USC will have their last practice of the spring prior to the spring game Thursday morning and one of the 2023 recruits who is planning to attend is OT Paul Mubenga (6-4 280) of Buford, GA. The Gamecocks have been recruiting Mubenga since December of 2020 but just offered him on Sunday via a phone call from line coach Greg Adkins.
“I was on the phone with Coach Adkins, and he told me he wanted to offer me a scholarship based on my film and the opportunity that they have for linemen coming up next season,” Mubenga said. “After that, we talked on the phone for a little bit and he told me everything about the program, and he wanted me to visit either Thursday or Saturday. As of right now, I’m going on Thursday.”
Thursday’s visit will be Mubenga’s first to USC. He’s heard a lot of good things about the program since Shane Beamer took over, and now he wants to see things for himself.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Mubenga said. “The program is definitely on the rise. Coach Beamer is doing a great job as a head coach. The coaches and players are really buying into process, which is really a great thing. Everybody really gives a hundred percent for everything they do. That’s really a great offer for me.”
Mubenga has plenty of other major college offers including Maryland, Stanford, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Penn State, Nebraska, Boston College and Georgia Tech. But the offer from the Gamecocks is one that’s really hit home with him.
“It means a lot,” he said. “It just shows that whenever they have interest in someone, they just don’t let it go with that. I didn’t expect it myself, but I knew in the back of my mind that they had been recruiting me for a while and something would come out of it. I’m looking forward to seeing good things there. I’ve been in contact with some of their recruits who are saying a lot about the program, how great it is. I’m definitely looking forward to my visit there and being able to make my own opinion on the program. Hopefully, since I’m getting down to a small number of schools, they’ll definitely make the cut.”
Mubenga can play tackle and guard, and he said that’s what Adkins and other offensive line coaches like about him after watching his tape.
“My tape speaks for itself,” Mubenga said. “He (Adkins) told me how versatile I am and how easy it is for me to bend. It really depends on wherever I fit for the team purpose. I’m more of a tackle but in the past, I’ve played guard. I’ve been there. I understand what it takes to play the position.”
Mubenga has been on the road a lot checking out schools. He has been to Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan, Maryland, Auburn, Alabama, Texas A&M, Duke and North Carolina. Along with USC, he is also planning to visit Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. After these last visits he will cut his list to ten. He hopes to make his decision before his season, but no later than after the fourth game of the season.
Mubenga is a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and moved to the United States when he was 17. He was a soccer player until taking up football at Buford High when he was a freshman.
