TheState.com: GoGamecocks: Phil Kornblut

Gamecocks in Carson's top five

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:41 EDT

RB Shon Carson (5-9 195) of Lake City got his season off to a hot start Friday night rushing for 175 yards on 12 carries and scoring 5 touchdowns in just one half as the Panthers blew out Lee Central. His longest run was 54 yards.

Carson said Sunday night he has a top five of USC, Florida State, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia and those likely will be his official visits. He will take those visits during the season. And he will go to the Georgia at USC and Alabama at USC games, as well as games at other locations.

He doesn't have a favorite and plans to study his top five teams closely during the season.

Baseball also will play a major factor in his decision and Carson said. USC is recruiting him the hardest for baseball. His decision won't come until after the season.

Taylor still getting attention from Gamecocks

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:19 EDT

USC has set it sights on signing 6-5 Damien Leonard of JL Mann for the 2011 class but the Gamecocks are keeping the fire hot with 6-4 Mike Taylor of New York City. Taylor said he last talked with the Gamecocks about two weeks ago.

He visited Rutgers Friday, his first visit to the New Jersey campus. "It was cool, a nice experience," Taylor said.

He plans to set official visits with USC, Rutgers, South Florida and Pittsburgh and he'd like to make a decision by the end of September. Taylor is not claiming a favorite.

Scott still talking about USC visit

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:17 EDT

WR Justin Scott (5-11 205) of Camila, GA has already committed to Georgia but says he will take other official visits. "I've got a lot of interest in South Carolina," said Scott. "I want to visit them."

He says Clemson and Wake Forest are other possible destinations. "I didn't really get to take many visits during the spring so I want to take some official visits to make sute I made the right decision with Georgia," he said.

Former Gamecock QB Dondrial Pinkins is Scott's high school coach but he says Pinkins has not influenced him in any way. Scott says his commitment to UGA is fairly solid.

Overton to visit for Georgia game

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:16 EDT

LB Montese Overton (6-3 212) of Greenville, NC is planning to visit USC for the Georgia game. "Me, my coach, and an old teammate are heading down there very soon for a game," he said. "We'll be there next Saturday."

Overton is also planning to go to East Carolina for a game next Sunday. His top four schools are USC, North Carolina, East Carolina, and Notre Dame.

Overton says he plans official visits to USC and possibly East Carolina. As for North Carolina he says, "My coach told me to hold off on them so we can see what happens with this whole academic thing."

He did not name a favorite and has not scheduled any official visits.

USC has ground to make up with Lumpkin

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:39 EDT

OL Keith Lumpkin (6-8 275) of Jersey City, NJ has cut list to USC, Rutgers, North Carolina and Pittsburgh. His coach informed ScarletReport.com that Lumpkin currently favors Rutgers followed by North Carolina, Pitt and USC.

Lumpkin has said he plans to make a decision before his season starts September 11th.

USC's off field issues concerning to Clowney

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:01 EDT

DE Jadeveon Clowney (6-6 247) of South Pointe was the focus of the ESPN telecast of the South Pointe-Northwestern game Saturday. The ESPN recruiting people have ranked Clowney the #1 player in the country for this class his near every move was followed by a camera.

After the game Clowney told reporters nothing has changed with his recruiting situation. He still has USC and Alabama at the top of his list and he said he has no favorite. But during his comments to the reporters he did indicate some concern about the current off the field issues at USC. He did so when answering a question about what he likes about the two schools. “You’ve seen the Roll Tide,” Clowney said. “They just play hard. South Carolina is in a little bit of trouble right now, so I don’t know right now. I’m still thinking about where I’m going to go to. I haven’t decided yet. It will be a big decision, though.”

He plans to take his official visits before making a decision. He’s also still considering Clemson, LSU, Florida State and Miami. He has not set his official visits but he plans to be at USC for the Alabama game in October.

