‘I’m definitely ready.’ Gamecocks’ commit is all business going into senior season
It was supposed to be an off-day for Blake Franks but he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to work out with some of the state’s best senior high school football players.
The Greenville High School offensive lineman and South Carolina commit was one of more than 100 players invited to take part in Saturday’s Shrine Bowl Combine at Brookland-Cayce High School.
The Shrine Bowl is the annual all-star game that features some of the top seniors from SC against the best ones from North Carolina. This year’s game is on Dec. 16 at Spartanburg High School.
The SC coaches for the game, along with some of the ones from Touchstone Energy Bowl, ran the workout and gave them an up-close look at potential players for the game.
“This was supposed to be one of my break days but I decided to come out here, work hard a little,” Franks told The State after the two-hour workout. “Even if I don’t make Shrine Bowl or North-South, I am here to have fun. It is the mindset when I come to a combine or a camp just to have fun.”
Franks definitely will have a good shot to make the game and likely won’t be the only future Gamecock playing. Other USC commits Mazeo Bennett, Franks’ teammate at Greenville; Woodland’s Kam Pringle, Dillon’s Josiah Thompson and West Florence’s Kelvin Hunter also are strong candidates to represent SC.
But before he thinks about an all-star game, Franks is excited about his upcoming senior season. The first official practice around SC is July 28 but he and his Greenville teammates are ramping up their conditioning for it.
Franks said Greenville coach Greg Porter has been putting his team through “Porter House,” which is filled with various stations and running stadium steps. The 6-foot-6, 310-pound senior says feels like he is in good shape and ready to handle the rigors of the season, and has high hopes for his final year of high school.
Greenville made it to the Upper State finals last year before losing to state runner-up Northwestern and will be one of the favorites in Class 4A.
“I’m definitely ready for the season. I feel like we have a team to win the whole thing and cement our names in the history books of Greenville High School,” Franks said.
Franks also has been keeping track of his future Gamecock teammates. He plans to attend USC’s annual cookout on July 28. The event will feature several USC Class of 2024 commits and top prospects/targets.
South Carolina has 13 commits for Class of 2024 with a few others expected to announce in the coming weeks.
“I try to make sure the people we have are straight and if they are working,” Franks said.”I want to make sure they are working and getting better after their craft.”
