Elite 11 QB Landon Duckworth, a 4-star recruit, commits to South Carolina
South Carolina football has landed a familiar name as its quarterback for the Class of 2026.
Four-star prospect Landon Duckworth of Jackson High School (Alabama) announced his commitment Friday evening to Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks. Duckworth originally committed to USC after his freshman year in August 2023, but he backed off that pledge in June 2024.
The Gamecocks never stopped recruiting him, and now he’s back in the class.
He ultimately picked South Carolina over home-state Auburn but also considered Florida State, Georgia and Ole Miss among his top schools.
“I always loved South Carolina,” Duckworth told Rivals’ Chad Simmons. “Coach Beamer was always the same. We have been close for a long time. That is what kept South Carolina high on my list. They had a change of offensive coordinator, so I had to get to know coach [Mike] Shula better, but South Carolina was always up there.”
The 247Sports Composite rankings, which factor in all networks, have Duckworth as the 51st-best player nationally in the Class of 2026 and sixth-best quarterback in the country. And he just earned Elite 11 honors as one of the best QBs.
Using those same 247Sports rankings, he is the second-highest-ranked high school quarterback to pick South Carolina since Ryan Hilinski in the 2019 class.
The Gamecocks’ quarterback room currently consists of redshirt sophomore starter LaNorris Sellers, sixth-year senior Luke Doty, sophomore transfer Air Noland and true freshman Cutter Woods.
“We know LaNorris Sellers is there, and I think Landon fits a lot of that mold,” Jackson High coach Cody Flournoy said. “When he decides to make that jump to the NFL, Landon would step right in and continue a lot of what Sellers has been able to do.”
Duckworth is coming off his best season of his high school career.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound rising senior will be a four-year starter. A year ago, threw for 3,439 yards and rushed for 648 yards with 51 total touchdowns in leading Jackson to the Alabama Class 4A championship. In the title game, he threw for 330 yards and tied a state record with five touchdown passes in a 69-6 win over Cherokee, the school’s first state championship since 2011.
In three years, Duckworth has thrown for 7,395 yards, rushed for 1,374 with 111 total touchdowns.
He’s also been part of two straight basketball state championship teams.
“His skill set is ultra-athletic,” Flournoy said. “He was starting guard for the state championship basketball team. He’s a sprinter for us on the track team. He led us to the football state championship last fall, and we hope to do the same again this year.”
— Phil Kornblut contributed to this story.
South Carolina 2026 football commitments (13)
▪ Anthony Baxter (OL) — Committed on May 5, 2024
▪ Keenan Britt (DE) — Committed on Aug. 5, 2024
▪ Jamel Howse (TE) — Committed on Oct. 5, 2024
▪ J’zavien Currence (DB) Committed on Oct. 17, 2024
▪ Zyon Guiles (OL) — committed on March 20, 2025
▪ Aiden Harris (DL) — committed on June 7, 2025
▪ Andrew Harris (LB) — committed on June 7, 2025
▪ KJ Johnson (DB) — committed on June 9, 2025
▪ Sequel Patterson (WR) — committed on June 26, 2025
▪ Noah Clark (DL) — committed on July 2, 2025
▪ Kamari Blair (OL) — committed on July 16, 2025
▪ Triston Lewis (DB) — committed on July 17, 2025
▪ Landon Duckworth (QB) — committed on July 18, 2025
This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 7:34 PM.
