Veteran Clemson safety Ricardo Jones announced on Saturday night that he is entering the Transfer Portal. Jones played in 25 games in his two seasons with the Tigers, and started all 13 this season. He earned All-ACC honors this season with six pass interceptions and nine deflections. His pick-six late in the fourth quarter sealed the Tigers’ win at South Carolina in November. In total, he had 59 tackles and seven interceptions with the Tigers. He is the eighth scholarship player from Clemson to transfer, the third safety and the fourth from the secondary.
Irmo DE Jaiden Bryant (6-4 255) Saturday announced a commitment to LSU, choosing the Tigers over USC, Georgia, Miami and Alabama. Bryant said the move by Sterling Lucas from South Carolina to LSU as defensive ends coach was the deal-maker for the Tigers. “That made my recruiting process very easy, and me and him have this connection, so it was a good fit for me.” This season, Bryant had 75 total tackles with 16 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.
Oklahoma transfer receiver Jayden Gibson confirmed his visit to South Carolina on Saturday with social media posts. Wisconsin reportedly is the other major contender for him.
According to Pete Nakos of On3, former USC WR Vandrevius Jacobs visited Miami on Saturday.
Tom Loy of 247Sports reported that DE KJ Green of Stone Mountain, GA, will visit USC on January 31st.
Matt Zenitz of CBSSports reported Saturday that UCF DT Horace Lockett (6-6 355) plans to visit South Carolina along with Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Ole Miss. The Atlanta native spent three seasons at Georgia Tech, missing all of 2024 with an injury. He had 13 tackles in his first four games at UCF this season before suffering a season-ending injury.
TheBigSpur reported OL Seth Smith (6-6 285) of Northern Arizona will visit USC. He started 26 games for the Lumberjacks and was a team captain.
TheBigSpur also reported that PK Upton Bellenfant of Texas Tech will visit South Carolina on Monday. This season, he was 6-6 on field goals with a long of 33 yards. He spent his first two seasons at Alabama before transferring to Buffalo, where he played for former USC special teams coach Pete Lembo. There he was 18-21 on field goal attempts
Gamecock Central reported that Oklahoma State OC Austin Kawecki (6-4 300) will visit South Carolina. He started ten games at center and one at guard this season, and played 873 snaps in his career with the Cowboys.
Jacob Polacheck of Kentucky Sports Radio reported that Oklahoma transfer DT Markus Strong (6-3 297) is considering a visit to Clemson, according to his agent. He will visit Kentucky on Sunday and is also looking at Arkansas and Oklahoma State. Strong played in three games in two seasons with the Sooners and recorded three tackles.
Hayes Fawcett of On3 reported that Clemson is in the mix for Southern Cal DL transfer Devan Thompkins (6-5 285), along with Alabama, Georgia, Auburn and Ohio State. In three seasons with the Trojans, he played in 26 games and totaled 56 tackles with nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
Several players from Missouri State announced plans to transfer to Coastal Carolina with their former coaching staff. Those players include DT Dezmond Barnes (6-1 305), who as a freshman this season played in seven games and had six tackles; LB Braxton Starnes (6-3 215) played in four games as a freshman and recorded seven tackles; QB Deuce Bailey (6-0 170), who as a freshman this season he played in four games and completed 30-63 passes for 392 yards and 3 touchdowns, and rushed for 142 yards and 1 touchdown; and Long snapper Mitch Weisenborn.
Furman WR Kerry King is transferring after one season as a graduate student with the Paladins. He spent five seasons at ECU.
South Carolina offered TE Tommy Douglas (6-4 235) of Chatham, NJ. He also has offers from Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, NC State, Maryland, Virginia, Miami, Syracuse, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Michigan, Penn State, Southern Cal, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan State, Pitt, Auburn and Nebraska.
South Carolina target DE Abraham Sesay was offered by Virginia Tech.