STRecruiting: 2028 OL Josiah Eney loved his first visit to South Carolina and plans to be back

2028 OL Josiah Eney (6-5, 295) of Olney, MD, made his first visit to South Carolina last weekend for the Towson game and collected another major college offer. Gamecock offensive line coach Randey Clements and his assistant, Jason Smith, made sure Eney enjoyed his stay in Columbia, and they capped the visit with the word that they want him in the program.

“Coach Smith and Coach Clements, they’re both just amazing coaches,” Eney said. “It really seems like they care about their players. They develop a lot of great players. Got to see all the facilities, which were insane, super, super advanced, in-depth. It was really cool seeing all that stuff,” Eney said. “Especially from a big SEC program, that stuff was just crazy to me. And then getting to watch the game, seeing just how loud and how much the fan base really cares about the school, that was crazy to me. It was so loud. It was so cool to me.”

The Gamecock coaches have only been able to evaluate Eney on tape, but they obviously saw enough to know he’s the kind of offensive line prospect they like to develop.

“They like my nastiness on tape, just finishing guys, finishing blocks. And I feel like that’s something you can’t teach,” Eney said. “That’s something I really take pride in, finishing blocks, going at people. My athleticism is something they mentioned, my redirection, being able to move my feet, all those kinds of things. Those are probably the things that they talked to me about the most.”

During the game, Eney was focused on the offensive line. He wanted to see how well the group would perform, and he gave them a positive review in one particular area.

“Execution standpoint for sure,” he said. “I was watching their left tackle Darius Gray for a lot of the time during the game. And he’s a true freshman. He was playing insane. He’s so athletic. His feet are just on a whole other level. And I think that really speaks to how you could be developed at South Carolina. Even as a freshman, you have guys who can go against some real defenses.”

Eney is still in the early stages of his recruiting. He’s just starting to put things together as the offers roll in. He’s also been offered by Nebraska, Penn State, Colorado, NC State, Tennessee, Arizona, Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Washington. A favorites list is a ways off, but the Gamecocks figure to be in there when the time comes.

“I’m also planning some visits. I’m going to Penn State, Washington, Ohio State, and West Virginia,” Eney said. “I’m excited to get to all of those places too. And I might come back to South Carolina. I might come back to Columbia for another game. I’m trying to see if I can make that work. They definitely do stand out to me as a program. I definitely want to come back for another game, and if I can’t make it to that, I definitely come back in the winter and spring. They’re definitely a program I want to keep considering because I really like them a lot.”

Eney visited Tennessee the first weekend of the month, and he will visit Penn State this weekend.