Caleb McDowell was committed to the state of NC when the South Carolina Gamecocks pulled the trigger on an offer.
McDowell (5-10, 175) received the offer on May 20. It took him less than three weeks to decide that he was ready to accept it.
On Wednesday, McDowell finalized his decision by signing with South Carolina. He is ranked 247Sports as No. 47 running back in the country.
South Carolina hosted him on several game-day visits during the 2019 season, so he was familiar with the surroundings of Columbia, although he could not visit as an offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and running backs coach Des Kitchings were together in Will Muschampstaff of.
The “electric” atmosphere at Williams-Brice Stadium helped seal the deal. One would imagine that this influenced his decision to keep that commitment, despite Muschamp’s resignation in November. Shane Beamer signed McDowell around 2 pm on Wednesday.
“You can’t help but fall in love, just the way the crowd reacts to even the smallest moves they make there, it’s incredible,” said McDowell in June.
“You can’t find it anywhere else in America.”
About three weeks before Muschamp was fired, McDowell spoke to TheBigSpur about the status of his recruitment. At the time, everything was fine with the status of his commitment to South Carolina, part of it had to do with productivity by Kevin Harris and Deshaun Fenwick.
“It just shows me how I made an incredible choice when it came to choosing a home to settle in for the next three to four years,” said McDowell. “It shows that my position is well inserted in the offensive scheme and in the team’s profile.
“It also lets me know that they don’t mind letting the running back take the ball in an important game. I am really proud. I’m proud of the boys up there. They have been running a lot, helping the team as much as possible, so I really fell in love with this type of scheme.
“Involving defenders with internal and external racing, the backfield faints. I feel that this is my area. I feel that I put myself in the best possible position. “
Over nine regular season games for Lee County High School (Leesburg, Georgia), McDowell ran 105 times for 800 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also took 10 passes for 140 yards and two scores.
McDowell’s scored 12 more touchdowns in three playoff games. Lee County plays Atlanta-Westlake in semifinal 6A on Friday night.
In the quarterfinals of last week, McDowell had 11 runs for 131 yards, two receptions for 11 yards and 131 yards for return. He scored five touchdowns (three runs, one kick return, one punt return).
McDowell scored seven touchdowns in total in Lee County’s first two playoff games. His first four were running. The fifth, who was also in the first round, was on a punt return. He ran 105 yards and two touchdowns in the second round.