida. We recapped Fenwick’s already, but I was told that the visit with Valentine was a good one as well. The dual-sport standout is a guy the staff believes will be a unique talent because he’s so fast; you just don’t find guys that are 10.3-10.4 seconds in the 100 meters often on the football field. Valentine’s knee, which he also had surgery on recently, is doing well.
Defensive line target Jarrett Jackson was mentioned earlier, and I wanted to add a bit there. We’ve said that South Carolina’s staff is extremely high on him, but I continue to get word of how much a priority he is for the staff. If USC does follow through with landing him, some around the program believe he carries the highest upside of anyone in the class.
Will Muschamp was on the sideline when Dutch Fork standout Bryce Thompson broke a long touchdown run on a direct snap this weekend, helping the Silver Foxes to a one-point win over Dorman in the 5A state title game. There is not much new to report on Thompson’s recruitment other than what we’ve said; his academic situation should be more known later in the month after final semester grades are released. Yet he’s made progress there, and this Saturday’s performance only served to increase the likelihood there could be a push by the Gamecocks if he qualifies.
South Carolina would like to add Charlotte four-star offensive guard Jovaughn Gwyn to the 2018 class and pair him with four-star offensive tackle Dylan Wonnum to round out offensive line recruiting this cycle. After it appeared he would make an earlier decision at one point, Gwyn shelved that plan in favor of taking some official visits and waiting until later to make a choice. He made an official visit to NC State, which has been the biggest challenger involved with him to date, over the weekend. I can tell you there were some positive vibes in terms of South Carolina’s chances prior to that trip, with the Wolfpack staff using this trip to try to reinforce its own position. South Carolina still has its official visit at-bat here. Gwyn has a good relationship with lead recruiter Bobby Bentley and offensive line coach Eric Wolford and believes Wolford would do an excellent job developing him for the next level. As well, the Gamecocks' early season win over NC State head-to-head certainly does not hurt matters.
Ten of USC’s current pledges will be enrolling in January:
Wyatt Campbell
Kingsley Enagbare
Deshaun Fenwick
Ernest Jones
Dakereon Joyner
Hank Manos
Max Iyama
RJ Roderick
Darius Rush
Lavonte Valentine
Current commitment Ronald Jamison was originally slated to be an early enrollee, but as is sometimes the case with junior college prospects, there is further academic work to do there that could prevent that.
2017 grayshirt Tyreek Johnson will also be in the January crop of early enrollees.
Out of several remaining targets, defensive back Israel Mukuamu is also an early enrollee, as is defensive lineman Jarrett Jackson. Those two, which have been in Wes Mitchell’s latest edition of his “projected class”, could add a couple to the final tally. Junior college target Saivion Smith could also be a midyear enrollee, although we still feel Alabama is the team to beat there.
I mentioned in the last Insider Report that Muschamp and running backs coach Bobby Bentley recently conducted in home visits with Deshaun Fenwick and Lavonte Valentine in Florida. We recapped Fenwick’s already, but I was told that the visit with Valentine was a good one as well. The dual-sport standout is a guy the staff believes will be a unique talent because he’s so fast; you just don’t find guys that are 10.3-10.4 seconds in the 100 meters often on the football field. Valentine’s knee, which he also had surgery on recently, is doing well.
Defensive line target Jarrett Jackson was mentioned earlier, and I wanted to add a bit there. We’ve said that South Carolina’s staff is extremely high on him, but I continue to get word of how much a priority he is for the staff. If USC does follow through with landing him, some around the program believe he carries the highest upside of anyone in the class.
Will Muschamp was on the sideline when Dutch Fork standout Bryce Thompson broke a long touchdown run on a direct snap this weekend, helping the Silver Foxes to a one-point win over Dorman in the 5A state title game. There is not much new to report on Thompson’s recruitment other than what we’ve said; his academic situation should be more known later in the month after final semester grades are released. Yet he’s made progress there, and this Saturday’s performance only served to increase the likelihood there could be a push by the Gamecocks if he qualifies.
South Carolina would like to add Charlotte four-star offensive guard Jovaughn Gwyn to the 2018 class and pair him with four-star offensive tackle Dylan Wonnum to round out offensive line recruiting this cycle. After it appeared he would make an earlier decision at one point, Gwyn shelved that plan in favor of taking some official visits and waiting until later to make a choice. He made an official visit to NC State, which has been the biggest challenger involved with him to date, over the weekend. I can tell you there were some positive vibes in terms of South Carolina’s chances prior to that trip, with the Wolfpack staff using this trip to try to reinforce its own position. South Carolina still has its official visit at-bat here. Gwyn has a good relationship with lead recruiter Bobby Bentley and offensive line coach Eric Wolford and believes Wolford would do an excellent job developing him for the next level. As well, the Gamecocks' early season win over NC State head-to-head certainly does not hurt matters.
