Receiver from Rock Hill SC commits to Gamecocks football over Virginia Tech, others

South Pointe High School in Rock Hill has been good to South Carolina football, producing stars such as Stephon Gilmore, Jadeveon Clowney and DeVonte Holloman.

Now the Gamecocks have landed another talented Stallion in wide receiver O’Mega Blake.

The 6-foot-2, 188 pounder announced his commitment Monday to USC, adding another pass catcher into the mix for the 2021 class. He received his offer in early June, relatively late in the process.

In a phone interview, Blake said South Carolina treats him “like family,” and that he saw USC as a place where he can go and make an immediate impact.

“You don’t have any choice but to like your home-state team, you know?” said Blake, a longtime Gamecock fan. “Putting on from where you’re from, that’s something big to me. Trying to put South Carolina back on the map. I see that program changing within the next few years.”

Blake lived through some of the Gamecocks’ best recent years — when Clowney, Holloman (his current high school coach at South Pointe), Alshon Jeffery and Marcus Lattimore were in Columbia.

“From what I gather, he was a big-time USC fan before I came here,” said Holloman, who’s entering his second year at the South Pointe helm. Holloman then said Blake was interested in several schools early — including Virginia Tech, which was among his final three choices before Monday. The third, final school he was considering was Louisville.

But his heart was at the University of South Carolina.

“He told me from the first conversation that he wanted to go to South Carolina, and that it was his dream school,” Holloman said.

Blake was a highly productive player for a Rock Hill team that opened its season 10-0. He caught 50 balls for 1,019 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also punted, returned punts and played a little quarterback early in the season and sporadically throughout as a fill-in for then-senior Tahleek Steele.

Blake, labeled as a wide receiver on recruiting boards, plans to compete for the starting job at quarterback this season at South Pointe.

“My coaches always tell me that every field I step on, I gotta be the best,” Blake said. “I’m going to go out there and do what’s best for my team to win.”

Blake is the No. 948 player in the country by the 247Sports Composite rankings. It puts him at 138th among wide receivers and 12th among players in South Carolina.

Blake is the 11th commitment for the Gamecocks class and the second from Monday. He’s also the second receiver in the class, joining speedster Sam Reynolds.

South Carolina’s 2021 class:

▪ QB Colten Gauthier

▪ RB Caleb McDowell

▪ WR Sam Reynolds

▪ WR Omega Blake

▪ OL Jordan Davis

▪ OL JonDarius Morgan

▪ DT Nick Barrett

▪ LB Trenilyas Tatum

▪ LB Bryce Steele

▪ DB Marcellas Dial

▪ DB Jayden Johnson

This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 4:02 PM.

Ben Breiner

The State

Covers the South Carolina Gamecocks, primarily football, with a little basketball, baseball or whatever else comes up. Joined The State in 2015. Previously worked at Muncie Star Press and Greenwood Index-Journal. Picked up feature writing honors from the APSE, SCPA and IAPME at various points. A 2010 University of Wisconsin graduate. Support my work with a digital subscription

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.