Gamecocks D-line recruits include player accepted to Princeton, Harvard
January 03, 2018
South Carolina football saw solid progress on the defensive line from Year 1 to Year 2 with Will Muschamp.
The Gamecocks have added four more pieces to that mix.
The group of two defensive ends and a couple tackles signed last month include a player with Ivy League offers, a big outside body who had to wait his turn and a junior college player Muschamp saw almost as soon as he arrived in South Carolina.
Below are Muschamp’s thoughts on his defensive line haul.
Kingsley “J.J.” Enagbare
6-foot-4, 259 pounds, Atlanta, Ga. (Hapeville Charter Academy)
“Just won a state championship at Hapeville Charter. I was at the game ... A big, long athlete at 6-4, 260. Won the state final against Rabun County. First play of the game, they throw a bubble pass and at 260, he out-ran everyone to the ball. This guy’s got a tremendous upside, extremely intelligent. J.J. is his nickname from J.J. The Jet, the old cartoon there. His mom nicknamed him that when he was little. I don’t mean to, guys will give him a hard time about that. A wonderful young man. He is a mid-year as well. We’re looking forward to getting him in our program as soon as possible.”
Jabari Ellis
6-foot-2, 280 pounds, Vance, S.C. (Lake Marion/Georgia Military)
“When I first got to South Carolina, I went by a lot of the high schools in the state. Lake Marion was one of the schools I went to, over in Santee. I walked in the hall, saw this guy. I didn’t know if he was an underclassman, who he was, and I introduced myself to him. Found out he was just a guy that had got a little bit behind early on in his high school career, was going to play in the Shrine Bowl that year. I called (Georgia Military coach) Bert Williams and said, ‘I think I found you a really good defensive lineman and we need him to be a Gamecock in a couple of years.’ That’s the way it’s worked out. Excited to have Jabari. Really looking forward to him getting here.”
Jesus Gibbs
6-foot-3, 283 pounds, Dumfries, Va. (Potomac)
“A guy that we initially started out recruiting as an offensive lineman. As the process start to wear on his senior year, he was playing tight end, playing on the defensive side of the ball. He did play some offensive line. Athletically, this guy, he’s a really good athlete. ... He’s a guy that we really are excited about on the defensive side of the ball. He’s a 4.0 student, accepted into Princeton, Harvard and different schools like that. We’re certainly excited about him. An explosive athlete. Had a great workout and think he has tremendous upside.”
Tyreek Johnson
6-foot-3, 262 pounds, Sumter (Lakewood)
“He was a guy that was initially going to sign with us a year ago. He tore his labrum. Felt like he needed labrum surgery, we delayed his enrollment. He is on campus right now and practiced with us. ... A guy that we’re really excited about. We were excited about him last year and felt like we’d rather have his surgery and not start his clock coming on campus, let him enroll now.”
January 03, 2018
South Carolina football saw solid progress on the defensive line from Year 1 to Year 2 with Will Muschamp.
The Gamecocks have added four more pieces to that mix.
The group of two defensive ends and a couple tackles signed last month include a player with Ivy League offers, a big outside body who had to wait his turn and a junior college player Muschamp saw almost as soon as he arrived in South Carolina.
Below are Muschamp’s thoughts on his defensive line haul.
Kingsley “J.J.” Enagbare
6-foot-4, 259 pounds, Atlanta, Ga. (Hapeville Charter Academy)
“Just won a state championship at Hapeville Charter. I was at the game ... A big, long athlete at 6-4, 260. Won the state final against Rabun County. First play of the game, they throw a bubble pass and at 260, he out-ran everyone to the ball. This guy’s got a tremendous upside, extremely intelligent. J.J. is his nickname from J.J. The Jet, the old cartoon there. His mom nicknamed him that when he was little. I don’t mean to, guys will give him a hard time about that. A wonderful young man. He is a mid-year as well. We’re looking forward to getting him in our program as soon as possible.”
Jabari Ellis
6-foot-2, 280 pounds, Vance, S.C. (Lake Marion/Georgia Military)
“When I first got to South Carolina, I went by a lot of the high schools in the state. Lake Marion was one of the schools I went to, over in Santee. I walked in the hall, saw this guy. I didn’t know if he was an underclassman, who he was, and I introduced myself to him. Found out he was just a guy that had got a little bit behind early on in his high school career, was going to play in the Shrine Bowl that year. I called (Georgia Military coach) Bert Williams and said, ‘I think I found you a really good defensive lineman and we need him to be a Gamecock in a couple of years.’ That’s the way it’s worked out. Excited to have Jabari. Really looking forward to him getting here.”
Jesus Gibbs
6-foot-3, 283 pounds, Dumfries, Va. (Potomac)
“A guy that we initially started out recruiting as an offensive lineman. As the process start to wear on his senior year, he was playing tight end, playing on the defensive side of the ball. He did play some offensive line. Athletically, this guy, he’s a really good athlete. ... He’s a guy that we really are excited about on the defensive side of the ball. He’s a 4.0 student, accepted into Princeton, Harvard and different schools like that. We’re certainly excited about him. An explosive athlete. Had a great workout and think he has tremendous upside.”
Tyreek Johnson
6-foot-3, 262 pounds, Sumter (Lakewood)
“He was a guy that was initially going to sign with us a year ago. He tore his labrum. Felt like he needed labrum surgery, we delayed his enrollment. He is on campus right now and practiced with us. ... A guy that we’re really excited about. We were excited about him last year and felt like we’d rather have his surgery and not start his clock coming on campus, let him enroll now.”
Last edited by a moderator:
