Why this in-state football recruit is staying locked in with USC despite struggles
A losing season and assistant coaching changes haven’t made Caden Ramsey wary of the South Carolina Gamecocks football program.
The Gamecocks are 3-7 after they blew a 30-3 lead against Texas A&M. South Carolina also fired two assistant coaches, offensive coordinator Mike Shula and offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley.
Still, that hasn’t made Ramsey, a Cross High two-way standout, back off his pledge to Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks. The senior committed to South Carolina in September and said this week he is excited to play for the USC program.
“South Carolina is home and definitely going to stay home, no matter how bad the record is, how they play in the game. It doesn’t matter. It is home,” Ramsey said Wednesday at the annual South Carolina Basketball Coaches preseason media day at Brookland-Cayce. “I chose South Carolina and that is where I want to be and stay with coach (Shane Beamer) and (assistant) coach Shawn Elliott. They love me, and I love them. I committed for a reason and that is where I am going to be. I’m 100 percent committed and look forward to getting there next year.”
Caden Ramsey will be at Coastal, Clemson games
Ramsey seems to share the sentiment of most of the other USC commits. The Gamecocks have only lost two of their commits for the Class of 2026. Jamel Howse decommitted last month and then Amari Thomas flipped from USC to Florida State.
Ramsey said he hears from the coaching staff regularly and has made it to USC for several games this year and plans on being there Saturday for the Coastal Carolina game and again next week for the season finale against Clemson.
Ramsey won’t enroll until the summer and is still in the middle of his senior season at Cross. The Trojans play Johnsonville on Friday in the Class A Lower State semifinal. If Cross wins this week, it advances to the Class A Lower State championship game and will be a win away from making it to the program’s second straight state title game.
Abbeville defeated Cross (10-1) in last year’s championship game, but the Panthers were eliminated from the playoffs in the second round. The Trojans entered the postseason as the third-ranked team in Class A.
From football straight to basketball
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Ramsey is having a big year on offense and defense for the Trojans, although USC recruited him as a tight end. He leads the team with 46 catches and has 1,133 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns.
Defensively, Ramsey has 42 tackles and six interceptions. In three seasons, he has picked off 20 passes.
“I really just get the ball in my hands and make a play anyway I can,” Ramsey said. “I will play anywhere my coaches want me to play. I am just trying to get a (championship) ring and playing as hard as I can.”
Once football ends, Ramsey said he will head right into basketball. The SC Basketball Coaches Association voted him one of the top five seniors to watch in Class A this season. As a junior, he averaged 15.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game.
