Gamecocks Become First Major Offer For SAF Kemari Nix
SPORTSTALK / March 22, 2023
Being the first to do something in recruiting can be to a school’s advantage, whether it’s the first contact, the first visit or the first offer. USC became the first Power Five offer for SAF Kemari Nix (6-1 195) of Kennesaw, GA last Saturday when secondary coach Torrian Gray offered him while he was in for a visit. The offer moved the Gamecocks right to the top of what is a very short list right now.“South Carolina is definitely up there, definitely up there,” Nix said. “I’ve only got two offers right now, Eastern Kentucky and South Carolina, so South Carolina is like my number one right now. Right now, I’m keeping my options open.”
Nix has been primarily a quarterback at Keels High School. Last season he passed for over 1400 yards and rushed for over 1000 yards while accounting for 34 touchdowns. But Gray has identified him as a safety prospect for the Gamecocks. Before he would offer however, Gray needed to know a key piece of information.
“I was talking with Coach Gray and he was asking me what did I weigh in as, and I told him my weight was 195 when I stepped on the scale, and he was like, that’s a good size for us, and then he wanted to offer me,” Nix said. “I was happy, smiling. It was good. Going into the visit I felt like Coach Gray was going to offer me, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up that much, so I was just going through the process.”
Nix was on hand Saturday to meet the coaches for the first time and to also watch spring practice on the first day the Gamecocks were in pads. He, of course, was focused on the play of the safeties.
“I saw that they were coaching up the safeties real hard, getting on them right when they were messing up and correcting them,” Nix said. “I really like when coaches do that, coaching their players and making them get better.”
The visit left Nix with a positive feeling about the USC program.
“South Carolina is a great place,” Nix said. “The atmosphere there and the energy of the practice were good. I liked everything from the facilities to the practice, from the players, the coaches, everything was like a good environment.”
Nix will visit Georgia Tech March 27th. He is also planning to return to USC for their spring game in April.