South Carolina football makes final cut for talented local receiving prospect
South Carolina has made the final cut with the state’s top receiving prospect.
Dutch Fork four-star receiver Antonio Williams has the Gamecocks in his final six schools released Friday night. The others are Ole Miss, Georgia, Auburn, Notre Dame and Florida State.
Williams is ranked 25th overall nationally at the position by 247Sports Composite. Williams already is committed to play in the Under Armour All-American game in January.
Williams hit the recruiting trail hard in the summer after the NCAA allowed recruits to take on-campus visits starting June 1. He went to South Carolina, Clemson, Georgia, Auburn and Ole Miss in the month of June.
Williams returned to USC at the end of July for the Gamecocks’ cookout that featured some of USC’s top recruiting targets and commits. Receivers coach Justin Stepp and tight ends coach Erik Kimrey, who played at Dutch Fork, have been Williams’ primary recruiters.
Ole Miss is the alma mater of Williams’ stepfather, Murphy Holloway, a former Dutch Fork standout who went on to play basketball for the Rebels. Williams said Holloway has helped him during the recruiting process, but the decision of where he wants to go is totally up to him.
Williams attended the Georgia-Clemson game last weekend in Charlotte. In August, he told The State Williams plans to take official visits to South Carolina on Sept. 25 and then to Ole Miss on Oct. 24, and possibly go back to a couple of other places he took unofficial visits to in the summer.
“I want to go to the place where I fit in,” Williams said last month. “A place that has a good quarterback and good coaching staff. Just the place that will be best place for me and my family.”
The 6-foot, 180-pound Williams broke his collarbone during his sophomore year but had a breakout year as a junior in helping the Silver Foxes to their fifth consecutive Class 5A championship. He led the team with 51 catches for 837 yards and eight touchdowns last year, ranking second in yards and touchdowns behind Charlotte signee Elijah Spencer.
Through two games this season, he has seven catches for 143 yards and a touchdown. He also is returning punts and kickoffs for the Silver Foxes and had a couple carries last week in the team’s Wildcat formation.
Dutch Fork was off Friday and is at Greenwood on Sept. 17.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 6:42 PM.
