Top athlete recruit was ‘very close’ to committing to South Carolina football
Jonathan Paylor has signed his national letter of intent with N.C. State football and can’t wait to join the Wolfpack later this month as an early enrollee.
Now that his recruitment is behind him, though, the dynamic four-star 2024 athlete from North Carolina has no problems admitting he almost committed to South Carolina instead.
Speaking ahead of this week’s Under Armour All-America Game in Florida, Paylor, the No. 6 athlete and No. 121 overall recruit in the 247Sports Composite, told that website that USC was a “very close runner-up” in his recruitment.
Paylor — a dual-sport athlete who will also run track at N.C. State — committed to the Wolfpack in August over South Carolina and fellow finalists Maryland, UNC and Penn State.
Paylor “had a great relationship with both staffs but said he felt most connected with not just the N.C. State staff but head coach Dave Doeren” and also saw an opportunity to play early with the Wolfpack, per a Dec. 29 report by 247Sports’ Greg Biggins.
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound speedster — who had over 3,000 all-purpose yards during his senior season at Cummings High School in North Carolina — also said in an interview with Rivals that South Carolina continued to recruit him down the stretch.
Along with the Gamecocks, UNC and Nebraska also made late runs at Paylor to try to get him to flip his commitment ahead of last month’s early signing period.
“It wasn’t really a thing,” Paylor told Rivals. “They tried, but as I told them I’m one of those guys where once I’m committed I’m true to where I stand.”
South Carolina an early favorite
Coach Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks were widely viewed as the favorite in Paylor’s recruitment for months. The running back/wide receiver told SportsTalkSC in February 2023 that USC was “really, really leading the pack right now.”
The lead “is probably like a couple of gaps, I’m not going to lie to you,” he said.
That sentiment held through Paylor’s official visit to Columbia last summer, which was the last of four he scheduled in June 2023 before deciding on his college choice. USC, at that point, held all six of the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions filed for Paylor’s future destination.
But N.C. State — an in-state school only an hour from Paylor’s hometown of Burlington, North Carolina — seized momentum late in the process after being a consistent presence in Paylor’s recruitment for years.
By the time Paylor announced his commitment Aug. 4, the Wolfpack were a clear favorite among national recruiting reporters filing predictions.
The four-star recruit told Rivals this week that he chose N.C. State over South Carolina and other contenders because of “the connections, the relationships and the consistency with the coaches.”
As a senior, Paylor had 2,3378 rushing yards, 381 receiving yards and 36 total touchdowns in 12 games. Factoring in kick return, punt return and interception return yardage, he had 3,262 all-purpose yards, good for 271.8 per game.
Paylor was one of the top players in N.C. State’s 2024 recruiting class. Had he picked South Carolina, he would’ve joined four-star Greenville Senior High recruit Mazeo Bennett and three-star Milton (Ga.) High recruit Debron Gatling as receiver signees.
