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*** On Saturday, Dutch Fork wide receiver Antonio Williams will look to cap a great high school career with another state championship, and several Gamecock coaches are expected to be on the sideline.
Ole Miss has put up points in bunches under Lane Kiffin, and Oxford is a place that has some obvious family ties.
Clemson jumped in with its offer after missing out on four-star wide receiver Andre Greene Jr. out of Virginia, and the Tigers opted to burn Dabo Swinney's one allotted contact period visit during this past week. Shane Beamer, meanwhile, has thus far reserved his final in-person visit for a later date.
While Williams took an official visit to Auburn, we don't consider the Tigers a big factor. Many sources we've spoken with do not seem to be high on the chances of Ole Miss landing him, either.
The timing of Clemson's head coach visit is interesting. While we couldn't speak to the internal strategy, it would make sense if Swinney went in the home to get a better sense of where things are with Williams and to feel out of the Tigers staff may be able to get him to the Upstate for a final visit. Our understanding is Clemson is hoping to get Williams back on campus, working around the Touchstone Energy Bowl (North/South) he's due to play in next weekend.
Justin Stepp has done outstanding work in forging a relationship with Williams and his family, while area recruiter Erik Kimrey and Beamer have also been heavily involved. The Gamecocks staff will surely need to be in position to answer some questions regarding the offense in the days leading up to the early signing period, which could tie in with the timing of Beamer's final contact period visit. Many of the other boxes Williams appears to be looking for are being checked by the approach of the Carolina staff.
Coming off his official visit to Auburn for the Iron Bowl, Williams spoke with AuburnSports.com and gave his thoughts on which critical factors he'll look at to arrive at his decision in the coming days.
"Getting on the field early and just having good relationships with coaches and players," Williams said.
We know that there's early playing time to be had for this four-star prospect in Columbia, and it would be hard to argue that South Carolina's staff has been the earliest, most persistent, and most consistent in its pursuit.
For a prospect that does not say much about his recruitment, will that statement end up saying a lot?
*** We've previously informed our subscribers at GamecockCentral.com that this is expected to be another year in which transfer portal activity is, well, active for Shane Beamer and his staff.
There are a couple of former five-star quarterbacks that have now entered the portal that are creating buzz among fan bases across the country, including South Carolina, in Spencer Rattler and Quinn Ewers.
Let's begin with Ewers: there's been an industry-wide expectation that this would happen at some point. Ewers, of course, is friends and a former high school teammate with Carolina wide receiver commitment Landon Samson.
From our tracking of this situation, it appears that the latest information points to a high likelihood of Ewers heading back to his home state of Texas. There's actually been a decent amount of buzz lately for Texas Tech, which recently tabbed former Baylor staffer (and Texas high school coach) Joey McGuire as its new head man. Ewers was at one time committed to the University of Texas out of high school before flipping to Ohio State, and some of the treatment in the aftermath by those in Austin is something that may be difficult to overcome - in addition to the fact that at UT doesn't look like a very stable situation.
In short, early returns indicate that there may not be much of a South Carolina angle here.
The next part of this is the fact that some media reports have stated Ewers could attempt to lure other prospects he's close with from his home state to his new destination. Samson, of course, would qualify as such.
We've asked the question and it's been answered pretty strongly: we're told that Samson is "100 percent" locked in with the Gamecocks. To drive the point home, when we asked about the possibility of Samson following Ewers to a program, here's the response we got from a source close to Samson:
"Landon is not a follower."
*** We've also mentioned that South Carolina could mine the portal and the junior college ranks for a ready-to-play offensive linemen to bring in, and we anticipate that some others will come to light as things progress.
One we're at least keeping an eye on is Auburn gradate transfer Tashawn Manning.
*** With Shane Beamer's ties to Norman as a former Oklahoma staffer under Lincoln Riley, it's natural to wonder which other Sooner transfers South Carolina may become involved with in December. Wide receivers Theo Wease and Jadon Haselwood, plus offensive linemen Brey Walker have recently entered the portal.
The early scuttle we hear makes it seem like Haselwood will end up being involved with a couple SEC programs - Georgia (his home state program, formerly committed there) and Arkansas. The Razorbacks have his former high school coach on staff.
We haven't heard anything on Walker to date. Wease is one that we could end up hearing more about in terms of South Carolina.
*** The other high-profile quarterback transfer in the portal is, of course, Oklahoma transfer Spencer Rattler.
Arizona State has been posited as a potential landing spot for the Arizona native, but we have confirmed that's not going to happen.
There's been enough here between Rattler and South Carolina to where it would be accurate to say that the Gamecocks appear to be in the mix. Beyond that, there aren't many more details to report just yet.
*** We also know that the Gamecocks are involved with OU transfer Austin Stogner, who visited Columbia on Thursday and Friday. Stogner had dinner with members of the coaching staff on Thursday and wrapped his trip on Friday. Indications are he really enjoyed his time in Columbia, but it's not clear if there are any other visits on the books. We anticipate Stogner playing things pretty close to the vest.
To loop in Rattler, tell you that multiple college football programs that are involved with Stogner and Rattler's recruitment have gotten the sense that these two former teammates would like to play together at a new destination. We don't yet know if that will certainly happen, but it seems to have been discussed.
Stogner has visited South Carolina and Rattler has not, but there is involvement to at least some degree with the latter. That adds another layer of intrigue to South Carolina's pursuit here. We'll keep everyone posted with any movement.
