QB names South Carolina his leader after spring game visit

Quarterback Jelani Woods of Ellenwood, Ga., has had South Carolina, Oklahoma State and Michigan as his top three for several weeks. For the first time during the recruiting process, Woods has named a clear favorite, and it’s USC.

Woods spent Saturday in Columbia for the spring game with his parents, brothers and teammate Tre Shaw.

“South Carolina is my leader right now since I haven’t been out to Oklahoma State,” Woods said. “Right now they are my leader. I told them (Will Muschamp and Kurt Roper) what’s up with me, what I’m thinking right now.

Woods and his family are going to visit Stillwater this weekend. When he gets back, he said, he’ll be ready to make a commitment. While he is favoring USC, he’s also attracted to the Cowboys.

“My relationship with the coaches, I basically talk to the coaches every other day,” he said. “I heard that they had the top notch facilities and things. And they said their whole team is family-based and that’s how mine is, and their offense matches what I’m looking for.”

Woods said distance won’t be a factor in his final decision.

Woods has not yet visited Michigan but he thinks they might visit up there during the summer, but that won’t delay his decision.

As for his visit to Columbia on Saturday, Woods said it was very exciting for him to be in Williams-Brice Stadium in a game setting for the first time.

“I actually witnessed the fan base for the first time,” he said. “The whole visit went really well. I interacted with the players. Other than Bryson (Allen-Williams, a former teammate), I connected with Brandon McIlwain. We talked a little bit. He had a real good day.”

Woods, of course, watched the quarterbacks and the offense closely and was very happy with what he saw.

“That’s the same exact offense we run in my high school, so other than learning their terminology on plays and stuff it wouldn’t be any different. We run the same thing,” he said. “The up-tempo that they run, everything is the same, so that really excited me. They think that I’m a good fit into their offense and what they are trying to do. Coach Roper was telling me how he’s going to come down and see me in the spring and keep building this relationship with each other and he wants me to be a Gamecock.”

And he just might be in another week, but before then, there’s the trip to Oklahoma State to give him something to compare with what he saw Saturday.

“I just want to make sure I make the right decision for me,” Woods said.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 10:01 PM with the headline "QB names South Carolina his leader after spring game visit."