South Carolina supporters will be on dual commitment watch Friday night at 6:00 PM. 2024 WR Jonathan Paylor of Burlington, NC and 2026 Landon Duckworth of Jackson, AL have set that time for their respective commitment announcements. Paylor will do a live stream on YouTube from his high school, and Duckworth just plans to post his announcement on social media.
Paylor’s decision was between USC, NC State and North Carolina. Wednesday night he said he had made the decision but has not informed the schools. In fact, he said he made his decision roughly four days after his final official visit which was to USC the weekend of June 23rd.
“After I finished the official visits, me and my family sat at a big glass table and then we talked about the pros and cons on the colleges,” Paylor said. “We determined which ones could fit me as a student-athlete and fit my parents for how far it is (distance-wise). Every school I have up there is close enough where they can get to me and see me. For me, it’s like, ok, they’re good on that part, so now we’ve got to see which one makes them comfortable and which one makes me comfortable. It was one big agreement. They kind of had an idea of where I should go. Once I told them, they were like okay Jon, that was a great idea.”
So, since the end of June, Paylor has indeed known where he wanted to go to college.
“I’ve been sitting on it to see if anything changes, but nothing has changed,” Paylor said. “The love is still consistent. The people are very caring, so they kind of sold my mind on that, so now I’m just sitting here waiting till Friday.”
Paylor said for his part, the closeness he felt to the coaching staff is why he chose the school he will announce for.
“The family part,” Paylor said. “The family part played a huge deal into my recruitment. I put my heart, I put my trust into the coaches that I’m dealing with. And the academic part of it has really played a good part too.”
Paylor did take advantage of last week’s live period to visit NC State on Friday and North Carolina on Saturday.
“For me, it was fun to get back to them because they are good people also,’ Paylor said. “Those are the type of schools that’s any kid’s dream. For me, (North) Carolina is a great academic school, so it’s crazy hard to get in there. And State is also a big-time football program, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Those two programs are literally best in the state, so overall, just getting back to those programs really helped me in my recruitment.”
Paylor has not been back to USC since his official visit, but he’s been in regular contact with receivers coach Justin Stepp.
“I’ve been talking to Coach Stepp like every other day,” Paylor said. “Literally every two days he hits me up and I hit him up, just to keep it mutual. Overall, just dealing with the coaches down there at South Carolina has been amazing in this whole process for me.”
Paylor also is a standout in track as one of the fastest sprinters in North Carolina. The schools see him as a slot receiver who can get open deep and make explosive plays. Last season Paylor put up eye-popping numbers at running back and receiver. He rushed for 1054 yards and 17 touchdowns averaging 14 yards per carry, and he caught 27 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 27 yards per catch.
For his career, Paylor has rushed for 2147 yards and 26 touchdowns, averaging 10 yards per carry, and has caught 105 passes for 2512 and 14 touchdowns averaging 24 yards per catch.
Come to Gamecock Country. ACC is in an upheaval with schools wanting to leave.