What Will Muschamp said about the early signing period defensive players
December 21, 2017
South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp signed 20 prospects from the 2018 class on the first day of the early signing period.
Counting Jesus Gibbs, the lineman who could play on either side of the ball, the Gamecocks landed 10 defensive players.
Two are rated by the 247Sports composite as 4-star prospects. The rest are 3-stars.
Players with a (*) beside their name are midyear enrollees.
DT Jabari Ellis
“When I first got to South Carolina, I went by a lot of the high schools in the state and Lake Marion was one of the schools I went to, over in Santee. I walked in the hallway and I didn’t know if he was an underclassman or who he was and I introduced myself to him. Found out that he was a guy that had gotten just a little bit behind early on in his high school career. Was going to play in the Shrine Bowl that year and I called 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.’ And that’s the way it’s worked out.”
DE Kingsley Enagbare *
“A big, long athlete, who’s 6-4, 260. Won the state final over Rabun County. On the first play of the game, they throw a little bubble pass. At 260, he out-ran everybody to the ball. This guy’s got a tremendous upside, extremely intelligent. Jay Jay is his nickname, from Jay Jay the Jet, the old cartoon.”
DE Jesus Gibbs
“A guy that we started out initially recruiting as an offensive lineman. As the process started to wear on, his senior year, he’s playing tight end. He’s playing on the defensive side of the ball. He did play some offensive line, but athletically, this guy is a really good athlete.”
DE Tyreek Johnson *
“He is on campus right now. He has practiced with us the last two days, just been in helmets only, but a guy that we’re excited about. We were excited about him last year. Felt like, with him having surgery, would rather not have him start his clock coming onto campus. … We’re excited about having him here on campus.”
LB Ernest Jones IV *
“Ernest is really smart, instinctive, tough, a guy that can make all the calls and has got a tremendous upside, moving forward. He’s going to know about work ethic. He’s going to know about toughness and that’s exciting, to get a guy like that a part of our program. He’s a bigger linebacker. … We need to get bigger at that position and certainly Ernest will provide that.”
LB Rosendo Louis *
“Early on, we identified this as being a guy that we wanted to have on our football team. He committed to another school and this crazy coaching carousel takes place and he’s looking for a home. We were able to continue to recruit him. He can play all four linebacker spots. He can play Sam, Mike, Will or Buck. He’s got pass-rush-ability. He’s a guy that’s got tremendous upside. He is a head-butter. I went and watched him play, getting ready for the state playoffs last year in December, down in Deerfield. I left the practice field, I looked at T-Rob and said, ‘He’s one of us.’ We’ve been recruiting him since then and we’re very fortunate today that he’s a Gamecock.”
DB R.J. Roderick *
“He came to our spring game last year. I remember, I met him right out there in our hallway and I told Pat Washington, ‘This guy’s got a great body. Let’s make sure we get him to camp. I want to see his movement skills in space, to see if he can play defensive back, and he can. He’s got man-coverage ability. He’s got zone instincts. … I coached a lot of guys that didn’t play defensive back in high school, like Earl Thomas, LaRon Landry, Travis Daniels, Corey Webster that played quarterback only in high school. If I’m a high school coach, I’m going to put my best player playing quarterback, too.”
CB Jaycee Horn
“We needed to get longer in the secondary, we needed to get more physical in the secondary and be able to continue to work to play our style, but a very smart cover corner guy. Can matchup against the bigger receivers. He’s also a returner, so he’s got a vast skillset for what we’re looking for at the position. Again, another guy that we stayed on in the process and continued to recruit. I think he’s got a tremendous upside as a player. He’s a guy, outside, you can go matchup against some of the bigger receivers and not worry about the matchup issues that, sometimes, you could have.”
DB Israel Mukuamu *
“Excited to keep him in-state. Again, another guy, you’re talking in terms of length, physicality and intelligence and this guy can really run on the top-end. He can really finish down the field. He’s got really good ball skills. Very tough, physically and an extremely bright and intelligent player.”
DB Jonathan Gipson
“Jonathan’s a guy that plays corner, safety, he’s a returner. But a guy that has got a tremendous upside. We really liked him in camp. Has the ball hawk ability, to really get the ball off people. You talk to people in Gwinnett County the last three, four, five years, that’s one of the names that comes up in that county, as far as one of the better football players in that area.”
