Gamecocks offer tall track star to add speed at receiver spot

Seeking more speed for the offense, South Carolina coach Will Muschamp, along with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and receivers coach Joe Cox, identified 2022 Orlando wide receiver C.J. Smith (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) as a target, and last week Cox delivered the offer. Smith, who is just now seeing his recruiting take off, was caught off guard when he got word of the offer.

“It was really surprising because Coach Joe (Cox) started following me (on Twitter) about a week and a half ago, and I didn’t really think too much of it,” Smith said. “I got a call from my head coach and he told me South Carolina had offered me. It was very exciting. Coach Joe has said that I’m a deep-threat receiver and they need something like that.”

Smith, who is originally from Honolulu, also is a track standout with forty yard dash times clocked in the 4.4 category. Track also is important to him and he’d like to run in college as well. The Gamecocks will afford him that opportunity.

“I really like the school,” Smith said. “I had a few indoor track meets up there over the last summer. I really enjoyed the campus. It’s a huge offer. It was really exciting.”

Smith also has offers from UCF, Tennessee-Martin and FIU, and he said Texas A&M also is showing strong interest. He said a big play offense is what he’s looking for in his college choice which he hopes to make next fall. He sees that with the Gamecocks.

“A quarterback that can hit me long range,” Smith said. “The quarterback there now has an arm. I like their spread offense.”

This season Smith has 23 catches for 361 yards and four touchdowns. In track, Smith was ranked fifth in the nation in the 2022 class in the 200 meters in the indoor season

Note:

Greer 2022 wide receiver Jaleel Skinner (6-foot-5, 200 pounds) named his top 12 schools Friday. South Carolina and Clemson made the list along with Oregon, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Miami, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Michigan and Florida State. Skinner, who could end up as a tight end in college, went into his junior season with 30 career catches for 511 yards and six touchdowns according to Max Preps . He is rated a four-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite and ranked the No. 3 tight end nationally in his class.