D-lineman Aaron Thompson on the run to prep for 1st year at USC

Like every other member of South Carolina’s incoming football class who enrolled in the summer, defensive lineman Aaron Thompson received a packet of workouts to get him ready for when he arrived.

One aspect immediately popped out.

“I saw how much running and stuff they did,” Thompson said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I might as well focus mainly on the conditioning part because I don’t want to go up there all flabby and out of shape.’ I want to go up there and be able to be good so I can make a good impression.”

So he ran. On his own. A mile to warm up. Then 26 110-yard sprints, timed to hit his marks.

He was listed at 269 pounds on signing day, a versatile player who was considered a defensive end in some places and a tackle in others. He was a late get, flipping on signing day as part of the Gamecocks’ big haul to close out the class.

He’d been a Maryland commit down the stretch, and that was, in part, because of Will Muschamp’s staff. Maryland coach D.J. Durkin had been Muschamp’s defensive coordinator at Florida, all the way back to when the Gators reached out.

“They were the ones I was hearing from in the recruiting process first,” Thompson said. “Muschamp and coach T-Rob, they were the ones who first recruited me. Coach T-Rob was the first coach I ever talked to in college. So I had a relationship with him for four years.

“(Durkin) was with them. I knew both of them. I went with Will.”

It didn’t hurt the Gamecocks had Keir Thomas, a well-regarded defensive end prospect from Florida, already enrolled. Thomas and Thompson are friends, and Thompson said he got a preview and scouting report about the situation up front.

It’s a group with many potential options for playmakers but none of them close to proven. Thompson might factor in, though there are enough bodies that a freshman won’t likely have to, and he wasn’t focusing too much on how quickly he could slip into the rotation.

“We have a lot of competition,” he said. “Anything I get will be great. Anything I can contribute early will be great.”