Late morning update: I've been doing further checking this morning. I would currently classify Tennessee as the favorite for John Mincey, but I'm going to continue digging throughout the day and we'll see what direction things go.
I know that South Carolina is still working the situation as well.
Morning update: Last week, Georgia defensive lineman John Mincey told Rivals.com’s Chad Simmons that he essentially knew which school he wanted to pick out of South Carolina and Tennessee. Mincey, who was looking at taking a final weekend official visit to Ole Miss, cancelled that trip. In the last few days, most of the buzz behind the scenes has favored South Carolina, although there’s been no definitive word. We do know that Ole Miss and Tennessee’s staffs have felt like USC was the likely pick to date. That could still be the case, but…
In speaking with multiple sources throughout the day on Monday, we have learned that Mincey does seem conflicted at this time. We were told by a source at his his high school that Mincey was still talking up both programs on Monday (and had a lot of positive things to say about Tennessee), and another intimated that the three-star seemed unsure of what he wanted to do. USC’s official visit did go well and the Gamecock staff has a couple helpful connections with Mincey, but this seems far from a slam-dunk right now. We’ll continue tracking it up until tomorrow morning, when Mincey is supposed to announce his choice and sign.
To clarify the situation with USC commitment Bryce Thompson, here is what we know….
As a refresher: When a lot of the buzz was going around in the summer/early football season about Thompson joining the class as a verbal commitment, we pumped the brakes, saying that the Gamecock staff would not accepting a pledge from Thompson until December at the earliest. At the time Thompson had significant academic work to do and the staff needed to ensure he was getting on the right track; that occurred and he was in the class by mid-December.
For those same reasons, Thompson was not one of USC’s many early signees that month. I’ve confirmed that Thompson also will not sign this Wednesday. We reported recently that Thompson’s academic situation looked better, and indeed he’s at a point where he can realistically qualify although it’s not done yet. There’s still work that needs to be done on that front.
When a school signs a prospect, it uses a signing slot regardless of whether or not that prospect qualifies. By Wednesday, USC could be in a position where it has just one slot left. If Thompson did not qualify but still signed that would eliminate any chance of the Gamecocks being able to use that slot at some point during the signing period. The traditional signing day on Wednesday just marks the beginning of a signing period that’s not often discussed, and it runs until April 1. USC can always ink Thompson later in the process or bring him in once things are clearer. The path has been laid out here for a while.
Marshall has continued recruiting Thompson as a fallback type option but my understanding is that Thompson and his family wants to stick with the Gamecocks ultimately. Of course, that’s also the staff’s preference as USC has recruited Thompson, accepted his commitment, and not pulled the offer or anything of the sort.
One more note here: we've stated multiple times that we do not anticipate JUCO WR Ronnie Jamison to sign with the Gamecocks in this class; nothing has changed on that front.
I know that South Carolina is still working the situation as well.
Morning update: Last week, Georgia defensive lineman John Mincey told Rivals.com’s Chad Simmons that he essentially knew which school he wanted to pick out of South Carolina and Tennessee. Mincey, who was looking at taking a final weekend official visit to Ole Miss, cancelled that trip. In the last few days, most of the buzz behind the scenes has favored South Carolina, although there’s been no definitive word. We do know that Ole Miss and Tennessee’s staffs have felt like USC was the likely pick to date. That could still be the case, but…
In speaking with multiple sources throughout the day on Monday, we have learned that Mincey does seem conflicted at this time. We were told by a source at his his high school that Mincey was still talking up both programs on Monday (and had a lot of positive things to say about Tennessee), and another intimated that the three-star seemed unsure of what he wanted to do. USC’s official visit did go well and the Gamecock staff has a couple helpful connections with Mincey, but this seems far from a slam-dunk right now. We’ll continue tracking it up until tomorrow morning, when Mincey is supposed to announce his choice and sign.
To clarify the situation with USC commitment Bryce Thompson, here is what we know….
As a refresher: When a lot of the buzz was going around in the summer/early football season about Thompson joining the class as a verbal commitment, we pumped the brakes, saying that the Gamecock staff would not accepting a pledge from Thompson until December at the earliest. At the time Thompson had significant academic work to do and the staff needed to ensure he was getting on the right track; that occurred and he was in the class by mid-December.
For those same reasons, Thompson was not one of USC’s many early signees that month. I’ve confirmed that Thompson also will not sign this Wednesday. We reported recently that Thompson’s academic situation looked better, and indeed he’s at a point where he can realistically qualify although it’s not done yet. There’s still work that needs to be done on that front.
When a school signs a prospect, it uses a signing slot regardless of whether or not that prospect qualifies. By Wednesday, USC could be in a position where it has just one slot left. If Thompson did not qualify but still signed that would eliminate any chance of the Gamecocks being able to use that slot at some point during the signing period. The traditional signing day on Wednesday just marks the beginning of a signing period that’s not often discussed, and it runs until April 1. USC can always ink Thompson later in the process or bring him in once things are clearer. The path has been laid out here for a while.
Marshall has continued recruiting Thompson as a fallback type option but my understanding is that Thompson and his family wants to stick with the Gamecocks ultimately. Of course, that’s also the staff’s preference as USC has recruited Thompson, accepted his commitment, and not pulled the offer or anything of the sort.
One more note here: we've stated multiple times that we do not anticipate JUCO WR Ronnie Jamison to sign with the Gamecocks in this class; nothing has changed on that front.
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