South Carolina went 0-2 on major targets Saturday after DE Jared Smith of Alabaster, AL announced a commitment to Auburn over the Gamecocks, Georgia and Ole Miss. Smith took official visits to all four in June, and he was back at Auburn last weekend for Big Cat Weekend. Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer and defensive ends coach Sterling Lucas put in a concerted effort to land Smith, who at one time in his recruitment seem to have the Gamecocks at the top of his list. He actually picked up the USC cap on the table first before putting the Auburn cap on his head.
Earlier Saturday, South Carolina missed on a big target from the state of Virginia when OG Jailen Gilchrist (6-6 320) of Virginia Beach announced a commitment to Maryland. He also had Georgia among his finalists. Gilchrist was a frequent visitor to USC. He took in a pair of games in Columbia last season. He returned for a junior day in January, and he made his official visit with the Gamecocks the first weekend in June. But he cited the desire to stay close to home and to go to a program where he felt he could make an immediate impact.
Clemson and South Carolina each had targets come off the board Friday night with commitments to other schools. For the Tigers, they missed on WR Dillon Alfred of Saraland, AL when he committed to Ole Miss for a second time. And for the Gamecocks they came up short for OT Juan Gaston of Atlanta when he committed to Georgia.
USC men’s basketball Friday offered 2027 6-7 Joshua Leonard of Wilson High in Florence. He was offered the day before by Clemson. He also has offers from the College of Charleston, Cal, Cincinnati, Jacksonville and Nichols State.
SC will always lose better prospects to better SEC schools. They will never compete with the top tier. Sad, but true.
They can’t afford to pay them