QB1: Breaking down the state of SC’s impressive 2025 quarterback recruiting class
South Carolina produces its share of Division I football talent every year, but the state has been hit or miss with the game’s most important position.
That’s not the case this season, as the Palmetto State is loaded at the quarterback with three top-flight Power 4 commits — Irmo’s AJ Brand (Virginia Tech commitment), Richland Northeast’s Will Wilson (N.C. State) and Westside’s Cutter Woods (South Carolina).
Three more quarterbacks are committed to FCS programs: Northwestern’s Finley Polk (Gardner-Webb), Summerville’s Jaden Cummings (Dartmouth) and Bamberg Ehrhardt’s Chanston Crosby (N.C. Central).
And there are other in-state quarterbacks who will land at Division II or other levels, giving the state a deep class for 2025.
“This is a pretty star-studded little class here,” said former South Carolina quarterback Perry Orth, who now trains quarterbacks with QB1. “This is definitely the best QB class I have had since training quarterbacks eight years ago.”
Those six quarterbacks will be vying for spots on the state’s top two all-star games: the Shrine Bowl in Spartanburg and the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl in Myrtle Beach.
The Shrine Bowl roster will be released Sunday afternoon and typically includes two quarterbacks picked for the annual game that matches top seniors from South Carolina and North Carolina. That means S.C. head coach Reggie Kennedy will be given a tough task deciding which QBs to take for December’s Shrine Bowl all-star game.
The Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl will release its rosters sometime in October and will take two quarterbacks per team.
This is the first time in what’s known as the modern recruiting era, which dates back to 2000, that the state of South Carolina has produced three Power 4 (ACC, Big Ten, SEC or Big 12) quarterback commitments in a single signing class.
Seven different times, South Carolina has produced two Power 4 commits. The last time that happened was in 2023 with LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina) and Grayson Loftis (Duke). There were two other Division I quarterback commits that season in Raheim Jeter (East Carolina) and Carson Black (Charlotte).
The Class of 2020 had six Division I quarterback commits. But only Luke Doty (South Carolina) went to a Power 4 school, and he’s played both receiver and QB during his time with the Gamecocks.
“This is another productive class when it comes to quarterback play in the state of South Carolina,” said Ramon Robinson, founder of RR Elite QB Academy. “Just being around a lot of those guys over the years and they continued to develop their craft, it’s been a rise and pleasure to watch the continued growth — and not just (from) guys I trained. ...
“The quarterback position has been the lowest recruited position in the state of South Carolina, but it has heated up and the numbers have changed.”
Both Robinson and Orth along QB trainers such as David Moore have been at forefront in watching the position development in recent years. Robinson, the first Black starting QB in TL Hanna High School history who went on to a Hall of Fame career at Benedict College, has been training QBs for two decades.
Orth has been in the QB training business since his playing days at USC were done in 2016. The two train most of the top quarterbacks in the state on weekends during the offseason and also sometimes during the season.
Robinson has worked with Woods (South Carolina) and Crosby (N.C. Central) over the years. He went to TL Hanna High School with Woods’ father, Odie, and the two were on the Yellow Jackets’ basketball team together.
“It has been a pleasure watching his development,” Robinson said of Woods. “There were a lot of things he needed to change, whether it was footwork or whatever. He always has been knowledgeable and hungry.
“The knock on him was he was a pure pocket quarterback and couldn’t move. But he went out, worked on his speed and added that piece to his game.”
Orth has worked with Wilson (N.C. State) since he was an eighth-grader and Brand (Virginia Tech) the last two years. He’s been impressed by what he has seen from both quarterbacks.
“Will is a technician and wants to be perfect in all he does,” Orth said. “AJ will take bits and pieces of what we give him and mesh it into his game.
“AJ is probably a little more explosive, but Will has shown he can run the ball, too. They both have bright futures ahead of them.”
South Carolina recruited all three Power 4 commits from this year’s class and landed Woods in June after he flipped his commitment from Wake Forest.
Coach Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks were one of the final two schools for Brand, but they recruited him as an athlete. He ended up picking Virginia Tech. Wilson was offered by USC in May 2023 but committed to N.C. State a month later and hasn’t wavered since despite a push this summer from the Gamecocks.
“I am locked in,” Wilson said this summer.
Clemson was not prominently involved in any of those three QBs’ recruitments.
All three Power 4 quarterbacks have put up huge numbers during their high school career. Woods threw for almost 4,000 yards and 42 touchdowns in leading the Rams to their Class 4A Championship last season. Through four games this season, Woods has thrown for 1,049 yards and 13 TDs for the top-ranked Rams.
Brand set school records for total offense (4,045 yards), passing yards (2,932), touchdown passes (45) and total TDs (62) last season in helping the Yellow Jackets to 4A Lower State championship. He was named Class 4A Lower State Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-state.
This season, Brand has thrown for 1,288 yards, rushed for 490 and 21 total touchdowns as Irmo is off to a 5-0 start for the second straight year.
Wilson completed 64% of his passes for 2,337 yards, 22 TDs and rushed for 1,527 yards and 25 TDs last season. Through five games this season, he has thrown for 1,392 yards, rushed for 636 with 25 total touchdowns in helping the Cavs to their first 5-0 start since 2005.
Brand, Wilson and Crosby all come from football families and their fathers being their head coaches in high school. Both Walt Wilson and Aaron Brand beam with pride when talking about their sons’ development over the years.
Brand had to play receiver as a freshman because his dad thought his athletic ability would help the team. The Yellow Jackets had a senior quarterback Izyah Whiteside, who is now at Newberry College, so Brand wasn’t put at the position as a freshman.
“He isn’t going to throw it as good as Cutter in the pocket or look as good as Will standing straight up,” Irmo coach Aaron Brand said of his son. “But when the ball gets in his hand there is not a player in this state that is going to do as much as him.”
Will Wilson made it known to his father early that he didn’t want to have any part of playing defense, despite being bigger than a lot of kids growing up. Will’s older brother, Brandon, is a defensive lineman at Chattanooga.
“When I’ve got No. 1 (Will’s number), I’ve always got a chance,” Walt said Friday after RNE’s 26-15 win over Camden. “I watched the kid going to sleep watching film all week. We are just blessed.”
2025 South Carolina quarterback recruits
Listed by 247Sports Composite ranking
- 3-star Westside QB Cutter Woods (South Carolina): No. 14 in SC, No. 42 QB nationally
- 3-star Richland Northeast QB Will Wilson (NC State): No. 17 in SC, No. 44 QB
- 3-star Irmo QB AJ Brand (Virginia Tech): No. 20 in SC, No. 84 athlete
- 3-star B-E QB Chanston Crosby (NC Central): No. 25 in SC, No. 101 QB
- Northwestern QB Finley Polk (Gardner-Webb): Unranked
- Summerville QB Jaden Cummings (Dartmouth): Unranked
This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 9:45 AM.
