#STRecruiting Notebook 5-24

One of South Carolina’s top basketball targets for the 2025 class will make his commitment announcement Friday at 6:00 PM. 6-8 EJ Walker of Erlanger, KY narrowed his decision to the Gamecocks, Wisconsin, Purdue and Ohio State. He made official visits to USC and Wisconsin. Gamecock head coach Lamont Paris started to recruit Walker last summer during the AAU circuit. Last season Walker averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds per game.

6-11 Jamie Vinson of Oak Hill Academy, VA and Austin, TX is expected to make his decision between USC, Rutgers and Rice later today or Saturday per a source. He also visited Kentucky recently but the Wildcats do not appear to be a factor. Source said his family feels strongly about USC coach Lamont Paris and his staff.

South Carolina is in the top five with center Isaac Sowells of Louisville. The others are Miami, NC State, Louisville and Kentucky. Sowells has visited USC multiple times, most recently for their spring game. He has official visits set with USC May 31st followed by Kentucky, Miami and NC State.

Gaffney OT Shed Sarratt named a top six of USC, NC State, Florida State, Colorado, Tennessee and Florida. He has visited USC several times including for the spring game in April. He has OVs to Colorado May 31st and USC June 21st.

Clemson and USC target OT David Sanders to visit Tennessee again this weekend. He also visited the Vols twice in April including for their spring game. Sanders most recent visit was to Ohio State May 4th. That was his second trip to Columbus this spring. He will resume his official visits next weekend. His first official was to USC in April. His second was to Nebraska earlier this month. Next weekend he plans to visit Clemson. Then come official visits to Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Ohio State.

OT Rowan Byrne (6-6 300) of New Rochelle, NY has set an official visit to Clemson for May 31st.

Clemson target OL Hardy Watts has set an official visit to Michigan for June 21st.

Clemson offered DB Andrew Purcell (5-11 185) of Enterprise, AL. He was offered by Georgia the day before.

USC coaches were in to see RB Jeffrey Overton of Woodbridge, VA on Wednesday. He has set an official visit with USC for May 31st.

CB Brandon Finney of Olney, MD has set official visits to Penn State May 31^st and USC June 7^th according to Steve Wiltfong of On3.

WR Winston Watkins of Naples, FL has set an official visit to USC for May 31^st according to Gamecock Central.  He’s a cousin of former Clemson and NFL star receiver Sammy Watkins.

OT Cortez Smith of Lilburn, GA has set July 20^th for his commitment announcement. He has official visits in June set up with USC, Miami, Florida State and Georgia and will choose from those four according to On3.

DT Bryce Jenkins of Washington, DC has set official visits to Rutgers May 31^st, Maryland June 7^th, USC June 14^th and Tennessee June 21^st according to 247Sports. He’s a former teammate of USC freshman DE Dylan Stewart. 

OG Dontrell Glover (6-3 310) of Fairburn, GA has USC in his top four along with Georgia, Tennessee and Florida State.

DE Kobby Sakyi-Prah of Roswell, GA has scheduled his official visit to USC for June 7^th according to Hale McGranahan of TheBigSpur.  Sakyi-Prah also has visits set with Indiana May 31^st, Georgia Tech June 14^th and Mississippi State June 21^st. 

USC target LB Zayden Walker made another visit to Geogia last weekend.  He has an official with the Gamecocks set for late June.

Michigan is making a strong push for USC commitment CB Shamari Earls of Chester, VA. The new Wolverines DB coach was in to visit Earls and his family this week, and he’s considering an official visit to Ann Arbor. He is scheduled to visit South Carolina May 31st, and also has dates with Virginia and Duke.

Hammond TE Mike Tyler was offered by LSU.

New USC offers:

• 2026 LB Dallas Brannon (6-2 205) of Charlotte.
• 2026 DT Kendall Guervil (6-5 295) of Fort Myers, FL.
• 2026 DB Jase Rhodes (5-10 181) of Roanoke, VA
• 2026 RB Sy’eer Coleman (6-0 200) of Philadelphia
• 2026 OT Joel Ervin (6-6 280) of Fort Myers, FL.
• 2027 ATH Trenton McCorvey (6-1 190) of Alabaster, AL.
• 2027 DE Cameron Pritchett (6-3 230) of Alabaster, AL.
• 2027 QB Trent Seaborn of Alabaster, AL.

Clemson offered 6-5 Simon Walker of Huntsville, AL and 6-10 Christian Gurdak of Washington, DC.

6-5 Andre Mulibea signed with Coastal Carolina after spending last season at Eastern Washington, where he sat out most of the season after suffering an injury. Mulibea spent a season at Salt Lake Community College where he averaged 12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, while appearing in 33 games.

Former USC center Josh Gray is transferring to Missouri.