Gamecocks land commitment from four-star linebacker Trenilyas Tatum out of Georgia
South Carolina’s football program added another four-star to the mix Thursday.
Georgia linebacker Trenilyas Tatum tweeted out his commitment to Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks. Tatum had cut his list down to a top eight schools in early March.
“Not many head coaches reached out like Coach Muschamp,” Tatum said. “It’s a school for defensive players. I know there are a lot of defensive players every year going to the (NFL) Draft and I know Coach Muschamp will help make that happen for me. Coach Muschamp is a good coach. He actually communicates with the players. He’s very dedicated to his guys.”
And it wasn’t just the communication with Muschamp that moved Tatum toward the Gamecocks.
“Just the communications skills with the coaches,” he said. “I know the coaches like me. All the coaches text every day. You don’t get no better love than that from a staff. I thought, ‘They love me and I love them, so why not?’”
The 247Sports Composite rankings have him as the No. 321 player in the country. He’s the No. 23 outside linebacker and 28th-ranked player in Georgia.
Tatum had 91 tackles last season with 31 tackles for loss and 14 sacks.
By those rankings, the 6-foot-2, 208-pounder is the top-rated player in the class and the first four-star. He’s also the second linebacker in the class alongside Bryce Steele.
“Muschamp likes my athleticism. I can rush, I can cover. He said he says I fit the defense that he’s running, and I trust him a lot,” Tatum said. “And I got a better opportunity to play early. I see us winning. We’re going to be winning a lot when we get there. A championship. We’re going big.”
Tatum said Muschamp likes his versatility and said he could play the Will or Mike linebacker.
The Gamecocks are set to lose linebackers Sherrod Greene and Damani Staley after next season. They also had a change at linebacker coach this offseason, with alum Rod Wilson coming in to replace Coleman Hutzler after he departed for Texas.
His final group was South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisville, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. And he’s not ready to cut off communication with the outside recruiting world.
“I’m not going to shut it down,” Tatum said. “I’m going to go visit some other schools. A couple of schools, Mississippi State and Louisville, a couple of schools I want to get around to.”
South Carolina’s 2021 class:
▪ QB Colten Gauthier
▪ LB Trenilyas Tatum
▪ DB Marcellas Dial
▪ DT Nick Barrett
▪ WR Sam Reynolds
▪ LB Bryce Steele
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 10:10 AM.
