South Carolina Football: 4-star Texas product puts Gamecocks in top-5, gets official visit locked in

The most important aspect of improving a football program’s win-loss record is to improve the talent that’s on the field. Some of that is development and coaching, but the biggest factor in improving a team’s roster is recruiting better players. Since the hire of Shane Beamer as the man in charge of the South Carolina football program, recruiting has improved in Columbia.

The 2023 recruiting class finished as the best class in a while for the Gamecocks, and it finished with a flurry as 5-star athlete Nyck Harbor committed live on ESPN on National Signing Day.

2024 is on pace to be a better class than 2023. The Gamecocks have seven players publicly committed, and all seven of them are rated as 4-star players by at least one of the major recruiting outlets. Five of those seven are consensus 4-stars, and the most recent commit (Josiah Thompson) is on track to be a 5-star according to On3. Two silent commitments are also waiting in the wings to make their announcements.

Even more big-time prospects are heavily considering South Carolina, as well. One of these players is Parker Livingstone. Livingstone is a 4-star prospect from Lovejoy High School in Texas, and he recently put the Gamecocks in his top-5 along with Texas, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M.

Shortly after releasing his top-5, on Monday, Livingstone set up his official visit to the University of South Carolina.

https://twitter.com/ParkerL06/status/1648035302231928845?s=20

Predicting a Texas kid to leave Texas is difficult, especially when he has publicly acknowledged his interest in both Texas and Texas A&M. Plus, when those kids do leave, LSU and Arkansas are two of the most common destinations for defections from the Lone Star State. However, because of the general location of all four of the other finalists, if Livingstone has the desire to leave the area for his college career, South Carolina is the logical choice.

Livingstone’s interest appears legitimate, and Wide Receivers Coach Justin Stepp has been getting some recruiting assistance from the 2024 recruiting class in trying to woo the 6’3″ athlete. The entire class (especially quarterback Dante Reno, wide receiver Mazeo Bennett, and offensive tackle Kam Pringle) have been in almost constant recruiting mode, and Livingstone has been a frequent target of social media recruiting pitches from the already-committed players.

In addition to Livingstone, South Carolina is in on several other big-time receiver targets. North Carolina natives Jonathan Paylor and Micah Gilbert are two more 4-star talents considering heading just a little bit south to Columbia. Stateboro, Georgia product Kam Mikell is also intrigued by the idea of playing for the Gamecocks, but it is unclear if Mikell will play wide receiver or defensive back at the college level.