Speedy in-state receiver signee sets sights on joining Gamecocks for bowl practices
Jordon Gidron was just getting started in the college recruiting process when his high school sophomore season began.
Fast forward 16 months, the Ridge View High School receiver is ready to step foot onto South Carolina’s campus to play for Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks.
Gidron signed his letter of intent on Wednesday to play for USC, and he hopes to practice with the team during their bowl practices later this month. South Carolina will find out its bowl destination on Sunday.
Gidron can’t play in the bowl game, but under NCAA Bylaw 14.2. 1.1, enrollees are permitted to practice with their team ahead of the bowl game and can even suit up for the game, though they can’t play.
Beamer said Wednesday at his press conference they are working to get as many of the new signees as possible on campus for bowl practices, but he doesn’t know how many will make it.
Two years ago when USC last appeared in a bowl game, then freshman Grayson “Pup” Howard practiced with the Gamecocks before the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
“A year ago today, I didn’t even have 10 offers,” Gidron said. “I was just still trying to get offers from schools I always wanted to get offers from. And a year later to think, I will be practicing (with a college team), I am just living out my dream.”
It’s been full-speed ahead for Gidron, who won the 100- and 200-meter races in last year’s 4A state track and field championships, over the last year-and-a-half to get to this point.
Gidron became a high-profile recruit at the end of his sophomore year and carried over into the spring with his top schools consisting of South Carolina, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Duke, Georgia, Miami (Fla.), Louisiana State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ole Miss and Tennessee.
Gidron announced his commitment to the Gamecocks in October and that he would be skipping his senior season and reclassifying to the 2025 class, a move a recruit can make academically if they’ve already got the credits needed to graduate high school.
The move is more popular with basketball players such as Duke’s Cooper Flagg, but some football players have done it recently, most notably Alabama’s Ryan Williams.
Gidron had the academic part down and it was revealed in his signing ceremony he has a 3.91 unweighted GPA and weighted 4.77 GPA, which includes honors classes. The plan is to graduate on Dec. 16.
“When you look at the landscape of where college football is, it is all about getting the most out of the talent that you have,” Ridge View coach Derek Howard said. “The sooner you can get him into practice the sooner you can get him on the field.
“I think South Carolina is getting a complete receiver with Jordon. Obviously, he is just 17 years old, but he is going to continue to grow and develop. But they are getting a kid who is extremely mature, and is not afraid of hard work. … I think they are getting the total package.”
Gidron will arrive at USC healthy after battling injuries this season. He tore his lateral meniscus against Dutch Fork and missed a little over a month before returning against West Florence on Oct. 18.
Gidron said it took him seven or eight weeks to completely heal from the injury and finished with 24 catches for 199 yards this year after grabbing 45 passes for 731 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. The injuries and reclassification saw him drop some in the recruiting rankings, going from top 50 recruit in 2026 class to No. 193 in 247Sports Composite rankings, which factors in all recruiting rankings.
“I saw it,” Gidron said of the rankings. “But it doesn’t really affect me. … But I am looking to prove people who dropped me in the rankings wrong and looking to get better because I am in college now.
“It was a tough battle this year, and I am glad I got the injury over with and I am ready to get better.”
