DT Connor Knight (6-3 275) of Trussville, AL made an unofficial visit to USC Saturday coming in with a teammate who was camping with the Gamecocks, and that made for days of visits for him with the Gamecocks since April. He was in for a three day stay in April leading up to the spring game. Knight previously announced the Gamecocks as part of his short list of 11. After the Saturday visit, he called them #1 on his list.
“They are already one of my top schools, and the visit just helped them stay at the top,” Knight said. “Right now, I can definitely say South Carolina (is my favorite). What stood out most to me was just keeping on building the relationships with Coach (Jody) Wright. coach (Jimmy) Lindsey and coach (Shane) Beamer. Just keep on developing those relationships, and I got the opportunity to watch them coach as well at the camp. Coach Lindsey is a real patient coach watching him work with the campers.”
Knight said he got the chance to talk with Beamer for a few minutes and the vibes coming from him continue to be positive.
“Coach Beamer just told me that he loved my game,” Knight said. “He said I’m a great kid. It was real short because he had to get back to the camp, but we got a chance to chat for about 3-5 minutes.”
Knight has not yet scheduled his official visits, but he plans to do so with USC, Maryland, South Florida, Florida A&M and Miami, and he said those five schools are the ones standing out the most with USC #1 on the list. He said his USC visit will likely come during the season, possibly the Georgia weekend. He also said he might take unofficial visits to Jackson State and Kentucky.
Knight said he’s looking at making his decision in July or August, and it won’t matter to him if he hasn’t taken an official visit to USC by that time.
“I don’t really have to take an official to South Carolina because I’ve seen it,” Knight said. “I’ve seen enough for me to not have to take an official right now. I could if I wanted to, but it’s like I’d rather take it during the season.”
Knight suffered an MCL injury on the opening drive of the first game of last season, but he returned for the final three games. He finished the season with 25 tackles and three sacks.
