Official visits for South Carolina will start this weekend, and head coach Shane Beamer and tight ends coach Shawn Elliott will be putting a lot of attention on TE Judah Lancaster (6-5 240) of Brentwood, TN. The native of Arizona played last season at IMG Academy before moving to Brentwood Academy at the start of 2026.
Beamer and Elliott have been recruiting Lancaster for a couple of years now, and this will probably be their last opportunity to make a big impression before his commitment in June.
“To be honest, those are my boys. I feel real strong about them since the first time I talked to Coach Beamer and Coach Elliott the start of my junior season,” Lancaster said. “They came to see me in spring ball my sophomore year, and then I talked to them in fall camp going into my junior year. They just told me they thought highly of me, so I’ve been rocking with them ever since. Those are my guys for sure.”
Lancaster said that, in particular, he and Elliott have struck up a strong relationship through the recruiting process.
“Me and him talk every single day,” he said. “I’m in track season right now, doing long jump, and he’s hit me up about how my jumps are going and how my body is feeling, and if I’m hyped about the visit. That’s my guy for sure. I definitely think strongly of him. We don’t talk too much about football. He tries to see how I am as a person and get to know me. We definitely talk some ball, but we try to stay away from talking about football all the time.”
Lancaster made his first visit to USC on March 17th to watch a spring practice. He was able to see how Elliott uses his tight ends and talk more about how he would be used in the Kindal Briles-directed offense.
“They like my versatility,” Lancaster said. “They like that I can really dominate at the point of attack, and then also stretch the field and catch the ball. They definitely use them (tight ends) in a lot of ways, flexing them out wide and moving them around. Then, seeing how Coach Elliot coaches, he’s a real passionate dude. That was good to see.”
Lancaster has his list down to a final four as he goes into his visits.
“They are definitely in my top four schools. They are definitely high up there. I rock with them for sure,” Lancaster said, adding that Auburn, Vanderbilt and UCLA round out the four.
Lancaster will take his official visit to Auburn on May 8th. He will visit UCLA on May 29th, and his Vanderbilt visit is set for June 12th. Along with USC, he visited the other three finalists in the spring.
His mother, father, aunt, and sister will join him on his official visit this weekend.
According to MaxPreps stats, in nine games last season, Lancaster caught five passes for 32 yards and one touchdown. The previous season at Tolleson High in Arizona, he caught 17 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns in seven games.