Top defensive end recruit loves South Carolina’s coaches. Will he flip his commitment?
The South Carolina football team isn’t giving up just yet on a top defensive recruit who committed to a West Coast school earlier this summer.
Those efforts are paying off.
According to a Thursday report from TheBigSpur, four-star 2024 edge rusher recruit Kameryn Fountain — who’s been committed to Southern Cal since June 5 — plans to take an official visit to USC “sometime during the (2023) season.”
Fountain, who plays regionally at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, ranks as the No. 9 edge rusher recruit and No. 119 national recruit in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
South Carolina was heavily involved in Fountain’s recruitment before he committed to the Trojans on June 5 directly following an official visit to their Los Angeles campus.
In April, 247Sports director of football recruiting Steve Wiltfong even deemed USC a “top two” school for Fountain, who’s listed at 6-foot-5.5 and 237 pounds and only took one official visit before committing.
Now, coach Shane Beamer and lead recruiter Sterling Lucas are trying to put themselves in position to flip Fountain from one USC to the other before the December early signing period.
In an interview with 247Sports’ Southern Cal website, Fountain —the top-ranked player in the Trojans’ signing class — said he remains interested in South Carolina and loves the coaches there, but he’s solid with Southern Cal commitment because of “that home feeling.”
“That’s why I committed,” Fountain told the site. “I went on other trips, but they just didn’t feel like home. I just couldn’t see myself at those schools. But I rock with Coach Luc. That man, I have a great relationship with him. But (Southern Cal), it just feels different for me.”
Southern Cal has quickly become a formidable recruiting force, as the additions of former Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley and former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams have re-energized a program with a rich history and an enviable location.
In Riley’s first season, Williams won the Heisman Trophy with 4,919 yards of total offense and 52 total touchdowns and the Trojans went 11-3 with a Cotton Bowl appearance. Had they not lost the Pac-12 title game to Utah, they’d have made the College Football Playoff instead.
In other words, there’s plenty of excitement surrounding Southern Cal, which ranked No. 9 in this week’s preseason AP Top 25 and has the nation’s No. 17 recruiting class.
But South Carolina continues to make a splash, too, after getting back on track in 2022 with an 8-4 record, wins over Tennessee and Clemson and a No. 23 final AP ranking in Beamer’s second season.
The Gamecocks — who missed out on a top 25 spot but were second among teams receiving votes in the preseason AP and coaches polls — have the country’s No. 19 recruiting class for 2024 and just landed their flagship player of the class.
Five-star edge rusher and No. 10 national recruit Dylan Stewart committed to South Carolina on Aug. 1, giving the program five-star commits in back-to-back cycles following Nyckoles Harbor choosing the Gamecocks on 2023 national signing day.
If South Carolina can flip and add Fountain to the mix, it would make for a formidable pairing of edge rusher recruits who both rank among the top 10 nationally per 247Sports.
As a junior for Booker T. Washington, Fountain had 56 tackles, 8 quarterback hurries and seven sacks and got his hands on the ball for three fumble recoveries and a pass breakup.
A talented multi-sport athlete who nearly averaged a double-double on the basketball court, Fountain also took snaps on offense last season. His production earned him an invitation to the 2024 All-American Bowl, which he accepted in May.
Leading the charge in Fountain’s South Carolina recruitment is Sterling Lucas, the team’s defensive ends/outside linebackers coach. Lucas has played a key role in the commitments of Harbor, Stewart and a number of other blue-chip defensive recruits to the Gamecocks.
