South Carolina has lost, at least for now, one of the most talented members of its 2016 class in wide receiver Kyle Davis of Decatur, Ga.
Davis announced last week that he has dropped his 10-month-old commitment to USC and reopened his recruiting.
Davis committed to USC during a camp last July, becoming the Gamecocks’ first commitment for the 2016 class. But he never shut down his recruiting, and the Gamecocks’ 7-6 season and questions about Steve Spurrier’s coaching future didn’t help. If anything, Davis ramped things up by making multiple visits to Georgia, Auburn and other programs around the SEC.
Davis’s offer list has grown to include Alabama, Florida, Miami, Florida State, Cal, Louisville, Tennessee, Michigan State, LSU, Ohio State and others reflecting his growth into a nationally acclaimed prospect. Davis, who plans to be an early graduate, had 64 catches for 1,200 yards last season.
In other recruiting news:
OL Will Putnam (6-5, 270) of Harrisburg, N.C., picked up a USC offer last week when Gamecocks offensive line coach Shawn Elliott met at school with his coach. Putnam has never worked out for Elliott, so the offer came strictly off his junior film. “He just said to my coach he didn’t need me at camp or anything, said he liked what he saw and he really had all he needed,” Putnam said.
Putnam said he was flattered by the offer but wasn’t ready to commit right away, but he’s thinking about it and has a plan. “Most definitely, they are at the top of my list hands down,” he said. His other offers are Elon, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb and Charlotte. Putnam plays left tackle and also plays on the defensive line.
Orangeburg native LB Donta Evans is back in South Carolina from his new home in Lawrence-ville, Ga., and plans to drop in at USC while he is close by. The Gamecocks have been showing interest in Evans but have not yet offered. Evans has added recent offers from Missouri, Indiana, The Citadel, Vanderbilt, Charlotte and Iowa. He also has offers from Auburn, Louisville, Kentucky, NC State, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Illinois.
Following the trail recently cut by Everett Golson of Myrtle Beach, (Notre Dame, Florida State), Justin Worley (Tennessee), Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State) and Jacob Park (Georgia), Dillon’s Avery McCall is destined to be the next Shrine Bowl quarterback from the state to play his college football out of the state. Clemson and USC have quarterbacks committed for 2016, and McCall said neither is showing any interest in him now. This despite the fact he passed for 2,945 yards and 36 touchdowns last season, completing 71 percent of his passes with only two interceptions. McCall has 5,502 career passing yards entering his senior season as he goes for a fourth straight state championship. So where might McCall continue his career after Dillon? “Oregon State,” McCall said last week. “They came to the school to see me throw. Their offense has been something I’ve been running since I’ve been in high school.” McCall said he’s also looking at North Carolina, N.C. State, East Carolina, Appalachian State and Florida State.
DE Xavier Kelly (6-5, 248) of Wichita, Kan., is the target of a large number of major programs across the country, including Clemson, and the Tigers have made solid recruiting headway with him. “I’m very interested in Clemson,” said Kelly, who has family in Savannah. “They always have a big program and I’ve heard a lot of great things about them. This summer I’ll check them out and see what they are all about. They produce a lot of NFL players, especially on defense. That’s really raised my interest in Clemson.” Kelly has nearly 30 offers and will narrow that list to 5-8 schools at the end of the summer. He was at Georgia over the weekend and is set to visit Alabama on Friday. Clemson defensive line coach Marion Hobby checked in on Kelly earlier this month and defensive coordinator Brent Venables went out to see him last month. Other schools to come thru this spring are Florida State, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, Texas AM, Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Alabama. Kelly plans to announce his decision at the Army All American Game on January 9th.
