Javon Kinlaw eyes visit with things smoothed over with USC staff

Former South Carolina defensive end commitment Javon Kinlaw of Jones County Junior College, Miss., never got the chance to take official visits while at Goose Creek High School and that's one of the reasons he reopened his recruiting. He's going to take advantage of that opportunity now and is in the process of lining up official visits for this winter.

Kinlaw said he has official visits set right now with Ole Miss on Jan. 20 and Alabama on Jan. 27, but he said he might change the Jan. 27 visit to USC and go to Alabama another time. Right now he does not have a set date with USC. He's not sure on his other official visits but he's been hearing from Mississippi State, LSU and several others.

When he broke up with the Gamecocks, Kinlaw said he was unhappy with what he felt was undue pressure from the coaches as well as others wanting him to go to USC. But he's been talking with head coach Will Muschamp and others and things have been smoothed over.

"All the time, every day, we talk all the time, Coach Muschamp and me and Coach Thompson," Kinlaw said. He's also been talking regularly with several coaches on the Alabama staff and that includes head coach Nick Saban.

Kinlaw said he does not have a favorite at this point and will wait until after this official visits to make his final decision.

Notes:

USC target OL Jerry Drake Jr. of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., picked up offers Tuesday from Michigan State and UCLA.

USC target DB Keisean Nixon of Arizona Western Junior College will visit Oregon State this weekend. He originally was scheduled to visit Missouri this weekend. He visited USC last weekend.

DB Naytron Culpepper of Miami, who took an official visit to USC last weekend, said he's not heard much from the Gamecocks since then but he still considers them his favorite. His team is still playing and he's not set up any other visits.

2018 DE Xavier Thomas of Wilson will be at Clemson Saturday.

ATH Jonathan Sims of Palmetto Prep has committed to North Greenville.

DE Sean McGonical of Myrtle Beach was at USC last Saturday for the Western Carolina game. McGonical has not been offered by any schools but is drawing interest from several. "Since I'm a late recruit I primarily have been recruited by the Ivy League teams, Cornell, Penn, Princeton, and Bucknell. However, Coach (Lance) Thompson got a hold of my mid-season highlight clip and really liked it. I'm an undersized defensive end right now but I run 4.6 so I think they see me at outside linebacker. My dad played offensive tackle at West Virginia and he's 6'6 so I may still have some size coming my way." McGonical said he had 17 1/2 sacks this season.

2018 DB Marcus Caldwell Jr. of Clemmons, N.C. has received mail from Clemson and USC but no heavy interest at this point. He has offers from Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Louisville and East Carolina.