Post Up Careers can guide you through this process with their customized resume services. Get personalized coaching to up your game in the job market with Post Up Careers, a company whose mission is to help you navigate all aspects of your career: resume writing, interview preparation, LinkedIn optimization, and much more. Make your talents stand out with the help of a company owned by a lifelong Carolina fan and alumnus – visit PostUpCareers.com or email franklin@postupcareers.comtoday.
*** On Saturday, Dutch Fork wide receiver Antonio Williams will look to cap a great high school career with another state championship, and several Gamecock coaches are expected to be on the sideline.
Ole Miss has put up points in bunches under Lane Kiffin, and Oxford is a place that has some obvious family ties.
Clemson jumped in with its offer after missing out on four-star wide receiver Andre Greene Jr. out of Virginia, and the Tigers opted to burn Dabo Swinney's one allotted contact period visit during this past week. Shane Beamer, meanwhile, has thus far reserved his final in-person visit for a later date.
While Williams took an official visit to Auburn, we don't consider the Tigers a big factor. Many sources we've spoken with do not seem to be high on the chances of Ole Miss landing him, either.
The timing of Clemson's head coach visit is interesting. While we couldn't speak to the internal strategy, it would make sense if Swinney went in the home to get a better sense of where things are with Williams and to feel out of the Tigers staff may be able to get him to the Upstate for a final visit. Our understanding is Clemson is hoping to get Williams back on campus, working around the Touchstone Energy Bowl (North/South) he's due to play in next weekend.
Justin Stepp has done outstanding work in forging a relationship with Williams and his family, while area recruiter Erik Kimrey and Beamer have also been heavily involved. The Gamecocks staff will surely need to be in position to answer some questions regarding the offense in the days leading up to the early signing period, which could tie in with the timing of Beamer's final contact period visit. Many of the other boxes Williams appears to be looking for are being checked by the approach of the Carolina staff.
Coming off his official visit to Auburn for the Iron Bowl, Williams spoke with AuburnSports.com and gave his thoughts on which critical factors he'll look at to arrive at his decision in the coming days.
"Getting on the field early and just having good relationships with coaches and players," Williams said.
We know that there's early playing time to be had for this four-star prospect in Columbia, and it would be hard to argue that South Carolina's staff has been the earliest, most persistent, and most consistent in its pursuit.
For a prospect that does not say much about his recruitment, will that statement end up saying a lot?
*** We've previously informed our subscribers at GamecockCentral.com that this is expected to be another year in which transfer portal activity is, well, active for Shane Beamer and his staff.
There are a couple of former five-star quarterbacks that have now entered the portal that are creating buzz among fan bases across the country, including South Carolina, in Spencer Rattler and Quinn Ewers.
Let's begin with Ewers: there's been an industry-wide expectation that this would happen at some point. Ewers, of course, is friends and a former high school teammate with Carolina wide receiver commitment Landon Samson.
From our tracking of this situation, it appears that the latest information points to a high likelihood of Ewers heading back to his home state of Texas. There's actually been a decent amount of buzz lately for Texas Tech, which recently tabbed former Baylor staffer (and Texas high school coach) Joey McGuire as its new head man. Ewers was at one time committed to the University of Texas out of high school before flipping to Ohio State, and some of the treatment in the aftermath by those in Austin is something that may be difficult to overcome - in addition to the fact that at UT doesn't look like a very stable situation.
In short, early returns indicate that there may not be much of a South Carolina angle here.
The next part of this is the fact that some media reports have stated Ewers could attempt to lure other prospects he's close with from his home state to his new destination. Samson, of course, would qualify as such.
We've asked the question and it's been answered pretty strongly: we're told that Samson is "100 percent" locked in with the Gamecocks. To drive the point home, when we asked about the possibility of Samson following Ewers to a program, here's the response we got from a source close to Samson:
"Landon is not a follower."
*** We've also mentioned that South Carolina could mine the portal and the junior college ranks for a ready-to-play offensive linemen to bring in, and we anticipate that some others will come to light as things progress.
One we're at least keeping an eye on is Auburn gradate transfer Tashawn Manning.
*** With Shane Beamer's ties to Norman as a former Oklahoma staffer under Lincoln Riley, it's natural to wonder which other Sooner transfers South Carolina may become involved with in December. Wide receivers Theo Wease and Jadon Haselwood, plus offensive linemen Brey Walker have recently entered the portal.
The early scuttle we hear makes it seem like Haselwood will end up being involved with a couple SEC programs - Georgia (his home state program, formerly committed there) and Arkansas. The Razorbacks have his former high school coach on staff.
We haven't heard anything on Walker to date. Wease is one that we could end up hearing more about in terms of South Carolina.
*** The other high-profile quarterback transfer in the portal is, of course, Oklahoma transfer Spencer Rattler.
Arizona State has been posited as a potential landing spot for the Arizona native, but we have confirmed that's not going to happen.
There's been enough here between Rattler and South Carolina to where it would be accurate to say that the Gamecocks appear to be in the mix. Beyond that, there aren't many more details to report just yet.
*** We also know that the Gamecocks are involved with OU transfer Austin Stogner, who visited Columbia on Thursday and Friday. Stogner had dinner with members of the coaching staff on Thursday and wrapped his trip on Friday. Indications are he really enjoyed his time in Columbia, but it's not clear if there are any other visits on the books. We anticipate Stogner playing things pretty close to the vest.
To loop in Rattler, tell you that multiple college football programs that are involved with Stogner and Rattler's recruitment have gotten the sense that these two former teammates would like to play together at a new destination. We don't yet know if that will certainly happen, but it seems to have been discussed.
Stogner has visited South Carolina and Rattler has not, but there is involvement to at least some degree with the latter. That adds another layer of intrigue to South Carolina's pursuit here. We'll keep everyone posted with any movement.
