Gamecocks trending with instate receiver Shi Smith

Union County wide receiver Shi Smith has had a change at the top of his recruiting list.

For the longest time it was Clemson that was preferred by Smith, but Monday night he revealed the Tigers have not contacted him in a while. South Carolina has continued to make a strong push, and that’s changed his thinking.

“When they (Clemson) used to contact me every day and keep in touch with me, they used to be number one, but now with Carolina contacting me every they have come up a lot,” Smith said.

Would he call the Gamecocks his current favorite?

“Right now, yes sir,” he said, adding that Alabama currently is second on his list.

Smith (5-11, 175) actually had planned to go to Clemson’s junior day last Saturday but didn’t make it. He said the Tigers are still in his thinking despite not having heard much from them recently. He plans to visit USC again over his spring break, and Alabama wants him to visit as well.

Smith’s offer list of USC, Clemson, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, NC State, Appalachian State, Kentucky and Towson.

A new school has popped up on his radar: Oklahoma, which offered late Monday night. Smith said new Sooners support staff member Steve Spurrier Jr. recently contacted him to gauge his interest in his new program.

As for USC, Smith said Will Muschamp keeps in touch with him almost daily.

“He’s pretty much already told me what role I would play and stuff like that,” Smith said. “He’s just contacting me every day with little things like, ‘It’s good to be a Gamecock,’ and stuff like that.”

Smith is looking at the middle of this coming season for making his decision.

Notes

▪  Quarterback Jake Bentley of Opelika, Ala., will visit Alabama on Tuesday. USC has been the only other visit he’s taken in recent weeks. Bentley will be in Spartanburg on Thursday to visit with family but is not visiting USC on that trip.

▪  Dutch Fork athlete Austin Connor was offered Monday by Duke. Connor was offered last week by USC.

▪  DB Jamyest Williams of Roswell, Ga., said the Gamecock coaches have been working him a lot since he was there last month. “They really want me, they want me to come back to Columbia,” he said. “They really want me and I think I can see myself there. I really like the Gamecocks. I wouldn’t call them my favorite because I’m still wide open but I like what T-Rob (Travaris Robinson) has done with his past DBs.”