The first assistant coaches to visit Northwestern SAF Tamarion Watkins this spring were South Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton White and secondary coach Torrian Gray. They were in to see Watkins on April 28th.
They will see him again when he comes in for his official visit in June, but they wanted to make sure he was clear on how they felt about him.
“Just about how much I was valued there and how much they would love to have,” Watkins said. “Just talking about being different without limiting myself to anything by going there. My main question to them was why I should be safety. I got the answer to that question position wise. That is important. I don’t have a preference. I’m really just trying to hear everybody out and see what’s best for me going on in the future.”
The visit by the two coaches was a good move by the Gamecocks as Watkins has taken notice of an uptick in their recruitment of him.
“They’ve definitely stepped it up and took it up a notch from before,” Watkins said. “Just a lot more overall contact. We’ve had better trips going down there as of late. The other three, they all push hard. I couldn’t really point out somebody that pushes the hardest.”
Texas A&M has also been in for a visit with Watkins and Georgia is coming in on Thursday. Watkins had previously set official visits to Georgia June 6th, A&M June 13th and USC June 20th. He said the Gamecocks specifically wanted the final visit. However, he has made a change in his first official visit on May 30th with Miami replacing Alabama.
Watkins said when he goes on his official visits, he has some specific goals in mind.
“I want to get to meet more of the players and see what they are like,” Watkins said. “Really get to have time and spend time with coaches. Have fun and see more of some campuses and just see how they overall treat my family. I’m pretty open minded as of right now.”
Watkins has not set a commitment date but he said an announcement on that date would be coming out soon.