The recruiting trail traveled by South Carolina coaches doesn’t venture into Pickens County very often. Clemson has nearby Daniel High School pretty much locked down when it comes to the Lions’ top prospects. However, the Gamecocks did land one of their all-time great receivers out of Pickens High School in 1976 in Zion McKinney.
Now, some fifty years later, Gamecock receivers coach Mike Furrey is eyeballing another potential recruit from Pickens in ATH Brooks Dow (6-6 210). Dow plays quarterback for the Blue Flame, and he passed for 1550 yards and 17 touchdowns, and rushed for 1083 yards and 19 touchdowns, last season. But Furrey sees him as a tight end prospect in the SEC.
So, how did this avid Clemson fan, living in the shadows of Death Valley, draw the attention of the Gamecocks?
“I’ve gone to the camps there for football the past two or three years,” Dow said. “I’ve always liked it there. Coach Furrey would come up a couple of times every year and touch base with me. He’d watch my film and give me some feedback. It wasn’t until Thursday of last week that Coach Furrey came to our school, and he watched my film. He’s like, you have no offers? I was like, yes sir. He’s like, man we need to get you up here. From there, I feel like they’ve been really, really, really on board, like they want to get me on board and be at the school. I feel like they really want me to be there. It’s not just one of those things that’s like, oh yeah, if we don’t have somebody, we’ll take you. I feel like they want me to be there. They got me on the visit on Saturday and talked to me. I learned a lot about South Carolina, like how the school works and how their workouts work. It was great.”
Dow has not attracted a lot of college recruiters thus far, despite his obvious athletic skills. He scored 43 points in a basketball game the other night. South Carolina is the biggest program to show interest, and he’s hoping that develops into something more serious between them.
“They didn’t say anything about an offer, but they gave us a timeline,” Dow said. “Come to spring practices, and come to camps in the summer, and official visits in the summer. Normally, if you go on an official visit, you’ll get your offer. They want to see me move at tight end, and I’m pretty sure they’ll have me on an official, I’m hoping. They said the big thing is they just want me down there during their spring practice so they can see my face and I can get to know everybody.”
It probably feels a little strange to Dow to consider the idea of donning the Garnet and Black over the Orange and White. But recruiting is a business, and he may have to make that business decision one day.
“I hated South Carolina. It’s kind of funny,” he said. “I’ve gone to a bunch of Clemson games and grew up loving Clemson. It’s right here, and they were good. Carolina has shown me the most love of anybody so far. (Clemson recruiter Ben) Boulware comes up, and he’s talked to me a couple of times, but nowhere near as much as South Carolina at all. South Carolina gives me a chance, I’ll take it. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do it. Quarterback. Tight end. Whatever. I’ll go up there and do it.”
Come to Carolina young man.