Local two-way standout to walk on at South Carolina. He has Lattimore’s endorsement
Heathwood Hall two-way standout Ronnie Porter has accepted a preferred walk-on spot with South Carolina.
Porter made the announcement Sunday on Twitter. He was offered a preferred walk-on spot in November, and the USC coaching staff has done a good job keeping in touch with him after Will Muschamp was let go.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pounder said he heard regularly from assistant coaches Tracy Rocker, Des Kitchings and new coach Shane Beamer.
“They kept communicating every week with a text and reaching out,” Porter told The State. “I talked to coach Beamer and he is a great guy. Carolina is just home. I have been watching them since I was little and it is a dream come true.”
Porter had offers from Presbyterian and West Virginia State, and a preferred walk-on offer from The Citadel. Georgia State and Mercer also had shown interest.
“I had it in the back of my mind I always wanted to go play at Carolina,” Porter said. “You can’t pass up an opportunity to play that level of football and it being right down the road where my family can come see me. You can’t beat that.”
Porter played his freshman season for former Gamecocks great Marcus Lattimore at Heathwood and the last three for coach Danny Lewis. Lattimore thinks Porter will have an impact at USC.
“He’ll earn a starting spot. Put him anywhere on the field. O, D, or Sp Teams,” Lattimore tweeted Sunday night.
Being a preferred walk-on guarantees a recruit a spot on the roster but no financial assistance to start his college career. He can also enroll and participate in preseason workouts at the same time as scholarship athletes.
Porter played running back and linebacker at Heathwood but said the USC coaches want him to play linebacker, a spot where the team doesn’t have much depth going into 2021.
Porter, a running back-linebacker at Heathwood, rushed for 1,845 yards and 17 touchdowns during the regular season and had 111 tackles with nine sacks and 17 tckles for loss. Last month, he was named Mr. Richland County Football Player of the Year and scored a touchdown in the Gatlinburg All-American Bowl last month in Tennessee.
In 2019, Porter had 2,000 all-purpose yards and 136 tackles.
This story was originally published January 3, 2021 at 6:35 PM.
