W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
*** For the second straight day South Carolina hosted a full 7-on-7 tournament Friday as 36 teams from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia participated in the day-long event while the staff concurrently ran an OL/DL camp during the morning. Here are some notes we picked up throughout today's activities.
*** One of the headliners of Friday's OL/DL camp is Winston Salem (N.C.) Prep class of 2021 DE Zaire Patterson, who already holds offers from schools like South Carolina, North Carolina, N.C. State and Florida, among many others. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Patterson who is set to be a national-level guy has already been a frequent visitor to Columbia, taking in a junior day and Carolina's spring game earlier this year, before returning on Friday. Patterson stuck around after the camp to hang around the 7-on-7 tournament, flanked by BUCKs and defensive ends coach Mike Peterson, who would be his coach if he went to South Carolina. Patterson also received plenty of interest from defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson.
*** Even as just a class of 2022 prospect, there's plenty to like already about Tiger (Ga.) Rabun County quarterback Gunner Stockton, who already holds an offer from South Carolina. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder, who threw for 2,917 yards and 34 touchdowns to just six interceptions last year, appears to be advanced well beyond his years as a quarterback, showing the ability to survey the field and go through multiple reads while resetting his feet and delivering the football accurately. How much Stockton grows moving forward will likely determine how high his recruiting stock goes, but he's a strong-looking quarterback prospect already.
As we've mentioned before, Stockton is coached by Jaybo Shaw, the older brother of former Gamecock QB Connor Shaw, and Stockton looks up to Connor as a mentor, something he talked to us about in a previous interview.
"Connor is a big role model for me," Stockton said. "He is a legend at South Carolina. Everyone on my visit wanted to talk to me about him. He is a great husband, father, and dad. I’m thankful for his influence in my life."
As @Will Helms pointed out, it's probably not a coincidence that Stockton wears the No. 14.
*** South Carolina quarterback commit Luke Doty and his Myrtle Beach team were back for another day of action as the Seahawks improved on a 3-2 day yesterday to make the playoff portion of the tournament today. Doty and the group of young skill players around him have steadily appeared to get more and more comfortable as the two days have progressed. Carolina quarterbacks coach Dan Werner has also been carefully watching multiple of Doty's games during the last two days as have other coaches and current players as the quarterbacks who are already on the roster have opened Doty to the family with open arms.
*** After watching Dax Hollifield patrol the middle of a Shelby linebacking corps at events a couple of years ago, it felt like deja vu to watch his brother, 2021 Jack Hollifield playing middle linebacker in the black and gold. From his similar size (may not quite as filled out), to his look, to the way he literally moves, the younger Hollifield is comparable to Dax and appears to have a similar skillset. Shelby appeared to be playing a lot of zone in the games I watched, but Hollifield looked comfortable dropping back into his area and then breaking on the football.
*** The Tennessee Elite 7-on-7 team had at least two prospects who seemed to get ample attention from the South Carolina coaching staff.
As we've mentioned before, it remains to be seen how the rest of South Carolina's linebacker class will play out, but it appears that Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood four-star Devyn Curtis (first photo below) is one to keep an eye on. Listed at 6-foot-2, 217-pounds on Rivals, Curtis looks every bit of it in person and appears to have a college-ready frame at linebacker. Curtis, who also seemed to move well for his size, received plenty of scouting attention from linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler and also spoke with head coach Will Muschamp.
Curtis recently named a top six of Kentucky, Mississippi State, Nebraska, South Carolina, Virginia and Vanderbilt and hopes to make a decision on Sept. 1. Curtis spoke to Rivals this past week about what he likes about the Gamecocks.
"It's an electric atmosphere up there and they have some of the best facilities in the country," he said. "I'm going there this week for a visit and to play 7-on-7. They like my versatility and plan on using me inside the box and moving out to cover in some formations."
Also competing with Tennessee Elite was Brentwood (Tenn.) High class of 2021 WR Walker Merrill (second photo below), who already has an offer from South Carolina. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Merrill made a ton of plays as he consistently got open and showed off his ball skills. Offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon appeared to be watching him intently.
Ravenwood (Tenn.) class of 2021 outside linebacker Junior Colson is another to watch who was competing with Tennessee Elite and has a South Carolina offer.
*** A few other notes of interest: Former South Carolina defensive back DeVonte Holloman was in town with his new South Pointe team after landing the head job there this offseason.
Strom Thurmond class of 2021 tight end Brandon Williams may be one to keep an eye on in the future. He's 6-5, 225 and I've heard some positive buzz on him.
Southside RB/WR/DB Braydon Bennett was in town and competing along with his father, former Gamecock running back Brandon Bennett. The younger Bennett has some length to him at 6-foot-1 and moves well.
