Orangeburg Prep tight end Tilden Riley V gets offer from South Carolina

The 6-foot-5, 211-pound South Carolina high school junior has 12 college offers, including from West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and East Carolina

Orangeburg Prep tight end Tilden Riley V (center) is pictured with Providence Day's Gordon Sellars (left) and South Carolina assistant coach Shawn Elliott. / Tilden Riley V

Class of 2026 Orangeburg Prep (South Carolina) football star Tilden Riley V continues to see his recruiting profile rise.

The 6-foot-5, 211-pound tight end picked up his latest Power 4 offer Monday when South Carolina coach Shane Beamer told Riley he wants him to be a Gamecock.

“It’s obviously a great offer and one that I had hoped for,” Riley said. “I really liked Coach (Shawn) Elliott and Coach Beamer.”

On Saturday, Riley met with Beamer and Elliott, who is the Gamecocks’ tight ends coach. He didn’t get an offer during that visit but the phone call came Monday.

That brings Riley’s offers total to 12. In addition to the Gamecocks, Riley has offers from West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, East Carolina, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Liberty, South Florida, Appalachian State and Florida Atlantic.

Riley has official visits scheduled with Virginia Tech on May 30, West Virginia on June 6, Vanderbilt on June 13 and Florida Atlantic on June 20.

A three-star prospect according to 247Sports, Riley is rated the No. 30 tight end in the country and the No. 11 player in South Carolina.

The mutual interest between South Carolina and Riley was manifested during a January visit. 

“I think the fact that the coaches and support staff care so much about the players,” Riley told The Big Spur. “They talk a lot about love and culture. On the academic side — the team GPA has improved a lot under Coach Beamer and his staff. They are near the top in the SEC now in team GPA. I thought that was pretty cool and important. The game day atmosphere is one of the best in college football, too.”

In his junior season, Riley caught 49 passes for 903 yards and 13 touchdowns. He had 215 yards rushing. Riley played safety on defense, recording four interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns.

That only partially accounts for the prowess of Riley, who rates as perhaps Orangeburg Prep’s most heralded athlete. The previous Orangeburg Prep athlete with this level of profile was Bill Spiers, who was a three-sport superstar for Wade Hampton Academy, one of Orangeburg Prep’s predecessor schools. 

Spiers played baseball at Clemson for three seasons before the Milwaukee Brewers made him the 13th pick of the 1987 draft. Spiers played 13 seasons of major league baseball with the Brewers, New York Mets and Houston Astros. During his last season at Clemson, Spiers also punted for the football team.

Riley was a double-double machine in basketball last season, averaging 18.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game while helping lead the team to the SCISA Class AAA state semifinals.

In baseball this spring, Riley, an outfielder, is batting a team-leading .500 with a home run and 20 RBIs. Riley got his first home run of the season Tuesday in a 2-0 win over Calhoun Academy.

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