DE Kelvin Gilliam (6-3 250) of Highland Springs, VA has a long history with USC and this spring he plans to visit for the first time. The Gamecocks recently offered joining other major programs such as Michigan, Michigan State, West Virginia,, Georgia Tech, NC State, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Duke and Tennessee.

“I’ve been talking to South Carolina since my tenth grade year,” Gilliam said. “Coach (Kyle) Krantz has always wanted me to come up there and see the campus. The entire staff reviewed my film and they were very impressed, they were blown away, and so they offered me.”

And the Gamecocks offered him, Gilliam said, because of his ability to put pressure on the quarterback. He had 7 sacks last season and led his team in tackles for loss..

“Just explosive, creating chaos on the defensive side of the ball,” Gilliam said. “Get into the quarterback, stuffing the line, and sometimes dropping back. Things like that.”

The Gamecocks just wrapped up a top 20 recruiting class featuring nationally heralded players like Jordan Burch, Luke Doty and Marshawn Lloyd. Gilliams has taken notice of the level of talent Will Muschamp is building.

“Recruiting wise, they are doing very well,” Gilliam said. “They’ve got a lot of great athletes up there. They way they recruit at this level, they try to build relationships.”

Along with USC, Gilliam said his strongest interest has been coming from Oklahoma, Penn State, Michigan, Tennessee and West Virginia. He visited Penn State and Michigan in January and plans to see Oklahoma this spring.

Gilliam carries a four-star rating in the 247Sports composite. He’s ranked as the #12 weakside defensive end nationally and the #5 prospect in Virginia.