Top local WR recruit picks South Carolina — and has one other big surprise
South Carolina picked up a big local commitment Friday, a day before one of its biggest football recruiting weekends of the year.
Ridge View High junior four-star receiver Jordon Gidron announced his commitment to Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks, hours before the Blazers’ game against Spring Valley. Gidron also announced he’ll be reclassifying from the Class of 2026 to 2025 — with the hopes of enrolling this January.
Gidron said he told Beamer earlier this week of his decision.
Gidron is the second high-profile local recruit to announce that he’s reclassifying to the 2025 class. Irmo’s Donovan Murph announced Tuesday that he’s also shifting 2026 to 2025 — a move a recruit can make academically if they’ve already got the credits needed to graduate high school. (Former Gamecock QB Jake Bentley made a similar move in 2016, opting to enroll in college early and forgoing his senior year of high school.)
Murph hasn’t announced his college choice yet, and it might not happen until the February signing period.
Gidron picked USC over Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Duke, Georgia, Miami (FL), Louisiana State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ole Miss and Tennessee. Those were the final 12 schools he announced in July.
The Gamecocks offered Gidron back in December and have been recruiting hard ever since. He has made multiple trips to South Carolina and is expected to be in Williams-Brice on Saturday for the matchup with Ole Miss.
“Carolina really built a great relationship with me. Both Coach Beamer and Coach Furrey (receivers coach) stayed in constant contact and always made SC feel like home,” Gidron told The State. “Coach Furrey’s experience as a receiver himself in the NFL and he’s coached in the NFL was definitely a factor. His energy and passion for the game really shows through.”
Gidron said he began thinking of reclassifying after he suffered a knee injury this year. He has missed the last few games but hopes to return to the lineup soon.
“When I got hurt this season it really made me think about my future. I knew I was pretty much done with my high school credits so my parents and I started to have those conversations about reclassifying and decided it was the best decision for me,” Gidron said. “It’s always been my goal to play for an SEC school and I wanted to push forward and make it happen.”
247Sports Composite, which factors in all recruiting rankings, has Gidron as the No. 1 prospect in South Carolina for the Class of 2026, No. 51 overall nationally and the seventh-best receiver in the country. He’ll likely land as the top in-state recruit for 2025 once the rankings are recalculated.
The 6-foot-2 Gidron is the fourth receiver to commit to USC for the Class of 2025, joining Lex Cyrus, Jayden Sellers and Brian Rowe. The Gamecocks also are in the mix for Murph and Rock Hill receiver Malik Clark.
The Gamecocks have 20 commits for Class of 2025. USC had the 22nd-ranked recruiting class in the country before Gidron’s commitment, according to 247Sports.
As a sophomore, Gidron caught 45 passes for 731 yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games and won the 100- and 200-yard dash in the Class 4A championships.
This season, he has only played in three games because of a knee injury and has 17 catches for 121 yards. Gidron hopes to get back in the lineup soon.
South Carolina football 2025 commitments
- Jayden Sellers (WR) — committed Oct. 26, 2023
- Brian Rowe (WR) — committed April 9
- Damarcus Leach (DB) — committed April 10
- Anthony Addison (DE) — committed April 12
- Caleb Williams (DE) — committed April 21
- Jaquel Holman (ATH) — committed June 8
- Kobby Sakyi-Prah (DE) — committed June 10
- Chris Hatfield (DB/WR) — committed June 11
- Preston Douglas (TE) — committed June 12
- AJ Holloway (LB) — committed June 14
- Shedrick Sarratt (OL) — committed June 14
- Max Kelley (K) — committed June 15
- Jaquavious Dodd (DL) — committed June 20
- Kyler Farrow (LS) — committed June 22
- Cutter Woods (QB) — committed June 24
- Taeshawn Alston (DE) — committed June 25
- Jaiden Braker (LB) — committed on July 6
- Lex Cyrus (WR) — committed on July 11
- Donovan Darden (DE/LB) — committed on July 15
- Jordon Gidron (WR) — committed on Oct. 4
This story was originally published October 4, 2024 at 5:01 PM.
