South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer lit up Gamecock Nation with two #WelcomeHome tweets on Tuesday night. Shortly after the announcements, 3-star offensive line target Mike Williams tweeted that he had a personal announcement for noon on Wednesday. Then, a separate tweet from 4-star, in-state safety Kelvin Hunter announced that he also would make a big announcement at noon.
South Carolina football fans were already excited about the possible commitments when another commitment was teased by 2024 quarterback commitment Dante Reno.
WOW ANOTHER ONE!!!!! #24EverToThee
— Dante Reno (@dantereno10) April 19, 2023
The Reno tweet came in around 10:30, and less than an hour later, Coach Beamer confirmed the good news with a #WelcomeHome tweet of his own.
https://twitter.com/coachsbeamer/status/1648706907740200960?s=46&t=PZFkEJckOG9YU0YSKWk_VA
For those counting at home: that’s three commitments in just over 12 hours for the Gamecocks.
When noon rolled around, both Williams and Hunter made their pledges known to the world. The Gamecocks’ (public) commitment counter moved up to 9 with another #WelcomeHome still floating out there.
BREAKING: Class of 2024 OT Mike Williams has Committed to South Carolina!
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 19, 2023
The 6’7 310 OT from Baltimore, MD chose the Gamecocks over Michigan State, Tennessee, & others.
“Their fan base is like no other,” Williams said. “Even if you aren’t a Gamecock they treat you like… pic.twitter.com/fu7FUnIDDc
https://twitter.com/KelvinHunter_3/status/1648718162110685184?s=20
Williams’ commitment seems to finalize the “Great Wall of Columbia” offensive line class for the Gamecocks as he joins Josiah Thompson, Kam Pringle, and Blake Franks as highly-coveted offensive line recruits in the 2024 cycle.
Williams is also another DMV kid (DC, Maryland, northeast Virginia). The Gamecocks have had lots of success recruiting there recently with Nyck Harbor, Desmond Umeozulu, Zahbari Sandy, ‘Tosin “Big Tree” Babalade, and Maurice Brown all hailing from the DMV. Top target and #1-overall recruit for 2024 EDGE Dylan Stewart is also from the DMV, and so is cornerback prospect Braydon Lee. Other targets are in the area, as well, and the Gamecocks seem set on establishing a pipeline.
Hunter makes the Gamecocks’ 5-for-5 on their in-state targets. In addition to the 4-star safety Hunter, the Gamecocks offered and landed South Carolina residents offensive tackle Kam Pringle, offensive tackle Josiah Thompson, offensive lineman Blake Franks, and receiver Mazeo Bennett. There are several other prospects within the state that the staff is keeping an eye on, but, as of now, none of them have received a Gamecock offer.
The identity of the third commitment is not yet known, but 4-star running back Anthony Carrie has recently been trending toward the Gamecocks, and some Carolina fans speculate he is the unknown pledge.