Kornblut Report: Florida DB wants to commit. Georgia big man high on USC hoops
Another primary target on South Carolina’s recruiting board confirmed this week his plans to commit to the Gamecocks when he can.
Earlier this week in Tavareon Martin-Scott said he will commit once he completes this semester of junior college work. And Wednesday night cornerback Dontae Balfour of Starke, Florida said his intent is to commit to the Gamecocks as soon as he’s cleared to do so. Earlier this month he received his official offer from Will Muschamp.
“South Carolina is still number one on the list,” Balfour said. “I asked them (about committing) and they said I have to see them first before I can commit. They said they are going to try to make it to one of my games this season. It’s a really big lead. They show love and stuff, and I like it.”
Balfour (6-2, 170) said Ole Miss and Georgia State also are showing strong interest, and he’s now being followed on Twitter by North Carolina and Western Kentucky.
Balfour said Muschamp hits him up every day with a text message of information or inspiration. Mike Peterson has been his recruiter for the Gamecocks, and they last talked about two weeks ago. He’s been impressed with what the Gamecocks have told him about how he would excel in their program.
“They told me they are going to build me up, and they know I’d be a lockdown cornerback in the SEC,” Balfour said.
Balfour also has offers from Virginia, Ole Miss, Coastal Carolina, FIU, Akron, Tennessee State, Georgia State and Austin Peay. He is rated as a three-star safety by 247Sports, but he said the Gamecocks like him as a corner. He’s ranked as the 105th best prospect in Florida for this season. USC has one corner committed for the 2021 class at this point.
A lot of communication with basketball prospect
USC basketball coach Frank Martin and staff have three pieces in place in the 2021 class with a pair of guards and a small forward. They would like to add a big man to the crew, and one they have targeted is 6-foot-9 Langston Wilson of Georgia Highlands College.
New Gamecock assistant coach Will Bailey first recruited and offered Wilson while at Saint Louis, and he has continued his work with him in Columbia.
“I talk to Coach Bailey pretty frequently, three or four times a week,” Wilson said. “I talk to Coach Martin probably every other week or so. It’s still a strong line of communication.”
What Wilson likes about those conversations is they just don’t focus on basketball. He said Martin and Bailey show a lot of interest in his off-the-court progress, and he loves hearing that.
“When me and Coach Martin talk, it’s not predicated 100% on basketball,” Wilson said. “Me and Coach Martin have a lot of the same interests, like in regards to jazz music and things like that. So when we speak, it’s not always basketball related. He’ll say a little bit about how their workouts went and things like that.
“It’s the same way with Coach Bailey. Just me knowing Coach Bailey since he was at Saint Louis and that relationship that we built, we’re sending each other a couple of texts and a couple of motivational things we’ll say to each other. We’ll just talk and see just how everything is going. More or less our conversations consist mostly of talking about life and the things that are going on.”
Those conversations have led to a strong relationship between the Gamecock staff and Wilson.
“Those guys, they are great people,” Wilson said. “Coach Martin’s resume more or less speaks for itself, in a sense. Outside of that, you’ve got Coach Bailey, who I respect so much as a coach. Even everyone else on the staff as well, they just have a really good overall staff. From their strength and conditioning, there’s Coach Bruce (Shingler) also. I feel as though it’s a strong relationship between us.”
Wilson just picked up offers from Arizona State and Howard. He also has offers from Alabama, Mississippi, Wichita State, Oregon, Tulsa, UAB, SMU, Maryland, East Carolina, VCU, Seton Hall and Memphis. He said he hears from all of those schools as well. He has not narrowed his list and he’s not decided on all of his official visits. When he can take visits, Wilson said USC will most likely be one of those trips.
“It’s a strong possibility just because of the relationship that we have,” Wilson said. “I want to get up there whether it would for an official or an unofficial or anything like that. I do want to get up there, but I feel there’s a strong possibility I will take an official visit there.”
Wilson said he has not decided if he will sign in November or wait until the spring. Last season, Wilson averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds per game.