ANALYSIS: A Deeper Look At South Carolina's 2024 Recruiting Class
On Wednesday, South Carolina's Football program officially received a signed national letter of intent from every one of their high school commits, except Braydon Lee, who flipped to the home-state Maryland Terrapins. With this class, Shane Beamer and his staff addressed several needs and brought in some players with all-conference or potentially All-American-type ceilings.
What are the most notable takeaways from some of these positions?
Most Star-Studded: Offensive Line
This answer is the most obvious one out of the whole article. For the second straight recruiting cycle, Beamer and his staff are bringing in multiple blue-chip offensive linemen - five-star Josiah Thompson and four-star Kam Pringle, along with a three-star in Blake Franks, who possesses high potential. All three of these guys are Palmetto State natives who'll help strengthen recruiting ties and provide an immediate shot in the arm in terms of depth.
It may take some time before we see what each of these guys can offer on the football field, but then again, we thought the same to a certain degree about this past year's group, and we saw how that turned out.
Most Underrated: Linebacker
If it weren't for a prospect like five-star edge rusher Dylan Stewart being committed to the Gamecocks, four-star edge rusher/linebacker Wendell Gregory would be getting much more notoriety in this class. Gregory is a smart, athletic, and tough-nosed defender who could solidify the edge for South Carolina and would thrive in a scheme like the 3-3-5 should that continue to be in place.
We also shouldn't forget about Virginia native Fred Johnson, who caught the staff's attention during a camp last Summer. With tremendous straight-line speed and some room left to grow at what's now his full-time position, Johnson could be considered the biggest steal from this cycle.
One That Got Away: Interior Defensive Line
Rarely do programs have a perfect run through a recruiting cycle, and South Carolina found that out the hard way with interior defensive linemen. The Gamecocks were at one point the leaders for guys like Justin Greene and Hevin Brown-Shuler and were heavily in the mix for others like Jordan Thomas, Nasir Johnson, Nnamdi Ogboko, and Quintavius Johnson, but all of them wound up signing with Georgia except for Brown-Shuler who signed with Clemson. The Gamecocks signed no defensive tackles from high school ranks, something that could haunt them after 2024.
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