One of South Carolina’s newest receivers ‘a very Shi Smith-like guy’

At times in the past two seasons, Will Muschamp’s early impressions have proven to be indicators about which players are ready to make an early impact with South Carolina football.

One freshman offensive player made a mark in the past few months, and he reminds the coach of another early-impact guy.

“Been impressed with Josh Vann in the short time we’ve been working with him,” Muschamp said Thursday at SEC Media Days. “A very Shi Smith-like guy as far as explosive change of direction.”

Vann is the four-star pass catcher who chose USC over Georgia and was one of the top recruits in the 2018 class. Smith was a four-star from the 2017 class, a small, dynamic receiver who started USC’s opener and ended up the team’s second-most productive receiver last season.

USC boasts a stacked group of pass catchers, which loses only Hayden Hurst and adds Deebo Samuel. But Vann might be talented enough to make some kind of impact.

The 5-foot-10, 185 receiver was a big-play specialist for a power running high school offense. He had 1,286 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior and 867 with 12 touchdowns his final high school season.

His role at USC will be different, likely in the slot position Smith manned last season. But he already caught the eye of his coach, quarterback Jake Bentley and Samuel, a receiver who might well be in line for All-American honors this fall.

“His route running and his ball skills,” Samuel said. “You can tell he does a really good job at that.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2018 at 11:25 PM.