South Carolina Football: Major 4-star recruiting target named All-American

South Carolina football just has one receiver committed to the class of 2024. Mazeo Bennett, a Greenville High School product, flipped from the Tennessee Volunteers to the South Carolina Gamecocks in February, but the Gamecocks need to add multiple pass catchers in the class as at least five scholarship wide receivers will move on through graduation and/or the NFL Draft.

Three receivers stand out above the rest when searching for which class of 2024 prospects might join Bennett as the future in the receiver room at Carolina. Parker Livingstone, Keylen Adams, and Jonathan Paylor are all very interested in the South Carolina football program, and head coach Shane Beamer and wide receivers coach Justin Stepp are very interested in them, as well. There has been mutual interest between Carolina and Livingstone and Carolina and Paylor for some time, but Adams is a more recent relationship.

Over the weekend, one of the three receivers was named an All-American. Jonathan Paylor was honored as an Under Armour All-American. He accepted an invitation to play in the 2024 Under Armour All-American game, which is typically held in January of the graduating year (2024 for Paylor). He will join Keylen Adams as Gamecock receiver targets playing in the game.

Once considered a 5-star prospect in the early goings of his recruitment, Paylor is still a strong 4-star, and he is nicknamed “The Missile” because of his speed and quick acceleration. South Carolina and NC State are the overwhelming favorites according to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, with the Gamecocks ahead of the Wolfpack.

Paylor has publicly mentioned that South Carolina football led the way in his recruitment, but that was several months ago. If the Gamecocks were able to land Paylor, he would be a weapon that could be used in a variety of different ways. His straight-line speed makes him an automatic deep threat, but his comfort level with the ball in his hands would make him a candidate to be involved in the short passing game and in the wide receiver run game.

Paylor has been a high priority target for a long time for the South Carolina football staff, and that seems likely to continue until his signed national letter of intent is in, hopefully in Columbia.