Fort Dorchester DT Demetrius Watson (6-2 285) was impressive at the USC camp in June and earned a scholarship from the Gamecocks. He also camped in June at Clemson, Georgia Tech and Alabama. Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Arizona State and Georgia State are his other offers.
Watson isn’t ready to go public with any news regarding a commitment, but he said his mind is basically made up, and he’s given the school a pretty strong indication.
“I’m 90% sure on my decision,” Watson said. “I’m going to commit after football season is over. Me and the coaches have talked about it and the offer and is going to be there for when I commit after the season. Nobody is pushing me to do it and it’s not a stressful thing right now. I’m pretty adamant on where I want to go. I want to actually do a big signing day and stuff like that, so I’ve just pushed it back a little bit.”
Since he’s going to wait until after his season, Watson will go ahead and check out some teams in action this fall.
“I’m going to take the advantage and see a few schools to just get a better look on things,” Watson said. “I’m pretty sure on where I want to go. I’ve got to see how the coaches are doing games and things like that. I want to go to USC and Georgia Tech for sure. I may want to go to Clemson also for a few of their home games.”
USC defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey is the primary contact from the Gamecock side of things. Watson also hears regularly from head coach Shane Beamer. He said both liked what they saw from him during his camp workout.
“When I went up to camp there, they were talking about my size to speed ratio,” Watson said. “I’m pretty fast. I ran a five-second forty on hand-time, probably about a 4.99 laser. Like my speed, I can use my hands for stuff like that. I don’t have to necessarily power rush the entire time.”
Watson added that he felt very comfortable on his visit to USC in June.
“I know a couple of players there already, so I already knew what I was walking into when I went there,” Watson said. “It was basically a home atmosphere with me being from Charleston. Everyone was friendly. They had big-brother players help me out the entire time at the camp, pulling me to the side when doing drills and showing me how I could have done it better.”
Watson said he and Lindsey have developed a tight relationship thru the recruiting process.
“We have some things in common,” Watson said. “We like the outdoors, like fishing and stuff like that. We talk a lot about stuff outside of football. Like when I go on vacation, I let him know where I’m going, stuff like that.”
Watson was invited to the USC cookout last weekend but he couldn’t make it because of team practice. And while he continues to hear from the Gamecocks, he said he’s had not contact from Clemson since camp, and he hears sporadically from Georgia Tech.
247Sports ranks Watson 129th nationally among defensive linemen and the #14 prospect in South Carolina for the 2022 class.
