DE Tomiwa Durojaiye (6-5 255) of Middletown, DE is looking at an August 7th announcement date from a top five of USC, West Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. He visited each one in June except for Kentucky, and he might go there during the last week of this month.
USC head coach Shane Beamer and assistants Clayton White, Jimmy Lindsey and Pete Lembo have teamed up to recruit Durojaiye for the Gamecocks. He said he hears from them about every two days, and they continue to make a strong impression on him.
“They’ve just been checking in with me and recruiting me. Sometimes it’s about football. Sometimes it’s just about life and what’ going on. I’m real high on South Carolina,” Durojaiye said. “It’s the opportunities they offer more so with what they have off the field. I was able to bond with the players. Some schools I’ve been to, I don’t know if I really fit in with those players. At SC, I definitely felt I fit in with those players. They were cool to hang out with.”
Durojaiye also likes how Beamer leads his program and how he interacts with his assistants.
“The coaching staff seemed like they have their eyes on one goal, and that’s what Coach Beamer believes in,” he said. “They are all following Coach Beamer’s steps. Coach Beamer doesn’t seem like a coach that’s more of a dictator. He wants to win and wants to bring glory to South Carolina. He gives his staff the credit. Anybody can talk to him.”
Last season Durojaiye had 50 tackles with 16.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. He can play on the edge or on the inside, and it’s that versatility the Gamecocks really like about him.
“Really just a D-line guy, up and down the line,” Durojaiye said. “Being able to be versatile too, being the guy who can play anywhere from five technique to noseguard to D-tackle.”
The Gamecocks have done well with some top talent from Delaware, including committed quarterback Braden Davis who is Durojaiye’s teammate. He knows his good friend would love to have him join him in Columbia, but he’s not putting on any recruiting pressure.
“He hasn’t recruited me because he knows how serious this decision is,” Durojaiye said. “Obviously he would like me to come play with him, but he knows I can’t make a decision based off of them having some Delaware guys on the team, so it’s going right. We might joke about it. We might look at each other and do the Spurs Up logo. We might talk about it.”
Durojaiye made official visits in June to USC, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and Arkansas. He also made stops at Virginia, Duke, Rutgers and West Virginia.
