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*** On Sunday night, three-star offensive lineman Grayson Mains released a preliminary top three consisting of Michigan State, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The Peach State product does remain open, but South Carolina’s a program that has done good work with him in the early going. Mains was immediately prioritized by offensive line coach Greg Adkins once he took his post in Columbia.
*** Another offensive lineman we wrote about lately, New Jersey’s Jacob Allen, took a “visit” to Penn State last week in which he walked around campus on his own.
Allen has family in Myrtle Beach and seems intrigued by South Carolina. With the Gamecocks and others in the mix, we chalk this move up to Penn State’s staff making a big effort to perhaps draw out an earlier pledge. The Nittany Lions are now in a nice position, but the good news for South Carolina is that Allen’s plan has been to trim his list again before recruiting reopens and to take some formal visits to those programs. South Carolina has seemed to be in prime position to draw one of those.
*** The Gamecocks offered a 2023 prospect with a familiar namesake recently in Missouri’s Mac Markway, who’s the cousin of former Gamecock tight end Kyle Markway.
The latter had a quality experience at South Carolina as a student-athlete, and it’s anticipated that he’ll continually put in the good word on behalf of the new staff to his cousin.
There’s a ways to go here and we’d certainly stop short of calling South Carolina a favorite or anything of that nature. We do feel the Gamecocks will have a seat at the table throughout on this one.
*** Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe recently told us that he’s been communicating regularly with defensive coordinator Clayton White, with White telling Bissainte that he sees him as a fit in the Gamecocks’ defense.
*** South Carolina’s staff continues to communicate on a regular basis with in-state wide receiver Antonio Williams, from what we’re told.
Wes Mitchell and I recently had Williams’ high school position coach – former Gamecock wideout Jason Barnes – on our GCLive program, and Barnes intimated that Williams may be ready to get his choice over with sooner than later. We don’t have confirmation that will actually happen in the near future, nor a timeline if it did wind down.
One storyline we are continuing to monitor is the fact that Clemson is staying in touch. The Tigers’ lone wide receiver offer – after landing Myrtle Beach’s Adam Randall and earmarking two slots in this class for receivers – is to Texas’ Brenen Thompson, who also carries an offer from Justin Stepp and South Carolina.
The question we have received from many of our subscribers relates to whether or not a Clemson offer would be a gamechanger for Williams. We believe the Tigers would get into the mix if it did happen, but South Carolina has also laid such a quality groundwork here that it could be tough to beat regardless.
*** South Carolina is taking some big swings on interior defensive linemen for the 2022 class, and position coach Jimmy Lindsey has the Gamecocks in the mix for several talents that could hit campus this summer for visits.
Four-star Nick James out of IMG Academy in Florida – an Alabama native – is one, having released a top 12 that included the Gamecocks along with with some other heavy hitters: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Southern Cal, Texas A&M, UCF, and Wisconsin.
For the Gamecocks, the selling point to James is an opportunity to join a program in which he could potentially play early and make a name for himself, among other factors. We hear that Oregon is likely going to have some staying power here, too.
South Carolina is also in a nice position for Florida’s Jamari Lyons, but the competition – including the in-state Gators – is also significant there. Lyons has taken a virtual visit with the Gamecocks and is a candidate to be in Columbia this summer for a closer look.
We’ve told our subscribers previously that South Carolina’s been heavily engaged with Louisiana’s Quency Wiggins, a hoops player by trade who took up football in the last couple years.
When one sees that Wiggins is from Baton Rouge, it’s natural to draw the conclusion that LSU’s going to be very tough to beat. That’s likely the case here.
We also know that South Carolina’s made some legitimate noise and has Wiggins’ attention, to where we believe he’ll make a trip to Columbia at some point. If there’s an out of state suitor capable of pulling off a shocker, then South Carolina may fit the bill.
*** Any follow-up questions or something I didn't address that you'd like me to address? Let me know.
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