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Gamecocks Turning The Tide In Palmetto State Recruiting Battle

South Carolina's Football program has supplanted the Clemson Tigers when it comes to their in-state recruiting battles in the Palmetto State.

Traditionally, there are two powerhouse recruiting battles in the Palmetto State: the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers. These two schools, a little over a two-hour drive from each other, are the predominant recipients of top recruits from South Carolina.

While the Gamecocks specifically have grabbed a stranglehold over the best in the state in the 2023 and 2024 recruiting cycles, it wasn't long ago where that wasn't the case. The 2022 recruiting class was unsuccessful for South Carolina because Shane Beamer and his staff only had 14 months to build inroads in the Palmetto state. South Carolina didn't land a single top-five recruit from the Palmetto State, while Clemson grabbed four.

Though that discrepancy would usually be concerning for the team, Coach Beamer has made it a point to win the state of South Carolina and has been successful. In the 2023 recruiting class, South Carolina signed four of the top five in-state recruits, while Clemson signed zero.

The same can be said so far for the 2024 class, which once again sees the Gamecocks taking control of the Palmetto State. The Gamecocks already hold commitments from two of the top five players in the state, Kam Pringle and Mazeo Bennett, and are likely to add two more. Blake Franks, the seventh-best player in South Carolina, also announced his commitment to the Gamecocks this past Friday, choosing them over the Clemson Tigers.

Franks' commitment becomes even more impressive when you consider where he is from, as the offensive tackle hails from Greenville, just over a half hour from Clemson. That proximity has led to many recruits from Greenville and surrounding areas typically wearing orange instead of garnet, but Beamer and Co. have flipped that narrative on its head.

Two Gamecocks' commits in the class of 2024, Franks and Mazeo Bennett, attend and play for Greenville High School. 2023 signee Markee Anderson, a product of Dorman High School, played just a little over an hour away from Clemson but ultimately chose the Gamecocks.

Over the past decade, Clemson has been the superior recruiting team. Though the Gamecocks have had some impressive recruiting classes in that stretch, Clemson has had a higher-ranked recruiting class every year since 2014. That stretch of excellence is seemingly ending, as the Gamecocks have a higher-ranked 2024 recruiting class and are continuing to solidify it.

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