USC had a bad day on the field Saturday against Clemson but off the field the Gamecocks proved to be a winner with RB ZaQuandre White of Iowa Western JC. He has an offer from the Gamecocks and this past weekend he and his parents came in from their Ft. Myers, FL home for their first up close look at the program. White has his choices down to USC and Tennessee and the Gamecocks made a good first impression.
“I loved the atmosphere. I was around some of the players and I love how they interacted with me,” White said. “I love coach (Will) Muschamp and coach (Thomas) Brown, the running backs coach. Everything felt like a family. It wasn’t anything about them selling me, it was about, at the end of the day, it’s business and I feel like that this would be a good fit for me. I just feel like I’m an all-around back and can do it all. I just feel like they’ll have a playmaker coming.”
White said he spent much of his time with fellow Floridian Rosendo Louis and he got the chance to check out the football facilities, the dorm and, most important to him, the academic side of campus.
“I really want to be somebody with good academics and they (players) said they make sure they are on top of you and you’re really destined for greatness over there,” he said. “The weight room was huge. I love how it is. I saw some new devices I hadn’t seen before at any other school. The stadium, when they played Clemson, I think they had close to 80-thousand people there, so I liked how the fans supported the football team.”
White, who began his college career as a linebacker at Florida State redshirting in 2017 and playing in 2018, did not commit to the Gamecocks, but doing so would not come as a shock based on how he was feeling after the visit.
“I talked to mostly all the coaches and we felt like we’re on the same page, all on the same plan so when I get there,” White said. “They feel like it’s a good fit and I’m just going with the flow.”
And that flow will include an official visit to Tennessee December 13th. After that, White will have a few days to make his decision before the start of the early signing period December 18th.
The new contact period began Sunday and White said Brown is planning to come out to his school Friday. Saturday 4th ranked Iowa Western plays #8 Hinds JC of Mississippi in the Graphic Edge Bowl in Cedar Falls, IA.
