South Carolina Football: Carolina-Clemson recruiting battle set to end Friday

The Clemson vs. South Carolina football rivalry went the way of the Gamecocks this season as the Gridiron Gamecocks traveled to the Upstate and beat their rivals in Memorial Stadium. This Friday, Shane Beamer and South Carolina have the opportunity to pick up another victory over Dabo Swinney and the Tigers.

According to a tweet from WSPA7 News’ Pete Yanity, Greenville High School offensive lineman Blake Franks is set to announce his college decision on Friday. Franks plays offensive tackle for Greenville but projects more as an interior lineman at the next level. South Carolina, Clemson, and Auburn are the three schools known to still be in the running for Franks, but most in the recruiting industry believe it to be a South Carolina vs. Clemson battle.

South Carolina commitment Mazeo Bennett is Franks’ teammate at Greenville High, and he and offensive line commit Kam Pringle have been recruiting Franks to the Gamecocks for months. Quarterback pledge Dante Reno has been in on the action, as well. Even the non-committed Josiah Thompson (considered a heavy lean to the Gamecocks who will announce his own decision in about two weeks) has been part of the efforts to push Franks to choose the garnet and black.

If Franks and Thompson join the 2024 recruiting class for South Carolina, the Gamecocks will likely have put together their best-ever consecutive recruiting classes up front. The 2023 class included three four-star players on the offensive line (two likely guards in Markee Anderson and Trovon Baugh and likely tackle ‘Tosin “Big Tree” Babalade). Pringle and Thompson are high 4-stars who have a chance to be elevated to five-star prospects down the line, and Franks is considered a 4-star by Rivals and a high 3-star by on3 and 247Sports.

Coach Shane Beamer has put out two of his patented “#WelcomeHome” tweets in the last nine days, and fans have been speculating whether Franks and/or Thompson could be the names behind the commitments. With Franks’ announcement Friday and Thompson’s announcement coming on April 11th, Gamecock fans will know soon enough.