USC will get an Orta visit

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:48 EDT

DB Geraldo Orta (6-0 180) of Valdosta, GA says he plans officials to USC, Tennessee, Wake Forest, and Maryland. He has not decided on the fifth, but says it will "probably be Clemson".

Orta says USC is a school he is very interested in. "When I look at their roster, it looks like a place I could play early," said Orta adding, "If I work really hard."

Orta says his high school team has two bye weeks during the season and he will schedule two of his visits during those weeks. He will take the other three after the season. "I will probably commit in January," he said.

His offers are from USC, Clemson, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Maryland, East Carolina, Central Florida, South Florida, and Mississippi State among others. Orta is also planning an unofficial to North Carolina.

He does not have any favorites.

USC looking good for visit from Matias

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:44 EDT

OL Josue Matias (6-5 300) of Union City, NJ says he will soon begin to narrow his list to ten. His offers include USC, Florida, Georgia, Rutgers, North Carolina, Michigan State, Michigan, Maryland, and California among others. He has 22 in all.

Nebraska is showing interest of late and he is pleased with that. "They're Nebraska...what else do I need to say," said Matias.

He says he has not decided on offcials and will take three or four of the visits before committing in October. "South Carolina will probably get one," he said. "They are showing me a lot of interest."

No favorites for the Jersey lineman.

Georgia lineman picks USC

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:28 EDT

Offensive lineman Quincy McKinney (6-4 295) of Columbus, Ga., committed Wednesday morning to South Carolina.

McKinney, who was recruited to USC by Lorenzo Ward, picked the Gamecocks over offers from Nebraska, Michigan State, Southern Miss, Mississippi State, Duke, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and Memphis.

McKinney attended USC's camp in July and was impressed with what he saw.

"South Carolina's facilities are beautiful, state of the art, the best I've seen," McKinney said then.

McKinney plays offensive tackle for coach Dale McGee.

Williams down to four

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:42 EDT

OL Darrell Williams (6-5 250) of Orlando has eliminated Ole Miss from his list leaving him with USC, Florida State, NC State and South Florida. He will cut one more team at some point and then take official visits with his final three.

Williams said Florida State will be one of those visits, and he indicated USC has a very good chance for getting a visit. And he talked with USF Sunday about a possible visit.

Williams is not claiming a favorite among the four.

DE Dixon has a favorite five

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:58 EDT

DE Gerald Dixon (6-4 260) of South Pointe has narrowed his list to USC, North Carolina, Tennessee, Auburn, and Wake Forest.

He says all of these schools are even.

Dixon has offers from each as well as Arkansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, UCLA, Georgia, Kentucky, and Texas Tech among others.

Dixon confirmed that he and his brother, Gerald Dixon Jr. plan to attend the same school together. Junior's offers are from USC and Maryland.

He plans to take officials to his top five and commit after the season. Dixon may take a visit with his brother as well.

Gamecocks are in Leonard's final two

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:45 EDT

Damien Leonard (6-5) of J.L. Mann has eliminated Arizona and will choose either South Carolina or Oklahoma State, his AAU coach said Monday.

Arizona recently picked up a shooting guard commitment, so Leonard is turning his focus to the Gamecocks and Cowboys.

USC will have its in-home visit with Leonard on Sept. 9. He will make his official visit to USC that weekend.

He is scheduled for his official visit to Oklahoma State on Oct. 21.

“USC has got the edge,” Willis Holiday said. “It’s a little edge.”

Junior lefthander commits to USC

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:02 EDT

USC's 2012 baseball recruiting class now has a half dozen commitments after a pledge Sunday from lefthander Hamilton Heatly (6-0 185) of Spartanburg High School. Heatly pitched well at the recent Palmetto Games in Columbia and the Gamecocks turned up their interest in him after scouting him in the tournament.

