A quick recruitment update for South Carolina football.
Shane Beamer and the South Carolina football team have been on the trail looking for highly regarded candidates to join the program. The 2021 recruiting class is essentially closed, which means that the focus is on the 2022 class.
Gamecocks had a player, quarterback Gunner Stockton, on the boat early last year, but after Will Muschamp’s resignation and Mike Bobo’s departure, Stockton decided to revoke that promise. He is now part of the Georgia Bulldogs class after making a commitment in late January.
Stockton’s loss was certainly great, but it was almost expected after Bobo left the Gamecocks team. But it looks like Shane Beamer and the team may be close to getting a replacement.
Four-star signal caller Tanner Bailey has been tending towards the Gamecocks lately, hitting four recent crystal ball predictions in favor of the program. Bailey also has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee and several others. The Mississippi State Bulldogs, at the moment, appears to be the toughest competition from the Gamecocks to get the talented passer, especially with his home state, Crimson Tide, receiving an appointment from quarterback Ty Simpson last week.
At the moment, Bailey is ranked as the tenth best pocket passer in the country in the 2022 class, as well as the ninth best player in Yellowhammer State, regardless of position. He would be a big target if he pulled the trigger on a South Carolina engagement.
One player who pulled the trigger last week was four-star safety Anthony Rose, who committed to the Gamecocks on February 23. He becomes Shane Beamer’s first judge in Columbia, and is currently the only member of the class.
Rose was born in Florida and chose Gamecocks instead of offers from Arizona, Arizona, LSU, Michigan, Mississippi, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas A&M. He could become an immediate contributor in a position of need in South Carolina’s secondary, where the Gamecocks lost five members of the 2020 list.
Moving from perhaps the slimmest group on the team to probably the strongest, Gamecocks have been a trend for Columbia runner CJ Stokes. Stokes is a three star back offering from Duke, Louisville, Minnesota, Missouri, Temple, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Yale.
South Carolina is heavily loaded with tail, but as the team saw last year with MarShawn Lloyd’s injury in the off-season, you will never have many options.
Stokes is not the only native of Palmetto on Gamecock radar, as four-star contenders Jaylen Sneed, Jaleel Skinner and Antonio Williams also have South Carolina in their main groups, although only Williams has received a forecast in favor of Gamecocks. These players will be three to keep an eye on as the recruitment process unfolds.