How South Carolina’s win against Georgia can boost things on the recruiting trail

South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp likes to say he wouldn’t want to take a recruit who makes his decision off one game.

That said, there’s a more subtle way his team’s 20-17 upset of No. 3 Georgia, easily the best win of his tenure with the Gamecocks, can boost things on the recruiting trail.

“The word is progress,” Muschamp said.

A day earlier, he talked about the win giving his players some belief in what they were doing, a payoff that spurs them on through workouts and the daily grind. There’s an element of that with recruits too, a payoff of the vision for the program.

“You keep talking about doing some great things and ... sometimes they’ve got to see the results,” Muschamp said. “They’ve got to see that progress. So I think the word you said best is progress. And we’ve seen some progress to be able to get a really good team on the road.”

At the very least, it’s likely the sort of thing that keeps a class energized and engaged. If USC were to finish 5-7, sometimes that trickles down to some attrition and decommitments. A big win prevents that malaise from setting in.

Most of the class building for 2020 has been done, so at this point, it’s more about holding onto players and building rapport with juniors and sophomores. The Gamecocks’ current group is ranked 18th nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings, with seven four-stars in the mix.

One of them, Alex Huntley, was on hand Saturday in Athens along with five-star teammate Jordan Burch.

The Gamecocks have four 2020 spots left, and are still in need of probably another linebacker, another running back, an outside pass rusher and perhaps another offensive playmaker or defensive back.

This story was originally published October 15, 2019 at 2:08 PM.