RB Peyton Lewis (6-1 190) of Salem, VA made his first ever visit to USC Friday and Saturday, along with family members, and the results for the Gamecocks were very positive. Lewis is a highly recruited prospect with heavyweights like Alabama, Tennessee, Auburn, Wisconsin, Nebraska and NC State among those in pursuit. Coming off the weekend, the Gamecocks couldn’t be in better shape with him.
“I would say South Carolina is definitely top two with me, along with Tennessee,” Lewis said. “Soon, I’ll be going up to Virginia Tech and then Nebraska, then after that Ohio State. In April, I’ll be going to UNC, and I’ll probably fit one or two more visits sometime in April before I take my officials.”
Lewis has had plenty of contact with USC running backs coach Montario Hardesty and head coach Shane Beamer, but this being his first visit to the school, he finally was able to put a face to the name.
“I just got the chance to put physical faces on the people I’ve been talking to on the phone,” Lewis said. “I’d already met with Coach Hardesty. I got to meet a lot of coaches in person and really build relationships and really learn what was going on under the roof at South Carolina, so that was very beneficial to me.”
Lewis said from the moment he stepped onto the grounds of the football operations center he felt nothing but great vibes from all part of the program.
“From the jump, like as soon as I got there, they introduced themselves and made me feel like family,” Lewis said. “They made it clear to me that I was a priority that was wanted there and I’d be a very high recruit for them. They would start building their offense around me, and really letting me know that I’m a high priority for them and the opportunities there would be endless for me.”
Saturday afternoon, before wrapping up his visit, Lewis and his family had the chance to sit down with Beamer in his office for a straightforward conversation.
“It was a great conversation,” he said. “Very smart, fun guy to talk to. My family seems to really like him, and I like him too. He’s built a great foundation for South Carolina and kind of rebuilt the program up. I’m very excited to come back maybe when I take my official visit sometime in May or June.”
Lewis also has visited Penn State, James Madison, Tennessee and Virginia. On his announced schedule, he has coming up visits to Virginia Tech March 21st, Nebraska March 24th, Ohio State March 31st and North Carolina April 15th. Some of his other offers include Purdue, Colorado, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Rutgers and Vanderbilt.
Lewis rushed for 1560 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. He is also a standout on the track and was part of the Nike Indoor National Champion 4 X 200 team. In the same event, he placed second int he 60 meters in 6.73 seconds.
