South Carolina Football: Blue chip commitment incoming?

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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South Carolina Football
Shane Beamer and his South Carolina football program have celebrated numerous commitments in recent weeks and could be doing so again soon. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

South Carolina football is rolling on the recruiting trail. The Gamecocks are in the top ten in the team rankings from all major recruiting outlets, and things could be getting even better. Over the last week, the biggest leak of recruiting news in the program was at it again. That “leak” is quarterback commitment Dante Reno, and his social media activity in recent days has Carolina fans abuzz.

Reno’s Twitter account was a hotbed of clicks, and it began with a graphic showing Reno with wide receiver commitment Mazeo Bennett and two big-time Gamecock receiver targets with the caption “Greatest Show on Turf!!,” a Gamecock logo, and the official hashtag of the upcoming recruiting class at Carolina “24oreverToThee.” The two targets joining Reno and Bennett in the graphic were North Carolina speedster Jonathan Paylor and Texas pass catcher Parker Livingstone. The tweet has been viewed over 60,000 times as of this writing.

https://twitter.com/dantereno10/status/1654247754149908483?s=20

Paylor and Livingstone both fed into the buzz by responding to Reno’s tweet. Both players gave positive responses to the graphic, which doesn’t actually mean anything, but it certainly stirred up the online Gamecock community.

The next day, Reno teased that something is coming soon.

Typically when a commitment has been on the verge of letting the coaching staff know his decision or has been ready to go public with his decision, Reno has tweeted out something similar.

Based on Reno’s tweets, Gamecock Nation has begun speculating that one or both of the two 4-star receivers could be silent commitments.

If it is Paylor, the Gamecocks would be getting a smaller receiver who is lightning-quick. He is nicknamed “The Missile,” and the name is appropriate. From Burlington, North Carolina, the speedy 5’9″ receiver has called South Carolina his favorite in the past, and he is currently considered a pretty heavy lean to the Gamecocks according to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine. NC State and North Carolina are also in the conversation for Paylor.

Livingstone is from Lucas, Texas and has significant interest in the Gamecocks, Texas, and Texas A&M. Arkansas and LSU are his other two finalists, and all four of those programs make more sense geographically for Livingstone than South Carolina football. However, he has had real interest in the Gamecocks for a long time and has been made more of a priority by the Gamecocks than fellow 4-star receivers like Micah Gilbert and Channing Goodwin. He is a different type of receiver than Paylor as he stands 6’3″ and will add weight to his thin 180-pound frame.