Josiah James’ message to South Carolina, Clemson after opting to leave state

The Clemson and South Carolina basketball programs have enjoyed success over the past few years, but it hasn’t been enough to keep the top in-state prospects from staying home.

Porter-Gaud’s Josiah James, a five-star prospect, was the latest star who opted to play college basketball outside the Palmetto State when he picked Tennessee on Wednesday. James’ announcement comes a few months after Spartanburg Day phenom Zion Williamson announced he was headed to Duke.

Also, York Prep’s D.J. Burns (Tennessee) and former Gray Collegiate standout Juwan Gary (Alabama) chose to go out of state. Gary is playing his senior season at West Charlotte (N.C.).

All the aforementioned prospects had South Carolina and Clemson among their final choices. James eliminated USC when he narrowed down his final three.

USC is coming off a Final Four appearance in 2017, and the Tigers went to the Sweet Sixteen last season.

“There is no question that Clemson and USC tried hard and they were good. I think it just came down to what jumped out to a kid,” Porter-Gaud coach John Pearson said. “I don’t know that we should be viewing this as a trend due to schools not doing a good job. From what I saw, both USC and Clemson were top notch. I think it just came down to what Josiah felt most comfortable with. Clemson’s staff and USC’s staff were very good.

“I know what I saw. Clemson and South Carolina did their job. Sometimes it doesn’t turn out good for them, but they didn’t necessarily do anything wrong that I observed.”

James agreed with his coach, saying the USC and Clemson coaching staffs did nothing wrong and both were recruiting him hard the last several years. He pointed out that Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was the first to offer him. That offer came in a parking lot following a bad performance by James at an AAU tournament in Spartanburg during the summer before his freshman season.

The decision to pick Tennessee wasn’t an indictment of USC’s or Clemson’s program, James said.

“They do a great job already. It is nothing against this state,” James said. “This state has great basketball players, great coaches and universities. I just went to the place that is right for me.

“I can’t speak to what Zion went through or other in-state players that go to out of state. I wouldn’t change anything about them. They are great communities and great coaches. It just wasn’t what it is for me. I just felt better about one place.”

Brad Brownell’s program was perceived as the leader for both Williamson and James prior to their announcements. Clemson was the overwhelming favorite in 247Sports’ Crystal Ball predictions with 93 percent of the picks made for James picking the Tigers, where he visited over the weekend. No one projected him to the Vols.

Several Clemson media members made their way from the Upstate to Charleston for James’ announcement, another sign of confidence in the Tigers’ position for James.

“Just being who it is, being Zion Williamson, being Josiah James, being five-star guys who are home-bred, I kind of feel for Clemson,” Rivals national analyst Corey Evans said. “They invested a lot into each of those kids, and the fact that they entered commitment day as the leader and leave as the bridesmaid, that’s not fun for anyone.”

So where does USC and Clemson go from here? The Gamecocks have a commit from Hartsville guard Trae Hannibal and are recruiting Blythewood’s Tre Jackson in this year’s class.

Clemson has one commit in Chase Hunter of Westlake (Ga.) and are in the mix for Ridge View’s Malcolm Wilson and Christian Brown, who recently left Lower Richland for McEachern (Ga.). Brown is a four-star prospect and ranked in the top 50 nationally.

“It takes one or two guys to entirely change the complexion of a program, and they just haven’t gotten that guy,” Evans said of Clemson. “It’s not looked upon as a destination program yet. That could change with tournament success, and this year they have another chance for success in the tournament. But these guys want to know that they can get to the NBA, and Clemson has not done that yet. I think that gets woven into the fabric a little bit.”

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Tracking the in-state prospects

Here’s a look at the state’s best players, according to 247Sports rankings, from the last five classes and where they’ve gone to college.

Class of 2019 (committed)

1. Josiah James (Porter-Gaud High School in Charleston) – Tennessee

2. Christian Brown (Lower Richland in Hopkins*) – undecided, but is involved with Clemson, Georgia, UNLV, Ole Miss, Florida State and Maryland

3. Juwan Gary (Gray Collegiate Academy in West Columbia**) – Alabama

4. Trae Hannibal (Hartsville) – committed to South Carolina

5. Malcolm Wilson (Ridge View in Columbia) – undecided, but is down to Clemson, Georgetown and Rice

*transferred to McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia

**transferred to West Charlotte High School in North Carolina

Class of 2018 (signed)

1. Zion Williamson (Spartanburg Day) – Duke

2. Aaron Nesmith (Porter-Gaud) – Vanderbilt

3. D.J. Burns (York Prep Acadmey in Rock Hill) – Tennessee

4. Robert Braswell (Blythewood) – Syracuse

5. Jimmy Nichols (Conway) – Providence

Class of 2017 (signed)

1. Jalek Felton (Gray Collegiate) – North Carolina

2. Anthony Oliver (Daniel High School in Central) – Clemson

3. Mamoudou Diarra (22 Feet Academy in Greenville*) – Cincinnati

4. Clyde Trapp (Lower Richland) – Clemson

5. Nicolas Claxton (Legacy Charter in Greenville) – Georgia

*hometown is Bamako, Mali

Class of 2016 (signed)

1. Seventh Woods (Hammond School in Columbia) – North Carolina

2. Jordan Bruner (Spring Valley High School in Columbia) – Yale

3. Cartier Diarra (West Florence High School in Florence) – Kansas State

4. Jordan Bowden (22 Feet Academy*) – Tennessee

5. Mohamed Touray (Legacy Charter**) – Chipola College

*hometown is Knoxville, Tennessee

**hometown is Bronx, New York

Class of 2015 (signed)

1. P.J. Dozier (Spring Valley) – South Carolina

2. Tevin Mack (Dreher High School in Columbia) – Texas

3. Damontrae Jefferson (Believe Prep Academy in Rock Hill*) – Texas Southern

4. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (Dorman High School in Roebuck) – Stanford (for football)

5. Karl Gamble (AC Flora High School in Columbia) – Middle Tennessee

*hometown is Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 9:06 AM.