South Carolina Football: 4-star Florida recruit puts Gamecocks in top-4

South Carolina football got some huge news in recruiting on Friday when top-20 overall player Josiah Thompson elected to stay home and commit to the Gamecocks. The big offensive tackle is a potential 5-star as the recruiting process continues to play out, and, according to On3, his addition brings South Carolina back into the top-5 in national recruiting rankings.

Late on Friday, the Gamecocks got some more preliminary good news on the recruiting front. 4-star linebacker Zavier Hamilton tweeted out his top-4, and South Carolina football made the cut.

The Gulf Breeze, Florida native released a top-4 of South Carolina, Auburn, Kansas, and Florida State. Hamilton is a 4-star recruit according to Rivals and is a 3-star prospect according to On3, 247Sports, and ESPN. A smaller linebacker at under 220 pounds, Hamilton is viewed as a plus athlete for the position, and he also played some safety, running back, and wide receiver for Navarre High School.

If Hamilton were to pick the Gamecocks, he would be the second linebacker commitment of the 2024 class, joining elite recruit Wendell Gregory. As of now, Hamilton has not visited the South Carolina campus.

On the current roster, South Carolina has Grayson “Pup” Howard, Jaron Willis, Stone Blanton, and Donovan Westmoreland as high-upside young players. Mo Kaba and Debo Williams are older players who would be seniors by the time Hamilton arrived on campus.

South Carolina has 7 total commitments in the 2024 class. Josiah Thompson (OT), Kam Pringle (OT), Blake Franks (OL), Mazeo Bennett (WR), Dante Reno (QB), Michael Smith (TE), and Wendell Gregory (LB) are all rated as 4-star prospects by at least one recruiting service, and Thompson, Pringle, Bennett, Smith, and Gregory are consensus blue chippers.