USC signee Josh Smith was late riser on recruiting scene. How he ended up a Gamecock
Garnet shirts reading “Homegrown” and featuring Josh Smith’s face surrounded the Dutch Fork High School standout Wednesday as he signed to play in his hometown for college.
“It’s an amazing moment, something you dream of since you start playing football,” Smith said. “So this is just a huge moment for myself and my family. Everybody’s extremely proud of me.”
That village of love and support was the main reason he put pen to paper to stay home to play for the Gamecocks.
The Dutch Fork linebacker committed to South Carolina on Nov. 5. He chose USC over other Power 4 programs such as Ole Miss and N.C. State.
“What could be better than playing in front of friends and family every Saturday?” Dutch Fork football head coach Tom Knotts said.
He originally committed to Coastal Carolina in April but backed off that pledge at the end of September. USC offered him a scholarship two weeks prior to that decommitment.
Knotts said he encouraged Smith to commit to Coastal so he wouldn’t lose his spot in the class. But once Smith got the offer from USC, he said he knew that’s where he was going to play football. He took a trip to Ole Miss in late September but wasn’t sold on the Rebels.
He wanted to be a Gamecock.
The public decision to commit to South Carolina was made after his official visit during the weekend USC hosted Texas A&M. Smith said he attended all but one of the Gamecocks’ home games this season, but that one stood out the most.
“Just all the love that was shown to me during that time and the restructuring of that linebacker room, it just really spoke to me,” Smith said. “It was like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to be at. This is where I’m gonna spend the next four years.’ ”
Why the late rise in recruiting?
There are likely a number of reasons for Smith’s late emergence on the recruiting scene, but it all comes down to one thing: his exposure.
Smith’s first major offer came in July from Vanderbilt, Knotts said, and the dominoes started falling from there. N.C. State, Ole Miss, Memphis and South Carolina followed.
“That is the 10-million-dollar question — I do not know,” Knotts said with a laugh when asked what caused Smith’s late rise in the recruiting world.
“His highlight film is incredible,” Knotts added. “So once one offer came, it made everybody else put eyes on him. Once those eyes got on him, the offers really started coming in for Josh.”
It’s almost like how word-of-mouth can elevate a popular show on Netflix. A few people watch it and tell the world how good it is, then everybody goes and checks it out.
Smith attributed his rise to a change in his position on the field. The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder was an undersized defensive end to start his career, but switched to linebacker this season. He was originally just filling in for a teammate during spring practices, but he ended up being really good at the position.
That switch led to him showing versatility, which is essential and commonplace for Gamecock defenders this year, Knotts said.
Smith previously said USC defensive coordinator Clayton White — who Smith has built a “pretty strong” relationship with through the recruiting process — told him he sees Smith as a Mike or Will linebacker, similar to the roles Debo Williams and Demetrius Knight are playing this year.
Smith has been one of the anchors for the Silver Foxes defense for the past two years. Last year, he had 63 tackles, 20 for loss, seven sacks and 15 quarterback hurries in helping Dutch Fork to the Class 5A state championship.
The Silver Foxes are 11-0 this year and ranked No. 1 in Class 5A. They have a chance to win back-to-back titles this season and face Spartanburg in the semifinals Friday.
After that, Smith plans to enroll in January for the Gamecocks. He can’t wait to get to work with his new home.
“Getting ready to go to work immediately, getting to know my teammates and things like that and just start working within that defense — it’s really exciting,” he said.
