South Carolina football: trio of prospects set official visits

South Carolina football will have a few extra visitors on campus this summer.

The South Carolina coaching staff has been hot on the recruiting trail since its arrival to Columbia, running prospects through virtual visits and sending out offers to those that could end up being a part of the program’s future on the football field.

With COVID taking its effect on in person visits over the last year and change, few high school players have been able to really enjoy the typical recruiting process. It’s been a difficult year for all college coaches as official visits had been suspended by the NCAA, but it now seems that there is  light at the end of the tunnel. And the diligence of the South Carolina coaching staff is starting to pay dividends, as a trio of talented prospects announced this week that they’ll be taking official visits to Columbia this summer.

Those three players are offensive lineman Grayson Mains from Georgia, wideout Peter Kikwata from Maryland, and defensive tackle Nick James from IMG Academy down in Florida.

James is the most highly rated of the bunch, landing at No. 222 on the class of ’22 prospect rankings, according to Rivals. The lineman has narrowed his list to 12 schools, which include the Gamecocks along with Oregon, Ohio State, Alabama, Southern Cal, Wisconsin, Penn State, Arizona, Florida, Texas A&M, Central Florida, and Georgia.

James has set his official visit to Columbia for the weekend of June 25th. He’s also lined up a visit to Columbus to see the Buckeyes earlier in the month.

Peter Kikwata, a wide receiver from Maryland, has also set his official and will be on campus for June 11-13.

Kikwata is a four-star pass catcher that ranks as the nation’s 38th best player at the position. He’s got an offer list that includes the Gamecocks, Penn State, Pitt, Auburn, FSU, Kentucky, Maryland, and Georgia Tech. South Carolina appears to be his only scheduled visit to this point.

The third player visiting the June will be three-star offensive lineman Grayson Mains out of Suwanee, Georgia. Mains, who has narrowed his final group down to South Carolina, Michigan State, and Tennessee, ranks as the 77th best prospect in the Peach State. He’s a player that seems to be trending for the Gamecocks, and he should be on campus with Kikwata from June 11-13.

Shane Beamer will try to land commitments from these talented prospects, and add to a ’22 recruiting class that currently has just one pledge.