Recruiting Rewind: South Carolina’s top signing day commitments
Jan. 22, 2017
Signing day has been good to South Carolina in recent years, as the Gamecocks have landed some of their star players in the past 15 years in early February.
The Gamecocks are expecting a nice signing day again, while its top commitment, CB Jamyest Williams, is set to announce if he will stay with his commitment or flip to Georgia.
We take a look back at five of the top signing day commitments, in alphabetical order, for the Gamecocks in the recruiting era:
Alshon Jeffery, 4-star WR
The big in-state receiver made an early commitment to Southern California and stuck with it until signing day in 2009. He took a late official visit to Tennessee before making one on the final weekend to South Carolina.
Then on signing day, he committed to the home-state USC and became a Gamecock instead of heading west to be a Trojan. He would go on to catch 23 receiving touchdowns and is the only 3,000-yard receiver in school history (3,042).
Marcus Lattimore, 5-star RB
One of the top recruits in the nation, Lattimore took early official visits to Penn State and Auburn and January visits to South Carolina and Oregon.
His decision came down to South Carolina and Auburn. He put on a South Carolina cap in front of a packed crowd at a church in his hometown, going with the perceived favorite all along and giving USC its prized recruit of the 2010 class in a day-before-signing-day ceremony.
His career at South Carolina was hampered by injuries, but he left with a school-record 38 rushing touchdowns and ranked No. 6 in rushing yards with 2,677 rushing yards.
Sidney Rice, 3-star WR
Rice’s decision came down to the final day, as he was torn between staying in South Carolina to play for the Gamecocks and heading north to play for Syracuse. The Gaffney native stuck around in South Carolina, announcing his decision in a signing day ceremony at his high school in 2004.
He redshirted in his first year on campus before having two huge seasons, leaving with 142 caches for 2,233 yards and 23 touchdowns. Rice is tied with Jeffery for the South Carolina record for receiving touchdowns, also ranking eighth in catches and fifth in yards.
Stephon Taylor, 4-star DT
A highly recruited defensive tackle, Taylor was a signing day announcement who picked South Carolina over Texas. Taylor took official visits to Oklahoma, Texas and Florida State, but his final stop was Columbia. LSU rounded out the top 5 schools for the Gamecocks’ top 2016 defensive recruit.
He redshirted in his first season, working back from a shoulder injury. South Carolina also landed defensive lineman Aaron Thompson and wide receivers Korey Banks and Randrecous Davis on signing day.
Dexter Wideman, 4-star DE
The 2014 class had quite a few signing day moments, landing Chris Lammons, getting Wesley Green to re-commit and getting Florida State de-commitment Blake McClain to commit without taking an official visit.
But the biggest news on signing day came from Wideman. The in-state defensive lineman was committed to Florida State throughout the process before flipping to South Carolina on signing day.
Wideman spent the fall of 2014 at Camden (S.C.) Military Academy, enrolling at USC in 2015 in the spring. He did not appear in a game in 2016.
SECCOUNTRY
Jan. 22, 2017
Signing day has been good to South Carolina in recent years, as the Gamecocks have landed some of their star players in the past 15 years in early February.
The Gamecocks are expecting a nice signing day again, while its top commitment, CB Jamyest Williams, is set to announce if he will stay with his commitment or flip to Georgia.
We take a look back at five of the top signing day commitments, in alphabetical order, for the Gamecocks in the recruiting era:
Alshon Jeffery, 4-star WR
The big in-state receiver made an early commitment to Southern California and stuck with it until signing day in 2009. He took a late official visit to Tennessee before making one on the final weekend to South Carolina.
Then on signing day, he committed to the home-state USC and became a Gamecock instead of heading west to be a Trojan. He would go on to catch 23 receiving touchdowns and is the only 3,000-yard receiver in school history (3,042).
Marcus Lattimore, 5-star RB
One of the top recruits in the nation, Lattimore took early official visits to Penn State and Auburn and January visits to South Carolina and Oregon.
His decision came down to South Carolina and Auburn. He put on a South Carolina cap in front of a packed crowd at a church in his hometown, going with the perceived favorite all along and giving USC its prized recruit of the 2010 class in a day-before-signing-day ceremony.
His career at South Carolina was hampered by injuries, but he left with a school-record 38 rushing touchdowns and ranked No. 6 in rushing yards with 2,677 rushing yards.
Sidney Rice, 3-star WR
Rice’s decision came down to the final day, as he was torn between staying in South Carolina to play for the Gamecocks and heading north to play for Syracuse. The Gaffney native stuck around in South Carolina, announcing his decision in a signing day ceremony at his high school in 2004.
He redshirted in his first year on campus before having two huge seasons, leaving with 142 caches for 2,233 yards and 23 touchdowns. Rice is tied with Jeffery for the South Carolina record for receiving touchdowns, also ranking eighth in catches and fifth in yards.
Stephon Taylor, 4-star DT
A highly recruited defensive tackle, Taylor was a signing day announcement who picked South Carolina over Texas. Taylor took official visits to Oklahoma, Texas and Florida State, but his final stop was Columbia. LSU rounded out the top 5 schools for the Gamecocks’ top 2016 defensive recruit.
He redshirted in his first season, working back from a shoulder injury. South Carolina also landed defensive lineman Aaron Thompson and wide receivers Korey Banks and Randrecous Davis on signing day.
Dexter Wideman, 4-star DE
The 2014 class had quite a few signing day moments, landing Chris Lammons, getting Wesley Green to re-commit and getting Florida State de-commitment Blake McClain to commit without taking an official visit.
But the biggest news on signing day came from Wideman. The in-state defensive lineman was committed to Florida State throughout the process before flipping to South Carolina on signing day.
Wideman spent the fall of 2014 at Camden (S.C.) Military Academy, enrolling at USC in 2015 in the spring. He did not appear in a game in 2016.
SECCOUNTRY