Va. 4-star OL Austin Clark commits to South Carolina

The South Carolina Gamecocks will be getting the services of one of the top offensive linemen in the country in 2015.

Rockbridge County (VA)’s Austin Clark, ranked the ninth best OT overall in the 2015 class and the fourth best player in all of Virginia, decided on the Gamecocks privately this past weekend but made it public this evening live on NBC affiliate WSLS-TV.

Carolina beat out Ohio State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech, and it looks like they’re getting a great boost to their line that could be missing a few key pieces after the upcoming season. Clark isn’t huge (“only” 6’5″, 295), but watching parts of his video, he does possess that strength and power that’s needed to be a successful O-lineman. He did well enough to get first-team honors not only on the district and regional level, but the state level as well.

Traditionally, the bulk of football talent in Virginia lies in the northern part of the state near Washington and in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas (Clark is the only player outside of those areas in Rivals’ top 10 ranking of Virginia’s 2015 prospects and one of two in the top 20–Altavista DB Juan Thornhill is the other). But it’s good to see a player from a school that hasn’t traditionally been a football power (aside from a state championship appearance in 2006 but just 2-8 in 2013) have a real chance at making an impact in the SEC, much less a successful BCS program.

Clark will graduate high school in December and enroll in January.