USC offer is JUCO D-lineman’s biggest to date

South Carolina has reached into the junior college ranks again in hopes of landing more talent for its defensive line.

The Gamecocks on Sunday offered defensive end Mario Dungy (6-3 285), a native of Mobile, Ala., who is a redshirt freshman this season at Highland Community College. It’s his Alabama connection that played a role in landing the offer from the Gamecocks.

“I met coach Lance Thompson in high school when I was at Blount High School in Mobile,” Dungy said. “He was at Alabama at the time and brought me up on a couple visits and camps there. After my junior year me and him lost touch and I came to junior college because I didn’t score high enough on the ACT to go play D1 football. But after being redshirted my first year in JUCO, I started grinding hard and me and Coach Thompson ran into each other again through the recruiting process. After playing hard and making plays this season, him and [Will] Muschamp offered me a scholarship to come play for South Carolina.”

And that’s the best offer Dungy has at this point. He also has offers from Jackson State and Arkansas State.

This season, in four games, Dungy has eight tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

“Coach Thompson likes the way I get off the ball, they way I bend the corner in pass rushing and the way I get off blocks and make plays in the run game,” he said.

Dungy said USC will get an official visit from him. He does not graduate until May and will have three years to play three at the next level.

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 9:51 AM with the headline "USC offer is JUCO D-lineman’s biggest to date."