South Carolina tight ends coach Shawn Elliott is looking for another piece to add to his room in the 2026 class. He’s been dealing primarily with in-state targets and has one commitment in Jamel Howse of Newberry. He offered Tilden Riley of Orangeburg Prep, but opted for Vanderbilt. And now, Elliott has his eyes on Caden Ramsey (6-5 210) of Cross.
Elliott offered Ramsey last week after giving him a long evaluation, including a close-up look in camp last month.
“It felt good. I was waiting on it for a minute. It came late, but it felt great. Glad to have it,” Ramsey said. “He came to the school a couple of times to come see me. I thought I was going to get it, but not that first. You’ve got to show a little bit of work in front of the coaches. I went down to South Carolina for a camp. I had a session with Coach Elliott. They recorded me. We did a bunch of workout things. He called me a few days later, and I got the offer.”
How badly did Ramsey want to impress Elliott in that camp session? He worked through a hamstring injury and the flu to show him his stuff.
“I had to go out there and try my best and do my best, and just put God first,” Ramsey said. “Probably my footwork and my hands (impressed Elliott the most).”
Rasmey also visited the Gamecocks earlier this year for a junior day, and he was in for a visit in 2024 as well.
“I view them as a good program. They’ve come up a long way, a very long way,” Ramsey said. “Shane Beamer as the head coach, all the coaches are like fathers to the people that come visit. The players speak highly about people and they treat people good.”
South Carolina was not the first major offer for Ramsey. He’s also received offers from Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Syracuse, along with offers from Coastal Carolina and Charlotte. But, it’s the Gamecock offer that’s standing out the most to him.
“I put them at number one right now,” Ramsey said. “It’s in-state. Home. They’re nice. I’ve been there a couple of times. Feel like it’s family there. Feel like it’s a nice home that I can be at. I’m going to take a little bit more visits, see what else goes good, see who else is talking. South Carolina is definitely number one right now. I’m going to try to get an official visit to South Carolina next month.”
And Ramsey said, should he be able to get in that visit to USC in early August, he might just consummate his deal with the Gamecocks at that time.
Ramsey was an outstanding two-way performer last season. As a receiver, he had 46 catches for 749 yards and nine touchdowns. As a free safety, he had 14 interceptions.