Gamecocks land transfer wide receiver
SPORTSTALK / April 2, 2022
WR Corey Rucker (6-1 190), who is a transfer from Arkansas State, announced Saturday afternoon he will continue his career at USC. Rucker, native of Mississippi, also considered Utah State, Ole Miss, Auburn and Texas State after entering the transfer portal following two seasons in Jonesboro.Rucker made his official visit to USC last month with his father and will return for the spring game with his mother April 16th. He was heavily pursued by Shane Beamer and receivers coach Justin Stepp and liked what they laid out for him on his visit.
“Definitely come in and be a guy they can move around from spot to spot, be flexible to play multiple positions,” Rucker said. “Of course, they can’t just tell a guy he’s going to be a starter, he’s definitely got to come in and earn that, but just come and be able to move around and take the receiver room to another level.”
While on his visit, Rucker watched practiced and zeroed in on what offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield and quarterback Spencer Rattler was working with their receivers.
Coach Satt has it figured out on the offensive side of things that I think it’s going to work really well with #7 (Rattler) at quarterback,” Rucker said. “Especially if he has some good wideouts who can get open, and he can throw the ball to.”
Rucker also got some face time with Beamer and walked away impressed with his approach to running the program.
“Coach Beamer’s whole thing is about being a family and being a player’s coach,” Rucker said. “He told me when he first came in, he asked the players what they wanted to see changed, and he made those changes. It was one of those things where he put his players’ ideas first and gave them what they wanted. I think that’s really rare at a lot of places because most coaches think they’ve been doing it long enough and they know what they need or what the program needs. For him to take the players’ input and actually implement it into the program, that was really big for me and I really liked that. I appreciate it because there’s a lot of times players don’t get to speak out how they feel about situations, or really get what the players should have. For him to do that was major.”
Rucker is finishing up courses at Arkansas State this spring and will arrive at USC in May. He should count in the 2022 class since there is one spot available after DQ Smith was given a grayshirt.
Rucker was a Freshman All-American last season at Arkansas State. In two seasons there he caught 75 passes for 1279 yards and 14 touchdowns.