Adams set with one of his visits

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:53 EDT

TE Jerrell Adams (6-5 220) of Scotts Branch plans to take an official visit to Illinois in October. That's the first official visit he has settled on. Adams said Notre Dame, Auburn and Alabama are other official visits he's considering.

He plans to go to games at USC, Clemson and possibly Florida. Adams said because he's been to USC and Clemson so much, he might not take official visits with them.

USC continues to lead for Adams ahead of Clemson, Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Illinois. "It's not that big of a lead," Adams said. "South Carolina has been my school and I've always wanted to go there."

Adams plans to wait on an announcement until February.

Georgia lineman plans to take in a game

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:49 EDT

DL JD Jones (6-3 285) of Cartersville, GA has received some interest from USC and says he plans to take in a game at Williams-Brice Stadium. "They sent me their media guide so I'm going to take a look at it and pick out a game to go see them play at home," he said.

Jones is making the transistion to defense and says several schools want to evaluate him before making their offers. "I am going to get my SEC school offers after they see me play," said Jones. "They just want to see how I play on that side of the ball."

His offers are from Tennessee, Arkansas, Middle Tennessee, Furman, Western Carolina, Memphis, Illinois State, and Troy. He has plans to go to Tennesee when they host Florida and Alabama and is going to Auburn for the Clemson game.

Tennessee is his leader followed by Auburn and Georgia Tech. He says he is interested in the Gamecocks as well.

USC makes the cut with McEvoy

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:47 EDT

QB Tanner McEvoy (6-6 205) of Oradell, NJ has cut down his list and is in the process of notifying schools he's no longer considering. USC will not be getting one of those calls. His mother confirmed Sunday night the Gamecocks have made the cut. She was not at liberty to disclose the rest of the reduced list until her son has contacted the schools. McEvoy will have a final ten once he contacts the schools he's dropping. Some of the other schools on his longer list included Boston College, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Michgian, Michigan State, North Carolina, Miami, Cincinnati, Duke, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Maryland and Louisville. McEvoy probably will not take any official visits until after his season because his games are on Saturday. There is one Friday game for him and he might work in a visit on that weekend.

Gamecocks interested in Charleston receiver

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 23:37 EDT

WR Stanton Seckinger (6-5 200) of Porter-Gaud is becoming a popular name on the recruiting scene. The Charleston Post and Courier reports Seckinger now holds offers from Clemson, NC State and Memphis, while USC, Georgia and Tennessee are showing interest in him. The Clemson offer is for a greyshirt where Seckinger would not go on scholarship until January 2012. Last season Seckinger had 58 catches for 1095 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was also his team's leading scoring in basketball and won the state long jump championship in SCISSA.

Caldwell to play close to home

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 23:04 EDT

USC make a strong push for DE Darius Caldwell (6-5 205) of Atlanta but he committed to Georgia Tech late last week after picking up an offer from the Yellow Jackets. Tech's new 3-4 defense was particularly attractive to Caldwell who also considered Ole Miss, West Virginia and Central Florida.

Blythewood RB picks the Gamecocks

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:01 EDT

Blythewood RB Brandon Wilds (6-1 220) announced a commitment to USC Thursday.

Wilds chose the Gamecocks over Illinois, Maryland and East Carolina.

Wilds rushed for 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns last season.

"He has great speed for his size," said his coach Geremy Saitz. "He can catch the ball in the slot. He runs north-south with power but also has some elusive traits."

Wilds is USC's 14th commitment for the 2011 class and the first running back to pledge.

Gamecocks pick up outfield commitment

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:14 EDT

Outfielder Reid Moman of J.L. Mann committed Wednesday to the USC baseball team for the 2011 class.

Moman is a left-handed hitter who batted .412 and scored a team high 8 runs in the recently completed Big League World Series.

The Gamecocks on Sunday added a commitment for its 2012 class: P/3B Jamie Callahan (6-3 180) of Dillon. Callahan is rated among the top players in the state for his class one of the top prospects in the Southeast.