USC held a major recruiting weekend as the current recruiting live period came to an end Sunday. The Gamecocks had several official visits including a number of transfers looking for a new home. There were also visits from prospects in the 2024 class. Shame Beamer has six outstanding commitment alerts and many are expected to go public Sunday. We’ll update those commitments and other Sunday news items here.
The Gamecocks got some help for their offensive line out of the NCAA Transfer Portal Sunday night when Yale center Nick Gargiulo (6-5 290) announced his commitment to transfer to USC after a weekend visit. Gargiulo was a team captain at Yale this season helping the Bulldogs win the Ivy League Championship. He played in 25 games in his career with the Bulldogs. This season he was named New England Football Writers All-New England team, and a first team All-Ivy League selection. He’s a native of Yorktown Heights, NY.
Newberry College transfer RB Mario Anderson Jr. (5-11 215) Sunday afternoon announced his commitment to USC. Anderson rushed for over 1500 yards with 19 touchdowns this season averaging 7.4 yards per carry. He was offered by the Gamecocks on Friday while he was on campus for an unofficial visit. “The running back room is very talented and versatile,” Anderson said Friday. “I liked everything that I saw. They utilize the players to their maximum capacity and that’s what I like to see.” Anderson prepped at Stratford and had a little bit of contact from the Gamecocks as a high school senior.
WR/CB Tyshawn Russell (6-2 185) of Harrisburg, PA won a state championship earlier in the week. This weekend he visited USC and capped his week by committing to the Gamecocks. Russell also took an official visit this month to Virginia Tech. Maine and Central Michigan were other offers for him. For the season, Russell had 57 catches for 1213 yards and 18 touchdowns. On defense, he had 2 interceptions.
South Florence QB LaNorris Sellers, one of the MVPs for South Carolina in the Shrine Bowl, said he did not have any in-home visits Saturday or Sunday, but he did talk with several USC coaches via cell/text Saturday. He also talked with Syracuse during the week. He will sign Wednesday morning but will wait to announce his decision at a ceremony at his school Friday at 11:30. He put the strength of his Syracuse commitment at between a 6-7 at this point.
Florida transfer TE Nick Elksnis (6-6 243) announced his commitment to the Gamecocks early Sunday afternoon. He visited USC for a bowl practice during the week. Elksnis is a Jacksonville native who spent two seasons with the Gators, redshirting his first season. He appeared in 9 games over 2 seasons with the Gators appearing mostly on special teams. He did not register any stats with the Gators. USC offered him in high school. He originally committed to Penn State and later changed that to Florida. Some of his other offers at the time were LSU, Maryland, Ohio State, Mississippi State, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Nebraska and North Carolina.
Former Clemson WR Dacari Collins is transferring to NC State.
USC commitment SAF Vicari Swain took an official visit to Colorado over the weekend. He was offered earlier in the week by Deion Sanders.
Former Coastal Carolina OL Willie Lampkin is transferring to North Carolina, and his former teammate DE Josaiah Stewart is transferring to Michigan.
Former Dutch Fork WR and Charlotte transfer Elijah Spencer is headed to Minnesota.
Former USC SAF Shilo Sanders is transferring again, this time away from Jackson State and probably headed with his dad and brother to Colorado.
USC made the top 13 with 2024 DB TyShun White of Buford, GA. The others on his new short list are Florida, Florida, State, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Colorado, Texas, Auburn, North Carolina, Michigan and Tennessee.
