The latest on South Carolina football recruiting

Although the South Carolina football season is in full swing, there’s still plenty to track on the recruiting front.

Shane Beamer’s 2024 Gamecock football recruiting class currently currently ranks number 19 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings, with room to move up further in the future.

Some high-value targets remain in this class. We’ll discuss a few of those, plus more from the 2025 cycle right now.

— Let’s kick things off with more on four-star running back target Daniel Hill, who has been and remains a major priority for the Gamecocks staff.

So we don’t bury the lede, there is nothing incredibly new or significant to pass along with Hill. As a refresher, he’s still planning trips this season to Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

GamecockCentral.com actually touched base with Hill on Sunday, and he noted there was nothing new to report.

His father conducted an interview with BamaOnline – you can read the full story here – noting that Hill is expected to be in Tuscaloosa on Saturday for the Ole Miss game.

In addition to that, Hill’s father essentially confirmed his desire for his son to play his college football at Alabama.

…”He knows how I feel,” he told Joseph Hastings of BamaOnline.com. “Just the familiarity with what’s going on over there. Me, my wife, and my kids being able to go over there at the drop of a hat instead of making a six- or seven-hour trip somewhere. As I told him before, give me an opportunity to be dad where I can come to practice and be dad, not coach.”

Based on what continue to hear from sources, Hill himself seems to love the idea of becoming a Gamecock. His heart seems to be in Columbia. The above, of course, is an obstacle. Hill already pushed his previous August 23 decision back because of it.

We just don’t know yet how this one will play out.

— 2025 big-time tight end Ethan Barbour is down to five programs officially: Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and South Carolina. He was in Athens for South Carolina football’s matchup against the Bulldogs.

The four-star is planning on announcing his college decision in just 4 days. Georgia leads the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, although I haven’t heard a behind the scenes firm call here.

We can report that Barbour talks very regularly with USC assistant Jody Wright, who scouted Barbour’s game on Friday night.

[Get breaking news from GamecockCentral]

— Another 2025 standout from Georgia, Jontae Gilbert, has been on South Carolina football’s board for some time.

USC DB coach Torrian Gray was at his game on Friday, and Gilbert’s planning on returning to Columbia for the Clemson game in November. He could be back before that, but the Clemson game trip seems pretty firm.

Even before decommitting from Ohio State earlier this year, Gilbert has been communicating with and visiting numerous schools including South Carolina. He has a very good rapport with Gray, and USC’s going to be in this one until the end.

— In-state offensive lineman Desmond Green from the 2026 class will be seeing USC twice in as many weeks when he heads back to Columbia on Saturday. He was in Athens watching the Gamecocks/Dawgs matchup and will watch Carolina against Mississippi State in Williams-Brice.

The Timberland (South Carolina) standout picked up an offer from USC during camp this summer.

— One of South Carolina football’s 2025 offers at quarterback is off the board; Deuce Knight committed today to Notre Dame.

USC’s been further down the road with Ohio product Ryan Montgomery, who’s expected in Columbia for the Florida game later this year. Two other offers at the position – KJ Lacey and Will Wilson – are committed to Texas and NC State, respectively.

Montgomery’s obviously the main guy to watch here right now.

— One position we have received many questions about is defensive tackle for the 2024 class. To reiterate a previous point, USC’s not eyeing a large volume of signees in this cycle at the position.

We have been told that the staff does not want to reach on a high school prospect, which is one reason why it’s been a bit quiet here. Odds heavily favor USC looking to the transfer portal this offseason.

Former commitment Zavion Hardy, who’s now at East Mississippi Community College, could be an option here. It depends on some factors, including the academic component. There’s nothing further that can be passed on just yet; it’s simply a wait and see.

— To go back to the transfer portal, the expectation is that South Carolina’s staff is once again going to be extremely active in that market. There aren’t many positions in which USC is not going to be looking for additional help to bolster the roster.

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