Carolina Confidential – Sunday updates on upcoming decision makers

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— Fuquay-Varina (N.C.) four-star safety Malcolm Ziglar is set to announce his decision on Monday at 1 p.m. with South Carolina, North Carolina, and Notre Dame as the three main finalists.

Ziglar, who has done an excellent job of holding things close to the vest throughout the process, is thought to be down to the Gamecocks and Tar Heels as it doesn’t appear that Notre Dame will be the pick.

While I was at one point very close to calling this for the Heels — there’s been some level of confidence from that side for some time that he’d end up there — there is also reason to believe that this one has tightened up down the stretch with South Carolina still in it with 24 hours until commitment time.

Ziglar has also maintained a relationship with several of the commitments in South Carolina’s class who were vocally pushing on social media Sunday for Ziglar to join them with the Gamecocks.

We’re also under the impression that Ziglar has not informed the staff that he’s picking yet of his decision.

We will be tracking this one right up until decision time and are not ready to “call it” for the Heels yet.

— If South Carolina is trying to play the role of “spoiler” for Ziglar, then the Gamecocks are in the opposite position with Burlington (N.C.) Cummings four-star WR Jonathan Paylor — trying to hold off a late push from N.C. State.

Paylor at one point announced a tentative commitment date of July 28 but at this point, there have been multiple indications that he’s more likely to commit in August. Paylor told our friends at TheWolfpacker that he was looking at Aug. 5 but now plans for it to be even later. At this point, we think early to mid August is the most likely timetable.

In that same interview with The Wolfpacker, Paylor also publicly expressed that the Wolfpack are making a push when asked if there was a school starting to stand out.

“I would say, probably, NC State,” Paylor said. “They’re mashing the gas. The pedal is through the floor to be honest with you. Right now, NC State is really starting to really pull away in third, fourth gear.”

That’s obviously a quote that we’re not going to minimize and that acknowledges N.C. State’s push for the long-time South Carolina lean.

What’s also interesting — and something we will be heavily tracking here — is Paylor saying he leaning towards making another trip to Columbia before his decision (that would likely be on July 28 for the cookout).

That’s shaping up to be a massive day for Carolina in terms of trying to get some of their top targets in for one final visit prior to deciding. At this point, based on the totality of everything, I’m sticking with my South Carolina prediction for Paylor but the Wolfpack’s push is definitely on the radar.

— There has been plenty of discussion in the last week about whether Meridian (Miss.) four-star running back Daniel Hill will take in cookouts at South Carolina and/or Alabama prior to his newly released commitment date of Aug. 23.

For what it’s worth, Hill told GamecockCentral that he wasn’t sure yet if he was going to be at either cookout and intimated to On3’s Chad Simmons that he was done with visits for the month. There does seem to be at least some level of expectation at both schools that he could be in campus again, so we’ll keep an eye on that.

For what it’s worth, Carolina’s is on July 28 and Alabama’s on July 29.

More important than all of that minutiae is that in touching base with someone close to Hill this week, the belief is that things remain the same — that South Carolina has the best chance with Alabama still lurking and never completely out of it.

— Lake City (S.C.) class of 2025 four-star DL Amare Adams, the top prospect in the state for that cycle, named his Top 7 last week with South Carolina, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Florida State, and Tennessee making up his early group.

In touching base with someone familiar with his recruitment, GamecockCentral still believes South Carolina is the early favorite for the top prospect.

Adams was on campus for both a camp day and for a cookout this summer and has been building that all-important relationship with new defensive line coach Travian Robertson.

Adams plans to possibly be back on the road at the end of this month with the possibility of a trip to South Carolina, Florida or FSU for then.

— New Orleans (La.) John Curtis DL Jowhar Franklin landed an offer from South Carolina last month and is someone we’re now tracking. He tells GC that he plans to visit the Gamecocks “soon” so we’re keeping an eye on him as a possible cookout visitor.

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