South Carolina lands five-star, highest-rated QB recruit ever Gunner Stockton
All of Gunner Stockton’s South Carolina’s connections have paid off for Will Muschamp and the Gamecocks.
The five-star passer, who has played high school ball for the father and brother of USC great Connor Shaw and at times got coaching from the father of South Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, cut his list to South Carolina and Georgia in late July. He just cut the list by one more.
Stockton, a 6-foot-1, 196-pound Class of 2022 passer from Tiger, Georgia is now a Gamecocks commit.
He took to Twitter to announce the news Thursday ahead of his junior season, early by most recruiting calendars. South Carolina is no stranger to that, as eventual Elite 11 passer Luke Doty made his pledge even earlier, right before blossoming as a talent and leading Myrtle Beach High School to a state title.
Stockton hasn’t yet led his team to that height, but he’s put up massive numbers in two seasons as a starter at Rabun County High in the North Georgia mountains.
As a freshman, Stockton burst onto the scene by throwing for 2,917 yards, 34 touchdowns and only six interceptions, while running for 709 yards and 17 scores. A year later, he bettered those numbers, hitting better than 71% of his passes for 3,473 yards, 43 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also ran for 1,126 yards and 19 scores.
“Is capable of making some advanced throws and shows touch and ball placement downfield,” 247Sports Director of Scouting Barton Simmons wrote of Stockton. “Shows creativity and competency delivering on screens and RPO throws on the move. Comfortable making tight-window seem throws with velocity.”
Stockton’s freshman year team was 11-2 under coach Lee Shaw, followed by a 12-1 campaign after Jaybo Shaw took over the program.
For all that, he earned the distinction of being the No. 24 recruit in the country, tops among dual-threat passers and third among players in Georgia, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. If that ranking holds, he’d be highest-rated QB to ever join the Gamecock program by 247Sports’ all-time rankings, topping Stephen Garcia in 2007.
Stockton’s offer list is a who’s who of national powerhouses — in addition to in-state Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Florida and Southern Cal all extended offers.
Stockton is the first commit for South Carolina’s 2022 class. South Carolina has been on a run of recruiting solid to decorate QBs under Will Muschamp’s coaching staff. Here’s a rundown of QB commits since the 2016 class:
2016: Brandon McIlwain, No. 175 recruit nationally. Jake Bentley No. 263 (after reclassifying)
2017: Jay Urich, No. 695
2018: Dakereon Joyner, No. 206
2019: Ryan Hilinski, No. 64
2020: Luke Doty, No. 86
2021: Colten Gauthier, No. 571
2022: Stockton, No. 24
If Stockton retains his five-star ranking, he’ll also be Will Muschamp’s third five-star recruit in four years, joining defensive linemen Zacch Pickens (class of 2019) and Jordan Burch (2020).
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 6:45 PM.
