Jamarcus King helps pave way for Steven Montac to join USC

It’s fair to say Steven Montac was happy to have a familiar face on the roster when he joined South Carolina’s football team.

He wasn’t officially on the roster until after August camp started. The final moves of his recruitment came in late July. So the Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College cornerback’s acclimation to campus came fast. It helped to have former junior college teammate Jamarcus King there to help as a guide.

But Montac owes something more to King, the cornerback who came to Columbia as the top junior college prospect in the 2016 class.

“They actually started recruiting me after Jamarcus left because he told them about me,” Montac said. “It was something that they did because of Jamarcus. I’m just really glad Jamarcus put me in that opportunity.”

King backed up the story and said there was a key reason why he went to defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson with his case for Montac.

“He was one of the players I knew that T-Rob would like,” King said. “I showed T-Rob his film and T-Rob got him up here for camp and worked with him individually.”

Montac, originally from Covington, Ga., had a few small school offers out of high school and made 17 tackles in his lone season in junior college. He and King paired on a defense that was up and down in 2015.

The Gamecocks were arguably his best offer with Missouri and Boise State joining his final group. Beyond his friend on the roster, another factor came in.

“South Carolina’s like two hours away from my house,” Montac said. “And my parents can come see a lot of games. That’s a big impact on why I came.”

Since arriving, the staff hasn’t been shy about putting him to use. He expected to play cornerback and nickelback, but he’s been thrown in heavily at safety in recent weeks.

It’s unclear if he’ll play quickly, but he’ll at least have a lot of avenues to do so.

Montac said he has been welcomed to the roster by everyone, and King said he has as well. They brought their friendship across the country from Kansas, and it’s grown in Columbia.

“He was my brother there,” King said. “He’s my brother here. And now I have multiple brothers. Everybody took me in like family and I tried to take him in here like they took me in here.”

The Gamecocks needed more defensive back depth. King and Montac project to help on that front.

King was one of the biggest catches of this past offseason for USC, and his prior friendship loomed large in bringing Montac into the fold.

“It was real big,” Montac said. “That was the reason why I really made this decision, besides T-Rob and Muschamp and the coaching staff. Jamarcus was a big, big impact on the decision.”

This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Jamarcus King helps pave way for Steven Montac to join USC."