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Mackey follows a different route
Georgia Military Academy continues to bolster ranks of USC’s offensive line
CommentsDefensive end Leon Mackey signed with South Carolina on Wednesday after a long recruiting odyssey. Or, to be more exact, Mackey signed with new USC defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward.
Mackey signed last year with Virginia Tech. But he did not qualify, so he went to Hargrave Military Academy. He next committed to Clemson before learning the ACC has a rule that would have required him to sit out a season and lose a year of eligibility if he transferred to another school in the league.
So Mackey called Ward, with whom he had built a good rapport on the recruiting trail.
“So if I was at Arkansas, he’d probably be at Arkansas now,” Ward said. “He and I developed a great relationship.”
The decision was a rushed process. Ward said Mackey called at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and the player was flying out of Philadelphia at 4:15 for an official visit to USC. He left Columbia at about the same time the next day.
Ward said it was the first time he had encountered such a recruiting situation.
“I guess there’s a first for everything,” he said.
Better late than not at all. Quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus was hired in large part to “shadow” quarterback Stephen Garcia, to use coach Steve Spurrier’s words. But Mangus also helped land another quarterback from Tampa.
Andrew Clifford was one of the team’s last commitments, and its only definite signal-caller in the 2009 class. South Pointe High’s Stephon Gilmore, listed as a defensive back, also will get a look under center.
Spurrier said the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Clifford was the best “available” quarterback late in the process. The early departures of Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher left USC with three quarterbacks on scholarship.
“We didn’t really worry so much who else was after (Clifford). He wasn’t highly recruited,” Spurrier said. “But on tape he looked the best of all those guys we watched, and we think he has a chance. We really do.”
Mangus recruited the Tampa area for Middle Tennessee State, where he previously coached. That’s how he knew Clifford, whom — like Garcia — Mangus backed off because he didn’t think MTSU had a chance to sign him.
Then came changes in Mangus’ employment and USC’s quarterback situation.
“We’ll give him some time, and he’s got some things to learn, obviously. But he’s got a lot of talent and he’s got a good arm,” Mangus said. “The most impressive thing about Andrew is his intangibles, and that’s what I like.”
Going back to the well. Last year’s signing of a Georgia Military Academy offensive lineman worked out well — Jarriel King ended up starting at left tackle. So the Gamecocks are back at it, signing a pair of offensive linemen from the junior college, Steven Singleton and Rokevious Watkins.
“I’m glad they’re here. I think they can help us,” USC offensive line coach Eric Wolford said. “Does that mean they’ll start? I don’t know.”
Two GMA linebackers also signed with South Carolina: Josh Dickerson and Tony Straughter enrolled in January.
Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.
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