Sumter DE Justus Boone planned to attend Georgia’s major junior day last Saturday until he got a call from a Bulldog coach telling him not to come because they had filled up their spaces. Boone, rated the #1 player in the state by 247Sports, took that in-stride and decided he would just go somewhere else for a junior day. That ended up being USC.

“After I got the news from Georgia, I didn’t want to waste the weekend when I could be going somewhere,” Boone said. “My coach told me to ask around and see who had one (junior day). I called South Carolina and they said they did have one that weekend, and me and one of my coaches and a teammate went down there.”

And it was good for USC that he did. The Gamecocks got another opportunity to express to Boone how much he is wanted in the program. That strong messaging is resonating with him.

“I enjoyed everything, especially the atmosphere and the attention, talking to all the coaches,” Boone said. “I just feel good about them. I just like that whenever I go in the facility, they all know my name and stuff like that. I like that. I find that pretty intriguing. I like that a lot. The coaches were basically telling me that I was number one for their 2021 recruiting and stuff like that.”

Boone said the visit further enhanced his feelings for the Gamecocks.

“Same as I always felt, it’s pretty strong,” Boone said. “They were my first offer. I just feel good about them and I walked away knowing that they actually want me.”

Despite that, Boone still wants to go deeper into the recruiting process before making a decision. He will visit North Carolina this Saturday. Auburn contacted him and he’s looking at a possible visit there February 1st. And he talked with Clemson defensive line coach Todd Bates Wednesday and he’s coming to the school Thursday.

“Everybody sits kind of even with me right now, I just talk to them more,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that no, I’m not committing there, but I’m not saying that yeah, that is where I’m going to commit. I’m still very undecided about where I’m going to go. I haven’t even broken down to my top schools or anything yet.”

Georgia State is the most recent offer for Boone. Some of his others are NC State, Appalachian State, Wake Forest, Louisville, Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Virginia.