USC target DE Dylan Stewart (6-5 238) of Washington, DC has had a steady stream of recruiters come through his school this month according to his coach Mike Hunter. That includes Gamecock defensive ends coach Sterling Lucas who was by a couple of weeks ago. The Gamecocks are one of the programs on his short list, and they continue to hold a firm spot with him.
“He loves those guys. He loves the Gamecocks. He loves South Carolina and everything that they offer down there as far as fan base and team and things like that,” Hunter said. “Nothing in that has changed. May just be growing a stronger bond.”
Stewart has three of his official visits set with Georgia June 2nd, Ohio State June 16th and South Carolina June 23rd. Penn State, Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, Miami and Oregon are others who might land dates. The new NCAA rule gives him an unlimited number of official visits, but his coach believes Stewart doesn’t want to expand his list all that much.
“I think he’s just going to limit it to the schools he’s really interested in. He’s not wanting to do a whole bunch of official visits,” Hunter said. “I don’t know what the magic number is, but it won’t be a lot. There’s definitely other schools putting in a lot of effort to crash the party, but nothing has changed so far. We’ll see how the summer plays out.”
And Hunter adds that recruiters and fans shouldn’t be expecting a resolution to all of this this summer.
“I think he’s probably going to take it all the way through the season,” Hunter said. :”He just wants to make sure he’s making the right decision and not rushing, to meet someone else’s timeline. He wants to do it on his time and not feel the pressure to say he’s going to do it in the summer or August, whatever the dates people are looking for. When he gets his answer that he’s comfortable with, he’ll make his announcement. When he’s ready, he’s ready.”
Hunter said he is there for Stewart anytime he wants to confide in him related to his recruiting, but there are others in his corner who will have more to say.
“His parents are very involved in the process,” Hunter said. “They are actually the leaders in the whole process. He talks to me about it, but his parents have a really good grip on what’s going on. They’ve done a great job with him. They’ve handled this recruiting stuff like pros.”
Stewart has made several visits to USC over the last two years including for a camp, spring games and a junior day. He is coming off a junior season in which he recorded 16 sacks.