Patience can be a virtue in recruiting and it certainly paid off for Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. Wednesday morning the Tigers added WR Denzel Johnson (6-2 191) of AC Flora to their 2015 recruiting haul. Overlooked by the major schools during the fall because of academic concerns, Swinney did not give up on Johnson the student, and he repaid Swinney’s confidence in him with a signed financial aid agreement. Johnson took official visits to Towson, Clemson, SC State and Massachusetts. He also drew interest from USC but the Gamecocks only offered a grayshirt opportunity. Johnson wanted to play at the highest level and Clemson afforded him that opportunity if only he could qualify on the test and get his GPA high enough for admission. “It’s like a dream right now, a blessing,” Johnson said. “I’m so glad I got all of my grades. It’s a big relief and I’m just ready to go to Clemson.” Swinney reassured Johnson on several occasions that he would hold a scholarship for him if he completed the academic work. Johnson set his mind to the task and he got the work done. “I just feel like home there,” Johnson said of Clemson. “All the coaches, I’m used to all the coaches and the players, it’s like a family there.” Johnson had an excellent senior season with 69 catches for 910 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a safety he had 60 tackles and 2 interceptions. He capped his high school career with three catches for 58 yards and two tackles in the Touchstone Energy North-South Game and earned one of the MVP awards. Johnson expects to start out as a receiver at Clemson but could be moved to the secondary if needed there. Johnson gives the Tigers 27 newcomers in their 2015 class.
Furman head football coach Bruce Fowler last week announced the addition of defensive lineman/offensive lineman Brandon Maddox (6-4 274) of North Augusta to the program. Maddox comes to Furman following one year at Air Force Prep. He will be a true freshman starting this fall.
WR Brad Hawkins of Camden, NJ released his top 15 and they are USC, Arizona State, Michigan, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, NC State, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, Tennessee, Temple, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
OL Joshua Ball of Fredericksburg, VA cut his list to 15….USC, Auburn, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Ole Miss, NC State, Penn State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
DL Naquan Jones of Evanston, IL is down to USC, Michigan State and Florida. He plans to announce June 5th.
LB Kenneth Ruff of Fort Lauderdale to release a top ten June 1st. He’s been favoring USC.
LB Tobias Little of Atlanta released a top five list of Clemson, USC, Missouri, NC State and Georgia Southern in no order.
DB Marlon Character of Atlanta lists USC, Virginia Tech and Ohio State as top three.
LB Kash Daniel of Paintsville, KY has set August 13th for his announcement date. USC is among the schools he’s considering.
WR Divine Deablo of Winston-Salem, NC has a top five of USC, North Carolina, NC State, Georgia and Virginia Tech. He also has interest in Louisville and West Virginia.
Alabama offered TE Thaddeus Moss of Charlotte. USC is also an offer.
OL Brett Heggie of Mount Dora, FL was offered by Florida, Louisville and Mississippi State. He’s also a USC target.
DB Chris Smith of South Pointe was offered by SC State and Eastern Michigan. He also has a USC offer and others.
WR Josh Imatorbhebhe of Suwanee, GA committed to Southern Cal. He also had a USC offer.
Clemson OL target Clark Yarbrough of Woodberry Forest, VA announced last week a commitment to Stanford.
Myrtle Beach RB Brandon Sinclair committed to Old Dominion.
Laurens DB Thomas Jones was offered by Georgia Tech. USC, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Duke are some other offers.
USC and Clemson target OL John Simpson of Fort Dorchester will camp at Alabama.
SC State offered DB KJ Chamberlain of Greenwood.
LB Tori Delesline of Hillcrest picked up offer from Charlotte.
USC offered 2016 prospects DE Jachai Polite and OL Marcus Tatum of Daytona Beach, FL, LB Aaron Hansford of Washington, DC and OL Johncarlo Valentin (6-4 344) of Philadelphia.
2017 prospects getting USC offers last week were WR Daquon Green of Tampa, QB Cade Weldon of Tampa, OL Blake Vinson of Ocala, FL and DE Jonathan Ford of Fort Lauderdale, FL.
USC also offered 2018 LB Eric Gilyard of Jacksonville last week.
Clemson offered 2016 DE Antonneous Clayton of Vienna, GA. Some of his other offers are Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn.
2017 offers going out by Clemson last week were DL Cam Spence of IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, RB Kyshaun Bryan of Plantation, FL and WR Trevon Grimes of Fort Lauderdale.
