One of the prime South Carolina prospects for the offensive line is coming for a visit this Friday. Stafford Willis (6-5 283) will arrive in Columbia Thursday night and spend the day Friday with the Gamecocks on an unofficial visit.
New USC offensive line coach Randy Clements and recruiting assistant Sam Serbay have been the primary contacts for the Gamecocks with Willis, and he’s excited about the chance to meet those two in person, along with what the rest of the visit will present.
“I’m super excited going into it,” he said. “They’re a legendary program. SEC, the best conference there is. It’s just going to be a fun visit. I’m looking forward to meeting Coach Clements and Coach Serbay and building a relationship with them that’s not just over the field. Excited to see how they work and how they practice. Excited to see all the facilities. I know their facilities are incredible. I’m really looking forward to the visit.”
The Gamecocks have only recently begun to recruit Willis, who hails from Arab, AL, which is near Huntsville. But Clements and Serbay have done a great job of making the Gamecocks an immediate factor.
“Coach Clements and Coach Serbay have been reaching out to me a lot about them, and we’ve built a relationship,” Willis said. “Coach Clements offered me two weeks ago, and Coach Serbay has been wanting me to come on campus. Obviously, I want to come see it because that’s an incredible school. We’ll have a full visit on Friday. We’ll watch practice in the morning, have meetings, and then get a full visit afterwards.”
Clements has given the film of Willis a good look and came away impressed enough to make him an offer.
“He thinks I’m really strong in the weight room, which is an incredible compliment,” Willis said. “He thinks I move my feet really well. Obviously, my size. He really likes my film. He says I play nasty and play with a bunch of effort and with a relentless drive.”
Last season, Willis did not allow a sack or a pressure in 163 pass attempts. He graded out at 87.5%.
The USC visit will be the first of several spring visits for Willis. He will go to Florida on Saturday, and over the weeks he will also see Ohio State, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Duke, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Miami, West Virginia, and Iowa State. He has also set an official visit with UCLA for May 15th, and he plans to set one with Oklahoma State.
Willis also has offers from Connecticut, Maryland, South Florida, Tulane, Memphis, Liberty, Arkansas State, Troy, South Alabama and others.
As for the two major in-state programs, Willis said Auburn was showing interest until the coaching staff change there, and he’s not had that much interaction with Alabama at this point.