South Carolina football is on the way up the college football ladder. Shane Beamer and his football staff have worked tirelessly to improve the roster both through development and recruiting, and the positive recruiting news seems to be pouring in every day for the Gamecocks.
The 2024 recruiting class has a chance to be the best in recent program history, and the number of blue chip players in the class seems destined for more than ever. One of those blue chip prospects is 4-star wide receiver Mazeo Bennett, but with at least four receivers moving on from the program after the 2023 season (Ahmarean Brown, Dakereon Joyner, Xavier Legette, Eddie Lewis, and probably Juice Wells), the Gamecocks will need to add multiple receivers in the class.
Kelvin Hunter is a 4-star safety commitment and Braydon Lee is a 4-star cornerback commit. They are the only current defensive backs on the commit list for 2024. That will need to change as the Gamecocks will be looking to add several more players, especially at corner, with Marcellas Dial, Isaiah Norris, DeAngelo Gibbs, and potentially David Spaulding all moving on from the secondary after the season.
Micah Gilbert (who announces his commitment tomorrow), Kam Mikell, Jonathan Paylor, Parker Livingstone, and Channing Goodwin are some of the 4-star receiver talents that are heavily considering the Gamecocks. At the defensive back spots, Kim Mikell (could play receiver or DB) and Jarvis Boatwright have been among the names targeted in the secondary. Recently, a new name has entered the mix: Jalyn Crawford.
Crawford is being recruited as an athlete as he plays both offense (wide receiver) and defense (cornerback) in high school, but he seems to have his best future as a defensive back, likely at corner. He is a consensus 4-star in the recruiting industry. From Georgia, he has many of the top programs in the south recruiting him, as well as programs from all over the nation.
He released a top-11 on Monday via his Twitter account.
TOP 1️⃣1️⃣ @ParkviewFB @ChadSimmons_ @JeremyO_Johnson @Hayesfawcett3 @RustyMansell_ @CoachSturdivan1 @lukewinstel @CoachSudd84 @CoachBMiller35 @coachskrrt @BHoward_11 @247Sports @On3sports @Rivals pic.twitter.com/r6K9vEHCSr
— jalyn crawford (@jalyn_crawford) May 1, 2023
South Carolina made the cut, along with North Carolina, Florida, Miami, Georgia Tech, LSU, Texas A&M, Louisville, Clemson, Tennessee, and Auburn.