Clemson offered 2018 prospects DB Benny Sapp and DB Asante Samuel Jr. of Fort Lauderdale and DB Pat Surtain of Plantation, FL and 2018
Basketball News:
USC basketball coach Frank Martin last week landed a big man for this 2015 recruiting class in 6-9 Eric Cobb, a native of Jacksonville, FL who attends St. Francis Prep in Baltimore. Cobb originally committed to Kansas State but decommitted in April. After that he took an unofficial visit to Seton Hall and an official visit to USC. He also considered VCU, Old Dominion, Boston College, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington and Memphis. The 280 pound Cobb is USC’s 5th commitment for the class. He averaged 13 points and 9 rebounds per game last season. “He’s a great passer with great hands and great feet,” said St. Francis coach Nick Myles. “He can turn and make a post move off of both shoulders. A lot of kids can’t do that. He has to get more athletic but that will come with getting in better shape. He’s a true post man, probably what you don’t see a lot of in college basketball. A back to the basket guy.” Cobb visited USC last month with his mother and that experience basically sold him on the Gamecocks. “He really liked it and enjoyed it,” Myles said. “He thinks Coach Martin is going to be somebody to push him and develop his game. And he liked the campus and said it felt like home.”
6-2 shooting guard Keyshawn Woods made his first ever visit to USC last week as he began the process of finding a new program. Woods played his freshman season at Charlotte where he averaged over eight points per game and led Conference USA in three point shooting at better than 46%. The native of Gastonia received his release from the 49ers last month following their coaching change. Woods paid an unofficial visit to USC Monday and said he got a good look at what the Gamecocks have to offer. “They just made it pretty clear that they really want me,” said Woods who added that he has an offer from USC. Woods said he’s also looking at possible visits to Auburn, Creighton, Butler, St. Joseph’s and VCU before he makes a decision later this summer in time to enroll for the second session of summer school. “I’m just pretty much looking for somewhere where I can grow as a player and really work on my weaknesses on the offseason that I have to sit out,” Woods said. “The main goal is for me to really work on all of my weaknesses and make them my strength. I’ve really got to get stronger in the weight room so I’m really going to be working on that wherever I go next. I hope I can get with a program that’s already established and with a coach that can hopefully get me to the next level.” Wherever he lands, Woods will have to sit out next season and will have three seasons to play three starting in the fall of 2016.
Hammond standout guard Seventh Woods played in a tournament in Ardsley, NY over the weekend and told basketball recruiting reporter Adam Zagoria USC, North Carolina and Florida are recruiting him the hardest at this point. Florida’s new coach Mike White reached out a couple of weeks ago. Woods said he’s open on his decision and would wait until after this AAU season before thinking more about his college plans.
6-5 Tevin Mack of Dreher signed with Texas last week following up on his plans to play for Shaka Smart. He signed with VCU in November while Smart was the coach there. When Smart left for Texas, Mack was released from his letter of intent. Mack was among the state’s leading scorers last season at 29 points per game and he was South Carolina’s MVP in the Carolinas All Star Classic.
6-3 Najee Pritchett and 6-0 Rico Bonds signed with South Carolina State according to JUCOJunction.com. Pritchett played at Brunswick JC, GA and Bonds played at Florida State JC in Jacksonville.
Charleston Southern has added transfer guards Demetrius Pollard from Northeastern and Patrick Wallace from NC State. The Bucs also signed forward Ugo Mmonu from Chattanooga State JC, TN and forward Melvin Brooks of Fort Lauderdale.
Presbyterian signed 6-6 John Majors of Baltimore JC, MD.
Furman signed 6-8 Matt Rafferty of Hinsdale, IL and 5-11 Jonathan Jean of Gibsonton, FL.
Baseball News:
USC coach Chad Holbrook has pledged to fix what was ailing his team this season and one way to do that quickly is to bring in quality junior college players. Holbrook and staff landed their third junior college commitment in the past month Friday in INF Jonah Bride (6-0 190) of Neosho JC, KS. Bride is a native of Owasso, OK where he was a teammate of 2014 USC signee Braden Webb. Bride was named a Louisville Slugger high school All American after the 2014 season. He played one season at Neosho and batted .471, 4th best in the country in the junior college ranks. He also had 14 home runs and 93 RBIs, second most nationally. His commitment gives USC 18 for the 2015 class. Bride will have three years of eligibility with the Gamecocks.
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