Insider Report: Notes on DT recruiting and more
Defensive tackle looks to be a key position this offseason for South Carolina football on the recruiting trail. We have the latest on the efforts there and more, exclusively for GamecockCentral members.
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— Last month, South Carolina’s staff hosted the nation’s top offensive tackle, David Sanders, for an official visit.
As we documented, the Gamecocks came into that visit behind some others. Exiting the trip, the sense was that USC helped itself some but that the competition would remain very stiff.
Interestingly, the five-star from Charlotte announced this week that he will take an official visit to Nebraska this weekend. Other OVs are on the docket to Clemson, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Ohio State.
While it’s difficult to make a definitive statement in this recruitment, we do continue to hear a good amount of buzz about the Vols’ chances here.
There’s a ways to go, assuming Sanders follows through with his full slate of visits; we believe he will. For the Gamecocks, the storyline to monitor is whether or not Sanders makes a return trip to Columbia at some point this summer. Either way, we think USC still has work to do here.
— Just to set the table for the near future, official visits will begin in earnest for South Carolina and others the weekend of May 31. The summer docket has filled up nicely for Shane Beamer’s program at multiple positions.
On3’s Steve Wiltfong recently submitted an RPM pick in favor of Georgia for one prospect who is slated to be in Columbia on June 7: Juan Gaston.
The mammoth offensive lineman has trips lined up to UGA (May 31), South Carolina, and Oregon (June 21). For USC, Gaston’s too good to not take a big swing. The Dawgs have always been considered the front runner, but let’s see if the Gamecocks staff can get him to follow through with the trip in less than a month.
— South Carolina enters the 2024 football season with a wealth of upperclassman experience at defensive tackle. That’s a positive for this year, but also means that the staff will lose a lost from the roster once the season wraps.
Boogie Huntley, Tonka Hemingway, Nick Barrett, and DeAndre Jules are seniors. TJ Sanders is a redshirt junior who’s likely going to be good enough to jump to the NFL after this year. Monkell Goodwine and Jerome Simmons (JUCO enrolling this summer) are juniors. Jamaal Whyce is a redshirt sophomore.
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There’s not a crop of freshmen or redshirt freshmen in the hopper to develop, either. To that end, we anticipate that the staff is going to look to the portal for help this cycle. That can be a tricky proposition because the NIL market at that position was very high this offseason.
Four-stars Kevin Wynn (Georgia) and Bryce Jenkins (D.C.) are lined up for officials this summer.
Five-star Elijah Griffin told Chad Simmons of On3 recently that he’s considering an official visit to Columbia; right now he seems like a longer shot.
Florida prospect EJ Thomas recently picked up an offer from the Gamecocks and seems very interested in visiting. The only summer trip that’s lined up right now for him is Syracuse.
Then there’s a familiar name in former Gamecocks commitment Zavion Hardy. The JUCO product went to Auburn, Jackson State, and Mississippi State for visits this spring and has picked up offers from a bunch of SEC programs this calendar year.
He’ll visit Georgia on May 18, then has some summer official visits lined up. Arkansas, Mississippi State, and South Carolina are on consecutive weekends starting June 7. Our understanding is that the Gamecocks staff would like to sign him and bring him back into the fold.
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