South Carolina Football: 4-star safety puts Gamecocks in top-4

South Carolina football head coach Shane Beamer and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray are looking to replenish a secondary group that lost both Cam Smith and Darius Rush to the NFL this offseason. With the nature of a pass-happy college football game, South Carolina has been recruiting a long list of defensive backs. Carolina already has 4-star safety Kelvin Hunter and 4-star cornerback Braydon Lee in the boat in the 2024 cycle, and the Gamecocks are in the mix for numerous others.

Jarvis Boatwright is a 4-star safety according to some recruiting publications, and the 6’2″, 175-pound athlete announced four schools he would be visiting officially this summer. According to the graphic released with the announcement, the four schools also represent Boatwright’s top-4.

Boatwright will be taking four official visits this summer to Florida State, Southern Cal, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The schools also appear to be the four leaders in his recruitment. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine shows the Florida Gators as the heavy favorites to land Boatwright, but that information seems to be outdated.

Boatwright plays the same position as two Gamecock Freshmen All-Americans from the 2022 season. Both DQ Smith and Nick Emmanwori were tremendous in their first collegiate season last fall, but the Gamecocks will need to have ready replacements if/when the talented duo heads off to the NFL.

Boatwright is a rangy safety who is not afraid to play up against the run. He is thin for the position at just 175 pounds, but he has time to add some muscle to his frame before reaching the collegiate level.

South Carolina football is in the game for other big-time defensive backs in the class of 2024 like Kam Mikell, Kaj Sanders, Ricardo Jones, and Jalewis Solomon. Even with the commitments of Hunter and Lee, the Gamecocks will be looking to add at least one more (if not more) to the boat before the 2024 cycle is complete.