South Carolina football will have some extra visitors on campus this summer.
South Carolina’s technical team has been engaged in recruiting since its arrival in Columbia, conducting prospects through virtual visits and sending offers to those who might end up being part of the program’s future on the football field.
With COVID having an effect on personal visits over the past year and changes, few high school players have been able to really enjoy the typical recruiting process. It has been a difficult year for all university coaches, as official visits have been suspended by the NCAA, but now it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel. And the diligence of the South Carolina technical team is beginning to pay dividends, as a trio of talented candidates announced this week that they will be making official visits to Columbia this summer.
These three players are striker Grayson Mains of Georgia, striker Peter Kikwata of Maryland and striker Nick James of IMG Academy in Florida.
James is the best rated in the group, ranking 222nd in the 22-point ranking class, according to Rivals. The striker reduced his list to 12 schools, which include Gamecocks along with Oregon, Ohio State, Alabama, Southern Cal, Wisconsin, Penn State, Arizona, Florida, Texas A&M, Central Florida and Georgia.
James scheduled his official visit to Columbia for the weekend of June 25. He also planned a visit to Columbus to see the Buckeyes earlier in the month.
Peter Kikwata, a Maryland wide receiver, has also defined his official and will be on campus from June 11th to 13th.
Kikwata is a four-star pass receiver ranked the 38th best player in the country in the position. It has a list of offerings that includes Gamecocks, Penn State, Pitt, Auburn, FSU, Kentucky, Maryland and Georgia Tech. South Carolina appears to be his only scheduled visit at this point.
The third player to visit in June will be three-star striker Grayson Mains, from Suwanee, Georgia. Mains, who reduced his final group to South Carolina, Michigan and Tennessee, ranks as the 77th best candidate in the state of Peach. He is a player who appears to be a trend for Gamecocks, and he should be on campus with Kikwata from June 11th to 13th.
Shane Beamer will try to get commitments from these talented candidates and increase the 1922 recruiting class that currently has only one promise.