Big recruiting win: Gamecocks get commitment from four-star Pennsylvania O-lineman
South Carolina notched one of its biggest recruiting wins to date on Tuesday.
Four-star offensive tackle Ryan Brubaker announced his commitment to South Carolina via Twitter. Brubaker is rated the No. 245 player in the 2022 class and No. 23 offensive tackle, per 247Sports’ Composite rankings that factor in all rankings.
The Pennsylvania product picked South Carolina over offers from Penn State, Vanderbilt, Stanford and Tennessee, among others.
“I’m a huge fan of Brubaker and what he brings to the table from an athletic perspective,” Adam Friedman, Rivals’ national recruiting analyst and rankings director, wrote Tuesday after the commitment. “He’s a big body that moves well and has zero physical limitations. On film, Brubaker beats up on the smaller competition, driving defenders off the ball and throwing them around in pass protection. He also does a nice job getting key blocks down the field.
“I‘m a big fan of the Gamecocks trying to recruit talent from further up the coast and Brubaker is just the latest reward for their efforts.”
Brubaker is the third offensive lineman to join USC’s 2022 class in addition to three-star offensive tackles Grayson Mains and Cason Henry. Mains is the longest tenured South Carolina commit, while Henry pledged to the Gamecocks last week.
With his addition, Brubaker would also become the first player from Pennsylvania to sign with South Carolina since four-star quarterback Brandon McIlwain in 2015.
USC now has 11 commits in its 2022 class. The group was ranked No. 32 nationally and No. 10 in the Southeastern Conference per 247Sports’ team recruiting rankings ahead of Brubaker’s pledge.
Brubaker took his official visit to USC the weekend of June 11 and said afterward that he loved everything that he saw around the campus and the city. On his visit Brubaker spent a lot of time with offensive line coach Greg Adkins. Brubaker said the opportunity to play and learn under Adkins was very appealing to him.
“His big point was South Carolina is in need of a lot of offensive tackles,” Brubaker said earlier this month. “The opportunity to play pretty early, he was drawing it up on how he saw things going. He said there’s a very real opportunity to be in contention for a starting spot after a redshirt year.”
Brubaker also was impressed with the message he got from head coach Shane Beamer on his visit.
“Coach Beamer’s big point was South Carolina has history of achieving and being successful, but he said South Carolina has never won an SEC, never won a national championship,” Brubaker said. “In a good way, to us recruits, it’s still an open door. His pitch was there’s still history to be written.”
— Phil Kornblut contributed to this story
South Carolina’s Class of 2022 Commitments
Braden Davis, QB
Ryan Brubaker, OT
Grayson Mains, OT
Cason Henry, OT
Kylic Horton, WR
Jamaal Whyce, DL
Donovan Westmoreland, LB
Anthony Rose, S
Peyton Williams, S
Kajuan Banks, S
Jy’Vonte McClendon, S
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 12:05 PM.
