4-star Desmond Umeozulu commits to South Carolina over Ohio State, others
South Carolina’s 2023 defensive line class just keeps getting better.
USC landed a commitment from four-star defensive end Desmond Umeozulu on Monday over other finalists that included Ohio State, Pittsburgh and North Carolina.
Umeozulu, in a ceremony held at Charles Herbert Flowers High, had the four hats of his finalists with him but didn’t go the normal route of grabbing one hat to announce his choice. Instead he revealed a large cardboard cutout of him wearing a Gamecocks jersey.
Umeozulu — from Upper Marlboro, Maryland — is rated as the No. 169 player and No. 20 edge rusher in the 2023 class, per the 247Sports Composite. He’s South Carolina’s 20th commitment for the class.
“If you want to build a program, especially in the SEC, you’ve got to be really good on the line of scrimmage and go get the quarterback,” 247Sports recruiting analyst Brian Dohn said during the network’s broadcast of the event. “When he gets bigger and stronger with a year of weight training in a college program, he is going to be that guy. ... He is an all-upside kid.
“He has great hands, good burst and can get around that edge and can drop into coverage, so he is versatile. … I think South Carolina found a really good one.”
With Umeozulu’s commitment, South Carolina moves up to No. 15 in the 247Sports Composite team recruiting rankings.
The Maryland product is the latest coup for Beamer and his staff in their efforts to push their recruiting footprint up the East Coast.
South Carolina landed three-star quarterback Braden Davis (Delaware), three-star offensive lineman Ryan Brubaker (Pennsylvania) and four-star defensive back Keenan Nelson Jr. (Pennsylvania) out of the region during the 2022 recruiting cycle. It has since added 2023 pledges from four-star offensive lineman Oluwatosin Babalade (Maryland) and three-star defensive back Zhabari Sandy (Washington, D.C.)
”If you look at what South Carolina has done in recruiting that area, Shane Beamer has always had connections there when his dad was the head coach at Virginia Tech. So a lot of that stuff is coming together,” Dohn said.
South Carolina offered him in February and sent the entire defensive staff to the school to show Umeozulu how much of a priority he was.
247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong described .Umeozulu as “one of the most coveted defensive line prospects in the country.”
The Gamecocks are also in the process of building one of the nation’s best defensive line groups for 2023. Prior to Umeozulu’s commitment, South Carolina had already added a trio of four-star defensive linemen in Monteque Rhames (Manning), Xzavier McLeod (Camden) and Zavion Hardy (Georgia).
USC is also in the mix for five-star edge rusher/athlete Nyckoles Harbor out of Washington, D.C.
Umeozulu played mostly defensive end for Charles Herbert Flowers High last fall, helping his squad to an 11-2 record and an appearance in the Maryland 4A playoff semifinals.
Umeozulu will begin his senior season on Friday when Charles Herbert Flowers takes on Duval.
South Carolina football 2023 commits
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 11:46 AM.