December 21, 2017
South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp signed 20 prospects from the 2018 class on the first day of the early signing period.
Counting Jesus Gibbs, the lineman who could play on either side of the ball, the Gamecocks landed 10 defensive players.
Two are rated by the 247Sports composite as 4-star prospects. The rest are 3-stars.
Players with a (*) beside their name are midyear enrollees.
DT Jabari Ellis
“When I first got to South Carolina, I went by a lot of the high schools in the state and Lake Marion was one of the schools I went to, over in Santee. I walked in the hallway and I didn’t know if he was an underclassman or who he was and I introduced myself to him. Found out that he was a guy that had gotten just a little bit behind early on in his high school career. Was going to play in the Shrine Bowl that year and I called 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.’ And that’s the way it’s worked out.”
DE Kingsley Enagbare *
“A big, long athlete, who’s 6-4, 260. Won the state final over Rabun County. On the first play of the game, they throw a little bubble pass. At 260, he out-ran everybody to the ball. This guy’s got a tremendous upside, extremely intelligent. Jay Jay is his nickname, from Jay Jay the Jet, the old cartoon.”
DE Jesus Gibbs
“A guy that we started out initially recruiting as an offensive lineman. As the process started to wear on, his senior year, he’s playing tight end. He’s playing on the defensive side of the ball. He did play some offensive line, but athletically, this guy is a really good athlete.”
DE Tyreek Johnson *
“He is on campus right now. He has practiced with us the last two days, just been in helmets only, but a guy that we’re excited about. We were excited about him last year. Felt like, with him having surgery, would rather not have him start his clock coming onto campus. … We’re excited about having him here on campus.”
LB Ernest Jones IV *
“Ernest is really smart, instinctive, tough, a guy that can make all the calls and has got a tremendous upside, moving forward. He’s going to know about work ethic. He’s going to know about toughness and that’s exciting, to get a guy like that a part of our program. He’s a bigger linebacker. … We need to get bigger at that position and certainly Ernest will provide that.”
LB Rosendo Louis *
“Early on, we identified this as being a guy that we wanted to have on our football team. He committed to another school and this crazy coaching carousel takes place and he’s looking for a home. We were able to continue to recruit him. He can play all four linebacker spots. He can play Sam, Mike, Will or Buck. He’s got pass-rush-ability. He’s a guy that’s got tremendous upside. He is a head-butter. I went and watched him play, getting ready for the state playoffs last year in December, down in Deerfield. I left the practice field, I looked at T-Rob and said, ‘He’s one of us.’ We’ve been recruiting him since then and we’re very fortunate today that he’s a Gamecock.”
DB R.J. Roderick *
“He came to our spring game last year. I remember, I met him right out there in our hallway and I told Pat Washington, ‘This guy’s got a great body. Let’s make sure we get him to camp. I want to see his movement skills in space, to see if he can play defensive back, and he can. He’s got man-coverage ability. He’s got zone instincts. … I coached a lot of guys that didn’t play defensive back in high school, like Earl Thomas, LaRon Landry, Travis Daniels, Corey Webster that played quarterback only in high school. If I’m a high school coach, I’m going to put my best player playing quarterback, too.”
CB Jaycee Horn
“We needed to get longer in the secondary, we needed to get more physical in the secondary and be able to continue to work to play our style, but a very smart cover corner guy. Can matchup against the bigger receivers. He’s also a returner, so he’s got a vast skillset for what we’re looking for at the position. Again, another guy that we stayed on in the process and continued to recruit. I think he’s got a tremendous upside as a player. He’s a guy, outside, you can go matchup against some of the bigger receivers and not worry about the matchup issues that, sometimes, you could have.”
DB Israel Mukuamu *
“Excited to keep him in-state. Again, another guy, you’re talking in terms of length, physicality and intelligence and this guy can really run on the top-end. He can really finish down the field. He’s got really good ball skills. Very tough, physically and an extremely bright and intelligent player.”
DB Jonathan Gipson
“Jonathan’s a guy that plays corner, safety, he’s a returner. But a guy that has got a tremendous upside. We really liked him in camp. Has the ball hawk ability, to really get the ball off people. You talk to people in Gwinnett County the last three, four, five years, that’s one of the names that comes up in that county, as far as one of the better football players in that area.”
