Three burning recruiting questions as South Carolina nears end of June
The whirlwind recruiting month of June is nearing its end.
South Carolina’s staff has spent the bulk of the past three weeks welcoming prospects for visits and a host of camps and other various on-campus events of what’s become an increasingly busy time of year.
The Gamecocks currently have the No. 16 class in the 247Sports Team Rankings and are on pace for one of their best classes in the modern recruiting era. So what’s next on the docket? There’s a few questions to be answered.
Will South Carolina reel in another five-star player this cycle?
I’ll start with a question that likely won’t be answered for a few months.
The best bet here (barring any drastic changes in the rankings of current prospects) is five-star Maryland defensive end Dylan Stewart. The nation’s No. 9 overall recruit in the 2024 class, per the 247Sports Composite, Stewart is the kind of prospect quite literally everyone in America wants.
Every situation is different, but there’s a lot to compare here with South Carolina’s pursuit and eventual victory in the Nyckoles Harbor sweepstakes. The Gamecocks were in the mix for Harbor long before he burst onto the scene as the nation’s No. 1 athlete in the 2023 class and head coach Shane Beamer had been familiar with him from his time recruiting as an assistant at Oklahoma.
Stewart, like Harbor, has had familiarity with the Gamecocks’ staff. He received his South Carolina offer in March 2022, has visited campus unofficially twice since then and is slated for his official visit this coming weekend. That’s where we may actually learn where USC stands in this whole thing.
The competition is going to be stiff here. Stewart is a national prospect in every sense of the word. Miami wants him. Georgia wants him. Alabama wants him. You get the point.
Beamer has had some major recruiting wins in his short time back in Columbia and area recruiter Sterling Lucas has been an ace in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area as the Gamecocks have carved out a nice little pipeline there of late. Stewart’s recruitment will likely last into the fall, so don’t hold your breath. That said, expect South Carolina to be in the mix down to the end.
Where else will South Carolina go at receiver?
The Gamecocks’ receiving core is pretty well set for the 2023 season. Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. is back after finishing second in the Southeastern Conference in yards receiving a year ago. Memphis transfer Eddie Lewis and returners Xavier Legette and Ahmarean Brown should also comprise the bulk of what will be an experienced group this fall.
After this season? We’ll see.
South Carolina has done a solid enough job on the recruiting trail with pass-catchers considering the myriad offensive woes they’ve endured over the past two seasons. Three-star athlete Kelton Henderson, Rock Hill native Elijah Caldwell and Alabama product CJ Adams have folks excited internally. Landon Samson was considered a potential coup when he signed in the 2022 class, but he battled injuries last year. There’s hope health and another year will have him making plays at some point. Harbor, too, will line up at receiver this fall as he transitions from track star to potential SEC difference-maker.
That said, the Gamecocks could really use an infusion of talent in the receiver room in the 2024 class considering what it will lose in experience after this season.
Four-star Greenville receiver Mazeo Bennett is already in the boat after backing off an initial pledge to Tennessee. South Carolina remains in the mix for four-star Texas pass-catcher Parker Livingstone, who took his official visit to Columbia a few weeks back. Holding off the home-state Longhorns, though, is a heck of an ask there.
The biggest/most realistic 2024 targets still out there are four-star North Carolina athlete Jonathan Paylor (No. 146 player overall) and four-star Virginia product Keylen Adams (No. 184 player overall). Paylor has long been considered a South Carolina lean, but he at least has something to think about after taking his official visit to N.C. State last weekend. He’ll be in Columbia for his official visit this weekend and should announce a commitment before the season.
While Adams first landed a South Carolina offer in December 2021, mutual interest has picked up in recent months. He took an unofficial visit to USC the first week of June and took an official visit to Alabama last weekend. He’s also got an official visit to Virginia Tech on the books for this weekend. Adams is slated to make his commitment on July 13 and the Gamecocks should be in the thick of this.
Who’s the next big-time commit for the Gamecocks?
I could defer to any of the receivers here, but if we’re talking outside of those named already, I really like South Carolina’s chances with four-star athlete Daniel Hill.
Hill has his pick of suitors, though he’s being recruited as a linebacker and/or tailback depending on the school. The Meridian, Miss., product — like seemingly half the guys I’ve mentioned in this story — is slated to take an official visit to Columbia this weekend following official visits to Alabama and Auburn and an unofficial at Tennessee over the last month.
There’s definitely no guarantee Hill commits this weekend or even picks the Gamecocks at all. He previously named a final eight that included the aforementioned schools he’s visited along with Mississippi State, LSU, Michigan and Penn State. Still, I like where South Carolina is here and there’s optimism USC eventually lands one of what should be two running backs in this class.
A couple other names that could be on commitment watch — albeit less high-profile than Hill — include three-star linebacker David Bucey and three-star safety Kaleb Harris. Both have been on campus for various events this month.
This story was originally published June 21, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Three burning recruiting questions as South Carolina nears end of June."
