*** (Chris) - Kiel Pollard recaps his visit here: https://southcarolina.n.rivals.com/news/pollard-recaps-visit
** (WES) Daniel Thomas had never taken an official visit before and said that he definitely considered committing while in Columbia -- it's going to take a lot to beat this visit he said. Thomas says he's meeting with Maryland's coaches tomorrow and an official visit to there is possible. An official visit to Clemson is a definite. He's being recruited by T-Rob and loves the Gamecocks' DC.
** (Chris) Kiel Pollard, since he arrived Saturday, is going to be departing Columbia tomorrow (Monday). We'll catch up with him then.
** (WES) Fort Mill (S.C.) Nation Ford TE Hank Tuipulotu seemed genuinely blown away by his official visit as he's never been to the school before. He's going to take his BYU official next weekend and then make a final decision. As for his mission trip, he said the best way to describe it is he's a member of the class of 2018 and will report with freshman eligibility at that time. South Carolina will use him at its B position, which is essentially a flex tight end position. He is being recruited by Bobby Bentley who has made him a priority for the Gamecocks and has emphasized the opportunity for him to be close to his family. Tuipulotu admits he was pretty solid on BYU before, but the coaching change at both schools as him thinking.
** (WES) South Carolina running back commitment Rico Dowdle has completed his official visit and said that it's a dream come true to know he's going to be playing at the school soon. He said the plan is to play him at running back, not slot or elsewhere, and that the plan is for him to play versus redshirt. He was hosted on the visit by Shaq Davidson. He hopes to wear No. 5 but said he's not sure if he's going to be able to get it.
**DB Marlon Character said that this was his first chance to get a real in-depth visit to USC. Check out the full story here: http://southcarolina.n.rivals.com/news/character-wraps-up-usc-official The new dorms were not complete last time he was at USC in the summer and he got a chance to really dive into the facilities, etc this time around. DJ Smith hosted him for USC and he got to hang out with some other players from Georgia that he already knew. He's still got the Virginia Tech and Auburn visits coming up the final two weekends and says he'll sit down and weigh the pros and cons after that. He pointed to the stability at USC with Muschamp and T-Rob just getting hired in December at USC. He's spoken with new Auburn DB coach Wesley McGriff as well in advance of his visit to USC.
** DE Tyreic Martin has an official visit to Jacksonville State next weekend and then Miami the weekend of the 29th. He said USC and Missouri (the school he was formerly committed to) were basically a toss-up at this point. Full story here: https://southcarolina.n.rivals.com/news/muschamp-impresses-alabama-de
** Sam Bruce has completed his official visit. Get the latest on him here: https://southcarolina.forums.rivals.com/threads/sam-bruce-update.124582/
** (WES) Local LB TJ Brunson was hosted on his official visit by Jonathan Walton and had an excellent time seeing parts of the program that he's not seen before and getting to know linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler. Brunson is still looking into the possibility of taking other official visits, but wants to get home and talk to his parents before making any type of decision on that. Brunson said the defense is very multiple and he likes the way they plan to use him. He said they talked to him about playing the SAM, but really he could line up anywhere at linebacker. Brunson really likes Will Muschamp.
** (WES) OL commitment Will Putnam says he's 100 percent committed to South Carolina and isn't going to take any other official visits. He was hosted on his trip by Mason Zandi but said all of the offensive lineman hung together. Putnam said he could end up at any position on the offensive line but did seem to think he might end up on the interior and said that he was going to work on his snapping to possibly compete at center.
** (From Chris) - OL commitment Sadarius Hutcherson was hosted on his visit by current OL Donell Stanley. He said that he may start out his career as a TE - as we've said USC thinks he's an offensive tackle long term. He's 240 or so now, so he has to put on some weight. He likes the idea of playing defense and some of the other programs still recruiting him like him on that side of the ball. From what he said, it appeared that USC has left the door open to starting his career on the defensive side of the ball. He could be a standup LB/DE in college initially. He's taking a visit next weekend to Memphis but says he's solid to USC. FULL STORY: https://southcarolina.n.rivals.com/news/hutcherson-gives-details-on-future
** (From Chris) - TE Evan Hinson echoed what Wes said, that his visit went very well. TE coach Pat Wsahington is personally recruiting him and scouted his basketball game recently. Hinson would only say that USC is "up there" for him; he didn't name an outright leader but I got the feel that USC was it for him right now. He prefers to play offense, and Southern Cal (official visit next weekend) is recruiting him on defense. He plans on going somewhere the final weekend before signing day too, although he's not sure where he will be going. FULL STORY: https://southcarolina.n.rivals.com/news/florida-te-heavily-considering-usc
**
** (From Wes) The coaches have worked Auburn DB commitment Marlon Character extremely hard and I'm told that coming in he was extremely torn between the two schools. He's obviously committed to Auburn and likes that school itself a great deal. As Chris has said, his girlfriend is also going there. But he does like Will Muschamp and Travaris Robinson the most, of the coaches recruiting him. Still trying to get some more on how the visit went, but he's one that I could see going either way.
** (From Wes) One visit that was singled out to me as going extremely well is that of TE Evan Hinson. Hinson and his family have been feeling the love from South Carolina, from what I was told, and I expect him to leave Columbia with Carolina as his leader, based on the feedback I've received. It is still possible that he visits Southern Cal, but I like where the Gamecocks stand a great deal right now.
** Kiel Pollard was expected to arrive on Saturday, and he did according to what I was told. Lloyd Cushenberry was not there and Jamil Dukes was not there as I previously reported. I was told he didn't make it in after he wasn't there on Friday night.
** Javon Kinlaw was not on campus for an official visit this weekend. Find out why and more on his plans here: https://southcarolina.forums.rivals.com/threads/javon-kinlaw-update.124487/
** To give everyone an update on the itinerary for this weekend: After players arrived in the afternoon/evening, the prospects and families had dinner in The Zone at W-B. Then the prospects hung out with their player hosts for the remainder of the evening. Saturday morning was a tour at the Dodie before the prospects and families (in separate groups) heard presentations about academics and life after football, plus some from current players. Then it was campus tours and the basketball game. Dinner that night was at the new USC Alumni Center.
This morning was breakfast, then football facility tours.
** DB Daniel Thomas and TE Evan Hinson also made it in. I'm trying to double check this, but someone told me that DT Jamil Dukes was not on campus as of yet. Looking into that.
** We'll have more throughout the weekend, but just to let everyone know a couple of USC's biggest targets slated to be on campus in 4-star WR Sam Bruce and 4-star DB Marlon Character made it in for official visits this weekend.
** Other confirmed arrivals: LB TJ Brunson, OL Pete Leota, OL Akeem Cooperwood, OL Will Putnam, RB Rico Dowdle, DE Tyreic Martin.
** Reminder: WR target Kiel Pollard did not arrive yesterday; he was slated to arrive on Saturday at some point.
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