South Carolina wasn’t the only winner at Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night. Greenville High DE Franklin Whitley was there for his first game visit with the Gamecocks and he left town holding an offer from Shane Beamer.
“It was a great experience, a great atmosphere,” Whitley said. “They let me into Coach Beamer’s office and I spoke with him for a little bit, and he officially offered me. He was very transparent. He talked about that it’s not one of those offers that you have to commit on the spot. He said it’s a full offer. He said he watched my film and he sees how I can develop. I’m talking to their D-line coaches, and they said they could see me playing both (DT and DE). Be interchangeable.”
Whitley was originally going to be at the Alabama-Georgia game in Athens Saturday night, but USC defensive ends coach Sterling Lucas scouted his game Friday night, and then he and his father decided to change plans and go to Columbia instead. The visit and offer have the Gamecocks right in the thick of things with Whitley who also landed offers last week from Alabama and Florida.
“Feeling pretty great, honestly,” Whitely said. “I’m definitely going back on the 25th when they play Alabama. I’ll be back for that. That kickoff was crazy. The start of the fourth quarter was crazy. I just loved it. The food. How they treat the recruits. Got to go into the locker room after the game. That was pretty cool.”
Whitley plans to visit Alabama this weekend for the Vanderbilt game, and he will be at Auburn when Georgia plays there. Whitley also holds offers from Georgia, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. He has not yet formed a favorites list.
“It’s kind of hard to say because I haven’t visited everywhere that I plan on visiting,” Whitley said. “I feel like everybody is on an even playing field until I visit everywhere.’
Whitley visited Clemson for the Syracuse game with hopes of landing an offer that day, but that did not happen. He said outside of birthday wishes he received on Friday, he’s not heard much from the Tigers since his visit.