USC offensive line coach Greg Adkins has another huge piece for his future group after OT Oluwatosin “Tree” Babalade (6-5 296) of Hyattsville, MD publicly announced a commitment to the Gamecocks. He joins Trovon Baugh (6-4 315), Markee Anderson (6-5 280), Isaiah Jatta (6-6 310) and Jatavius Shivers (6-7 270) as future USC trenchmen.
Babalade visited USC last weekend to cap his recruiting travels. He also visited USC for the spring game in April and he took an official visit in June. He also made official visits to Maryland, Rutgers, North Carolina and Ohio State.
Babalade felt very much at home in Columbia with Shane Beamer, Adkins and the rest of the Gamecocks, and he said as much following his official visit.
“It was really about the family part,” Babalade said. “There’s a lot of schools that have the family part, but I felt it in the room with them. I just felt it the whole time. And the players, I just had whole conversations with them, and it was great.”
Babalade was favoring North Carolina early in his recruiting, but after the official visit to USC, things started to move in favor of the Gamecocks largely because of how Beamer and Adkins made him feel.
“They just like everything about me. They just love me. I just like the energy from them,” Babalade said. “He (Adkins) said he really liked the way I moved. My film was great. He loves my size and how I can move, and he feels he can develop me to a better level.”
Babalade is the latest major prospect from Delmarva scooped up by the Gamecocks. On the roster they have Marshawn Lloyd, Deebo Williams and Braden Davis from Delaware, and WR Antwane Well, Jakai Moore, Vershon Lee and Colin Henrich from Virginia. He’s the 17th commitment for the 2023 class.
2023 USC Commitments
- JUDGE COLLIER CB 6-1 190 LEGION COLLEGIATE
- MONTEQUE RHAMES DE 6-6 240 SUMTER
- GRAYSON HOWARD LB 6-3 223 JACKSONVILLE
- JADEN ROBINSON LB 6-1 215 LAKE CITY, FL
- DONTAVIUS BRASWELL RB 5-11 200 SANDERSVILLE, GA
- TROVON BAUGH OT 6-4 315 ATLANTA
- ISAIAH JATTA OT 6-6 310 SNOW JC, UT
- JATAVIUS SHIVERS OT 6-7 270 VILLA RICA, GA
- OLUWATOSIN BABALATE OT 6-5 296 HYATTSVILLE, MD
- MARKEE ANDERSON OT 6-5 280 DORMAN
- ZABHARI SANDY SAF 6-1 204 WASHINGTON, DC
- JALON KILGORE SAF 6-2 196 EATONTON, GA
- CAMERON UPSHAW SAF 6-3 185 PERRY, FL
- CONNOR COX TE 6-6 227 JACKSONVILLE
- KAMRON SANDLIN TE 6-4 210 ANNISTON, AL
- KELTON HENDERSON WR 5-11 175 LEHIGH ACRES, FL
- CJ ADAMS WR 6-3 210 MABLETON, GA
Are we done with OL for this class? Or would Elijah Philippe be a take still?
I don’t know with 100% certainty, but I don’t think they brought in Phillipe for an official visit just as a courtesy. My guess is they would still take him.