Surprise! Gamecocks flip Florida defender from USF on signing day
The South Carolina football team landed a surprise signing day addition Wednesday when defensive lineman Gilber Edmond chose the Gamecocks.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound defensive end and three-star prospect from Fort Pierce, Florida was originally committed to USF. He will join the team as a scholarship player. Last season he had 80 tackles with 22 for loss and 17 sacks.
Edmond had verbally committed to new South Florida coach Jeff Scott on Jan. 21.
“South Carolina came in about three weeks ago showing interest in Gilber,” Westwood High assistant coach Roscoe Barber said. “They sent the paperwork over at 8:57 [Wednesday] and Gilber signed at 9:07.”
He’s still relatively new to the position, as he played wide receiver up until the spring before his senior season. He didn’t even get his first offer until Dec. 13. His other offers included Central Michigan, Florida Atlantic and Western Kentucky.
“Gilber is an outstanding athlete,” Barber said. “He is one of the hardest workers on our team, a very dedicated young man. There are not enough great things I can say about him.”
He is the No. 70 weakside defensive end in the class of 2020 by the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Edmond joins Jordan Burch as the second defensive end in the Gamecocks 2020 class. He’s the fifth lineman in the group alongside Burch, Tonka Hemingway, Makius Scott and Alex Huntley.
He had held interest in the Gamecocks since a summer visit with a tour group. He did not meet any of the coaches but later sent film to the football staff.
“I’ve been in contact with South Carolina for a couple of months but they didn’t offer and weren’t in the picture,” Edmond said. Travaris Robinson “came to the school just before the dead period and he said, ‘We really want you.’ Ever since I went there in the summer, I thought it was a place I could see myself at. Yesterday I hit them up and they said they would let me know. They called this morning and said they had a spot and to take it if you want. I said of course I would.”
He’s also the first member of the defensive line class to fit the leaner, pass-rushing Buck defensive end position, which sometimes ends up as more of a linebacker. USC is losing two of its top three bucks in D.J. Wonnum and Daniel Fennell.
In his high school tape, he spent a lot of time as a 4-3 defensive end with his hand in the dirt.
“I was excited,” he said. “It was a place I wanted to go. I prayed about it and when you get the chance, you’ve got to jump on it. (Head coach Will Muschamp) likes the way I get to the quarterback. He likes my pass rush, the way I move, my speed.”
His high school coach, Jeff George Jr. explained the transition from offense to defense to Treasure Coast Newspapers.
“He put in a lot of work,” George said. “We had to stay on him to be disciplined, and we challenged him and he never quit. He showed up every day. We knew he could get off the ball, and when he put his hand on the ground everything clicked.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 9:21 AM.