Gamecocks, Tigers reel in Palmetto State talent during early football signing period
The Clemson and South Carolina football programs did their best to keep some of the top talent in-state this recruiting cycle.
It started with Greenville High School offensive lineman Collin Sadler committing to the Tigers back in November of 2020. It ended with Chapin High’s Zavier Short and Spring Valley’s DQ Smith announcing their commitments to South Carolina on Tuesday.
Wednesday marked the beginning of the three-day early signing period for the 2022 recruiting class. Shane Beamer wrapped up much of his second signing class as the Gamecocks’ coach. For Dabo Swinney, it was his 14th class with the Tigers.
“I think that is the thing about coach Beamer and him wanting to keep the in-state talent home,” Short said Wednesday after a signing ceremony at Chapin. “I think it is going to be really exciting to play with those guys.”
In all, the Gamecocks and Tigers combined for 10 in-state commitments — five for each school — with nine of them set to sign Wednesday. Only Smith didn’t sign yet, and he plans to sign Feb. 2 when the second signing period begins.
The 10 in-state commitments are the most between the two schools since 2018, when Clemson had six and South Carolina five.
Of those 10 for the 2022 class, seven were ranked in the Top 10 of the 247Sports Composite rankings. Hilton Head Island linebacker Jaylen Sneed (No. 1) and Hammond running back CJ Stokes (No. 9) were the two highest-rated prospects to head out of state. Fox Creek offensive lineman Nick Williams, ranked No. 7, has yet to commit.
Sneed, the top-ranked prospect and this year’s S.C. Mr. Football, signed with Notre Dame on Wednesday, while Stokes is headed to Big Ten champion Michigan. The Gamecocks were in early on Stokes and made a late run at Sneed before the two picked the blue blood programs.
“The talent level in South Carolina is usually defined by the number of top-end guys it has each cycle,” Clemson and Rivals recruiting analyst Paul Strelow told The State. “Here’s arguing this class to be the best from the state since at least 2018, when that group featured Xavier Thomas, Derion Kendrick, and a couple of others that the regional powers wanted.”
Strelow and other recruiting analysts consider this to be one of the deepest and most talented S.C. classes in the past five years, when prospects Derion Kendrick (South Pointe), Josh Belk (Lewisville) and Channing Tindall (Spring Valley) all were ranked in the Top 100 nationally.
This year’s group had five in the Top 150 with Sneed, Jaedyn Lukas (Mauldin), Adam Randall (Myrtle Beach), Antonio Williams (Dutch Fork) and Collin Sadler (Greenville) picked to play in the Under Armour All-American game, a national showcase for some of the country’s top talent. Lukas, Randall, Williams and Sadler all signed with the Tigers.
In recent years, Clemson had gone out of state for much of its recruiting, but they got in early on the top 2022 recruits in the state as South Carolina was transitioning to a new coaching staff. Both Randall and Sadler committed almost a year ago, while Williams went down to the wire before picking the Tigers over South Carolina and others.
Though USC lost out on Williams and some other top recruits in the state, Shane Beamer has made it a priority to build his program with as many in-state prospects as possible.
“Last couple years, we lost a lot of good kids to out of state,” Chapin coach Justin Gentry said. “Both Clemson and South Carolina and some of other in-state schools have done a great job reeling these guys in and building walls up around and keeping these guys here.
“I’m proud these guys are going to be representing our state moving forward.”
State of SC’s Class of 2022, Top 20 recruits
A look at the Top 20 football players in the state for the Class of 2022, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and where they are headed for college:
1. Jaylen Sneed, LB, Hilton Head Island — Notre Dame
2. Jaedyn Lukas, CB, Mauldin — Clemson
3. Adam Randall, WR, Myrtle Beach — Clemson
4. Antonio Williams, WR, Dutch Fork, — Clemson
5. Collin Sadler, OL, Greenville — Clemson
6. Nick Emmanwori, LB/S, Irmo — South Carolina
7. Nick Williams, OL, Fox Creek — Uncommitted
8. Jayden McGowens, WR, Laurens — Vanderbilt
9. CJ Stokes, RB, Hammond — Michigan
10. Kylic Horton, WR/DB, Clarendon Hall — South Carolina
11. Eli Henderson, OL, Byrnes — Arkansas
12. Deuce Caldwell, DB, Mauldin — North Carolina
13. Bennett Galloway, RB, Chapin — N.C. State
14. Zavier Short, WR, Chapin — South Carolina
15. DJ Jackson, DL, Sumter — N.C. State
16. Demetrius Watson, DL, Fort Dorchester — South Carolina
17. Xavier Chaplin, OL, Whale Branch — Virginia Tech
18. Quan Peterson, DB, South Pointe — Syracuse
19. Josh Sapp, TE, Greenville — Clemson
20. Zan Dunham, ATH, Chester — Uncommitted
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 2:47 PM.
