CornerstoneColumbia.com
*** Let’s not say that South Carolina is totally out of the woods yet in terms of holding onto longtime commitment Issiah Walker, but the four-star lineman’s latest trip to campus helped to further solidify South Carolina’s standing.
We asked Walker after he worked out at USC’s final camp session on Saturday and stayed overnight once again whether or not he intended to take any more visits to programs not named South Carolina.
“As of right now, no,” he said.
As long as Walker continues to communicate with coaches from other programs, and if he ultimately decides to take more trips to those schools, then it’s always going to be something to watch. South Carolina's last two times hosting Walker on campus - the recent official visit and this camp experience - have both gone a long way towards further solidifying things.
An added note: after seeing Walker work out in camp and in one-on-ones, if we had any say, he'd move further up the Rivals.com rankings.
*** So much talent typically rolls through Columbia during camp season that it’s often easy to miss a few guys – even prominent names.
Such was the case on the camp’s final day with Jacksonville (Florida) Trinity Christian’s Jahquez Robinson. The Rivals250 member is a current Alabama commitment, but we’ve heard that’s a pledge that’s far from locked in at this time. Florida has been heavily involved, and South Carolina officially stepped forward with an offer after seeing him in camp.
As it turns out, Robinson also has a connection to the Palmetto State; he has family members from Sumter on his mother’s side.
“My family roots are in South Carolina. And with Coach T-Rob, they’re definitely in consideration,” Robinson said of USC’s chances.
Let’s be clear on one thing here: Alabama wants to keep Robinson in the class. From multiple directions, however, we’re told that there’s a strong possibility he ends up going elsewhere. Prior to USC stepping in, it was the home-state Gators that seemed to be the best flip possibility. Now the Gamecocks are heavily in the mix, and Robinson has been in communication with the USC staff since departing campus.
This one is heating up.
*** Another Alabama pledge made waves when he rolled through campus alongside some teammates from his Miami (Florida) Carol City squad. Thaui Jones-Bell was spotted on Saturday milling around the sidelines and watching the action. His overnight stay in Columbia has led many to wonder whether or not South Carolina was making a move – or trying to – here.
We’ll keep it succinct: we don’t expect the Gamecock staff to advance things here.
*** On a few occasions here, we mentioned that former Penn State commitment Derek Wingo was mulling the possibility of making a summer visit to Columbia to hang out with current freshman Jahmar Brown, a former high school teammate.
While USC’s staff kept in touch, ultimately landing Wingo out of the Sunshine State was viewed as more of a long shot. We did check in from time to time with the Wingo camp to see if anything was on the books, and was told due to his commitment to Penn State that he was nixing any other visits. As it turns out, Wingo had been quietly continuing to see Florida. The Gators pulled the flip recently.
*** South Carolina at one point appeared to be poised to get Tennessee defensive back Keshawn Lawrence on campus this summer for an official visit, but it did not come to fruition.
Lawrence’s recent commitment to Tennessee was fully expected by those familiar with the recruitment; for family reasons, he was a prospect pegged to stay in-state. That would have almost certainly been the course even if he had made the trip to Columbia.
*** Speaking of Tennessee products, one question we posed in the past was whether or not Alabama would make a push for legacy four-star Reggie Grimes. One issue here was the Crimson Tide’s wish to have Grimes work out in camp this summer; he did not end up participating in any of the sessions. Right now, the word is that Alabama has several targets the staff feels good about landing, and that room in the class is sparse. Grimes, as of this moment, does not appear to be able to commit to Alabama even if he wished to do so.
Assuming that holds throughout the process, up until Grimes decides on November 2, it opens the door for South Carolina and Tennessee. That may figure to give, for multiple reasons, the Vols a leg up here. Beyond that, it’s unclear which direction this one may go.
*** Alabama hosted five-star defensive line target Jordan Burch over the weekend. As is typically the case after Burch’s visits, there’s not much information circulating in terms of how things went or where things go from here. We anticipate that Burch will continue taking visits. Nothing has really changed here: there are some reasons to feel encouraged about USC’s standing, but the process rolls on and there’s very little actual (and accurate) information that will be disseminated regarding his thought process.
*** Two other defensive line targets for USC – Myles Murphy and Tonka Hemingway – took official visits to North Carolina over the weekend.
Murphy has set an announcement date of July 8 and plans on revealing his college choice during a ceremony at his high school. It’s still believed that Alabama has remained the Gamecocks’ biggest competition here, and South Carolina has long held an edge.
Our staff typically does not reveal our plans for covering prospect announcements days in advance, but let’s just say we know how far Greensboro is from Columbia.
Hemingway followed through with an official visit to Chapel Hill after a recent unofficial in order to fulfill his word on actually making a trip prior to wrapping up the process. He projects to announce a choice in August, if not before.
The forecast here remains the same as it has been.
*** Georgia’s Joey Hunter was one of two official visitors for South Carolina over the weekend, and he gave a strong review to the 48-hour stop in Columbia.
Texas A&M hosted Hunter in June for camp, dispensing an offer after South Carolina’s staff extended one. Those two are considered the front-runners out of Hunter’s final seven leading into his July 2 announcement.
We are aware of the Texas A&M talk here, and precisely where it’s coming from in some cases. We also know that there is some positive feedback for the Gamecocks before and after the official visit to Columbia. Hunter’s lone trip to College Station was for camp; he did not get the in-depth experience that he did in Columbia for the official visit. All indications are that went quite well. Based on all factors, we don’t believe anything to be certain here.
This is one we will continue tracking, but we are not convinced to change our pick from the Gamecocks at this point.
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