All photos by photographer extraordinaire @Chris Clark
*** One of the headliners of Friday's OL/DL camp is Winston Salem (N.C.) Prep class of 2021 DE Zaire Patterson, who already holds offers from schools like South Carolina, North Carolina, N.C. State and Florida, among many others. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Patterson who is set to be a national-level guy has already been a frequent visitor to Columbia, taking in a junior day and Carolina's spring game earlier this year, before returning on Friday. Patterson stuck around after the camp to hang around the 7-on-7 tournament, flanked by BUCKs and defensive ends coach Mike Peterson, who would be his coach if he went to South Carolina. Patterson also received plenty of interest from defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson.
*** Even as just a class of 2022 prospect, there's plenty to like already about Tiger (Ga.) Rabun County quarterback Gunner Stockton, who already holds an offer from South Carolina. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder, who threw for 2,917 yards and 34 touchdowns to just six interceptions last year, appears to be advanced well beyond his years as a quarterback, showing the ability to survey the field and go through multiple reads while resetting his feet and delivering the football accurately. How much Stockton grows moving forward will likely determine how high his recruiting stock goes, but he's a strong-looking quarterback prospect already.
As we've mentioned before, Stockton is coached by Jaybo Shaw, the older brother of former Gamecock QB Connor Shaw, and Stockton looks up to Connor as a mentor, something he talked to us about in a previous interview.
"Connor is a big role model for me," Stockton said. "He is a legend at South Carolina. Everyone on my visit wanted to talk to me about him. He is a great husband, father, and dad. I’m thankful for his influence in my life."
As @Will Helms pointed out, it's probably not a coincidence that Stockton wears the No. 14.
*** South Carolina quarterback commit Luke Doty and his Myrtle Beach team were back for another day of action as the Seahawks improved on a 3-2 day yesterday to make the playoff portion of the tournament today. Doty and the group of young skill players around him have steadily appeared to get more and more comfortable as the two days have progressed. Carolina quarterbacks coach Dan Werner has also been carefully watching multiple of Doty's games during the last two days as have other coaches and current players as the quarterbacks who are already on the roster have opened Doty to the family with open arms.
*** After watching Dax Hollifield patrol the middle of a Shelby linebacking corps at events a couple of years ago, it felt like deja vu to watch his brother, 2021 Jack Hollifield playing middle linebacker in the black and gold. From his similar size (may not quite as filled out), to his look, to the way he literally moves, the younger Hollifield is comparable to Dax and appears to have a similar skillset. Shelby appeared to be playing a lot of zone in the games I watched, but Hollifield looked comfortable dropping back into his area and then breaking on the football.
*** The Tennessee Elite 7-on-7 team had at least two prospects who seemed to get ample attention from the South Carolina coaching staff.
As we've mentioned before, it remains to be seen how the rest of South Carolina's linebacker class will play out, but it appears that Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood four-star Devyn Curtis (first photo below) is one to keep an eye on. Listed at 6-foot-2, 217-pounds on Rivals, Curtis looks every bit of it in person and appears to have a college-ready frame at linebacker. Curtis, who also seemed to move well for his size, received plenty of scouting attention from linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler and also spoke with head coach Will Muschamp.
Curtis recently named a top six of Kentucky, Mississippi State, Nebraska, South Carolina, Virginia and Vanderbilt and hopes to make a decision on Sept. 1. Curtis spoke to Rivals this past week about what he likes about the Gamecocks.
"It's an electric atmosphere up there and they have some of the best facilities in the country," he said. "I'm going there this week for a visit and to play 7-on-7. They like my versatility and plan on using me inside the box and moving out to cover in some formations."
Also competing with Tennessee Elite was Brentwood (Tenn.) High class of 2021 WR Walker Merrill (second photo below), who already has an offer from South Carolina. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Merrill made a ton of plays as he consistently got open and showed off his ball skills. Offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon appeared to be watching him intently.
Ravenwood (Tenn.) class of 2021 outside linebacker Junior Colson is another to watch who was competing with Tennessee Elite and has a South Carolina offer.
*** A few other notes of interest: Former South Carolina defensive back DeVonte Holloman was in town with his new South Pointe team after landing the head job there this offseason.
Strom Thurmond class of 2021 tight end Brandon Williams may be one to keep an eye on in the future. He's 6-5, 225 and I've heard some positive buzz on him.
Southside RB/WR/DB Braydon Bennett was in town and competing along with his father, former Gamecock running back Brandon Bennett. The younger Bennett has some length to him at 6-foot-1 and moves well.
All photos by photographer extraordinaire @Chris Clark
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