CornerstoneColumbia.com
*** South Carolina will host a quartet of official visitors this coming weekend:
ATH Janari Dean
DL Tonka Hemingway
DL Elijah Roberts
TE Eric Shaw
- Dean, out of Mississippi, is a player thought to be primarily considering Mississippi State and South Carolina. He’s capable of playing on either side of the ball as a defensive back or running back. Interestingly, despite the Gamecocks’ board at running back the staff has been primarily pursuing at that position up until lately; conversations with Dean have led to the point where USC could give him a look at either spot.
- Roberts, a Miami (Florida) Columbus product, was committed to Miami from June until October of last year prior to reopening his recruitment. We have documented how South Carolina’s defensive line board is narrowing in focus, but Roberts is one the staff has kept in communication with and decided to bring in on an official. It’s never a bad idea to keep a board full of options.
- Hemingway is a long-time lean to the Gamecocks who has projected to make a choice prior to his senior season. Could that timeframe accelerate if everything checks out this weekend? It may be wise to lay a wager.
- Shaw is an intriguing prospect that carries offers on both offense and defense at the college level. USC likes his potential as a tight end due to his size, athleticism, and 11-inch hands. He had an excellent visit to Columbia earlier this year, but other programs have been making a push lately: Auburn, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, to name a few. Shaw took a trip to Knoxville recently and was due at Texas A&M on Tuesday prior to his trip to South Carolina.
*** We noted in the aftermath of Florida commitment Jaheim Bell’s official visit to Columbia (which took place over the weekend) that there were reasons to be encouraged with South Carolina’s standing.
Bell and his family had been intrigued by South Carolina heading into the visit already on the strength of a prior visit earlier this year, plus ongoing communications with the coaching staff. The trip went as well as it could have gone, and the Bell camp is very impressed with South Carolina’s “Beyond Football” program, plus Bell’s potential to play early and fit in the offense.
His high school team travels back to Gainesville this weekend for a seven-on-seven passing camp, and odds are that he takes some more official visits in the future.
Patience is not something that’s done well in college football or in the recruiting game, but using some here could still result in a payoff.
*** There were plenty of questions in the immediate days (or heck, hours) after Marshawn Lloyd’s commitment to South Carolina as to whether or not he would stick with his pledge. That’s likely due to his high-profile status, the competition level there, and the fact that his commitment essentially came out of nowhere.
Lloyd has answered those questions multiple times both publicly and privately, with all his words and actions indicating he’s totally firm in his pledge. As it was recently put to me, Lloyd simply “doesn’t care” about South Carolina’s tradition relative to other programs pursuing him like Georgia or Penn State; in fact, it played to South Carolina’s advantages.
The Delaware product has put in the good word for the Gamecocks on some prospects since his pledge and shows every indication of being totally firm.
*** Tennessee’s Reggie Grimes was another prospect that took an official visit to USC last weekend, and he continues to say all the right things about being open to programs not named Alabama.
That said, the smart money would still be on the Crimson Tide for the Bama legacy at the end of the day. One potential wrench in the situation here is if Nick Saban ultimately does not push as hard for Grimes. If that happens, things open up more for South Carolina or Tennessee. He’s one we’ll continue to track, for sure.
*** The feeling I’ve picked up from multiple sources on four-star defensive lineman Myles Murphy following his visit to Florida is that South Carolina was able to successfully survive that visit. From multiple places, I’m picking up that USC is still the team to beat.
Alabama is up next this weekend, and that’s another trip that USC will have to survive. Murphy has the body type and skill set that Nick Saban often covets,
**** There have been some questions on The Insiders Forum as to precisely how many prospects South Carolina would take along the defensive line if a “best-case scenario” type situation arose.
It’s certainly realistic to believe that the Gamecocks could close with Tonka Hemingway, Murphy, and Jordan Burch. It seems to be asking too much to add a Desmond Evans to that same group. We can tell you that South Carolina certainly would take each one of those players at this juncture.
Evans is viewed as primarily a North Carolina/South Carolina battle. While he’s difficult to read, there are some familiar with the recruitment that still believe that USC could have a leg up as of this moment. Others think it’s the Tar Heels. There’s still time to go because he does not appear close to making a choice, and things could always shift as dominoes begin to fall.
*** There are a couple positions that will take more time to sort out on defense, those being linebacker and the secondary. Georgia’s Len’Neth Whitehead is one we are tracking closely at linebacker, and he’s due in town on Thursday.
In the secondary, South Carolina really liked Georgia’s Joey Hunter in camp; he picked up an offer in the midst of his performance last week. He’s scheduled an official visit to Columbia for the weekend of June 21. Texas A&M, by the way, offered Hunter on the heels of his scholarship from the Gamecocks.
Longtime target Dominick Hill out of Florida is slated to visit Missouri officially this weekend, and he could be making a decision shortly after that choice. We wouldn’t rule out him getting back on campus prior to his choice to work out for the South Carolina coaches.
*** As a reminder, South Carolina’s summer camps reboot on Thursday with a team passing camp and OL/DL camp running simultaneously. Here is what we wrote in our summer camp mega-primer, to give you a sense of some of the names that will be in town (note: we added a couple names to the in-state section in this repost).
"Out of Georgia, Camden County will make the trip and participate in the team passing tournament. The Wildcats program has a pair of offered prospects in 2021 wide receiver Shawn Hardy and 2022 RB Jamie Felix. It is also, of course, home to longtime offensive line target Micah Morris from the 2021 class. Morris is planning on being on campus that day as well, which will mark his fourth visit to South Carolina.
*** From the Upstate, Greer High plans on making the trip down to Columbia to compete. A couple underclassmen of note will be participating there in big 2022 receiver Jaleel Skinner (favors South Carolina early) and 2023 quarterback Raheim Jeter, who already fields multiple Power 5 offers.
*** USC quarterback commitment Luke Doty will toss passes for Myrtle Beach on Friday and Saturday during the passing camp, and that’s after an appearance later this week in which he’s scheduled to participate along wide receiver pledges Da’Qon Stewart and Michael Wyman.
*** 2021 tight end Cane Berrong, who’s drawn interest from the Gamecocks, will be in town participating with his Hart County team out of Georgia.
*** Myers Park, which produced current freshman OL Jaylen Nichols, will be participating in the tournament on Friday as well. Offered 2021 quarterback Drake Maye will be in action, as will UNC pledge Cameron Roseman-Sinclair and recent Texas A&M commitment Muhsin Muhammad.
*** We have mentioned that the Gamecock staff has been keeping an eye on UNC commitment Cedric Gray from Ardrey Kell, a potential linebacker at the next level. He figures to be participating with his team during the Friday passing camp session.
*** Several other in-state names we will be watching on Friday include Gray Collegiate QB Hunter Helms and ATH OD Dollison, Barnwell LB Deshawn Watson, Blythewood’s 2021 twin duo of Joshua Burrell and Jordan Burrell and DB Chase Atkinson."
*** Thanks for reading, and we appreciate you being a member of GamecockCentral.com!
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