Camper continues family legacy of playing for Spurrier

Blake Camper had some historical perspective on the Gamecocks and their head coach when became one of the final pieces of South Carolina’s 2015 signing class.

Camper’s father, John, played for Steve Spurrier at Duke. When they visited the USC campus in January, Spurrier did not make the Camper connection until they all met.

“After we left,” Blake Camper recalled, ‘my dad said, ‘He hasn’t changed a bit. He’s the same he was when he coached at Duke.’ He’s told me that coach likes things a certain way and is a very respectful man. When you get to meet him, he’s one of the kindest persons. I’m excited to get to play for him.”

Camper, an offensive lineman from Virginia Beach, Va., switched his pledge from Rutgers to the Gamecocks on Jan. 19. At 6-foot-7, Camper was 280 pounds at signing day but says he has since grown closer to 305.

“Actually late we found about Blake,” Spurrier said. “We don’t really recruit that much of the Tide area, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, but Coach Elliott found him and thought we should go after him. We brought him in on a visit and he loved it and became a Gamecock.”

Camper’s team at Frank W. Cox High School was a run-first team, he said, so he’s been working more on improving his technique, steps and stance for pass protection.

“I’m trying to learn the offense in the summer,” he said. “I’m trying to get my craft down right, get some good work in, get some good weight on, get stronger, faster, all those good things.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Height/weight: 6-7, 305

Rating: Three-star prospect, according to 247Sports Composite

THREE THINGS

1. Was committed to Rutgers before switching his pledge to the Gamecocks. Also considered East Carolina, Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia.

2. Expected to play tackle for the Gamecocks

3. Father also was his position coach in high school

THREE QUOTES

1. “I have quick feet and pretty good technique. I’m quick off the ball.”

2. “Everyone wants to see the field as fast as they can. My goal is to play early, but I don’t know when that is going to be. It depends on how I look to Coach Elliott. I’ll do whatever they want me to do.”

3. “Playing for Coach Spurrier, I just couldn’t say no.”

COACH’S TAKE

Shawn Elliott: “His father played for Coach (Steve) Spurrier at Duke. Good pickup for us. He’s going to add depth at tackle, look forward to getting him in here and throwing him in the fire.”