South Carolina Football: Decommitment hits the Gamecocks’ recruiting class
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina football has been on the receiving end of plenty of positive recruiting news in recent months. A top-10 class to this point in the cycle, the Gamecocks’ 2024 recruiting class is loaded with talent, especially on the offensive line. High-end 4-stars Josiah Thompson and Kam Pringle are the highest-rated prospects from South Carolina and are both top-50 players in the nation according to most recruiting outlets. Blake Franks is a 4-star by at least one recruiting service and has a very impressive offer list that includes some of the best programs in the country.
The final offensive line commitment in the class is Mike Williams. Or, that should say was Mike Williams. Williams announced via his personal Twitter account that he would be reopening his recruitment.
After further consideration I would like to announce that I will be decommiting from the University of South Carolina and re-opening my recruitment. Thank you to all the coaches at the University of South Carolina.
— Mike Williams (@Mike4kk) May 23, 2023
Williams was, by far, the lowest-rated prospect committed to the Gamecocks in the ’24 class. His commitment did not move Carolina down at all in the team recruiting rankings.
Williams is a DMV kid, meaning he is from the talent-rich triangle of Washington DC, Maryland, and Northeast Virginia. He is a high school teammate of current Gamecock commitment Braydon Lee and was teammates with current South Carolina freshmen Desmond Umeozulu and Maurice Brown II. The Gamecocks are still actively pursuing multiple DMV prospects, including the top-rated recruit in 2024, EDGE Dylan Stewart.
Even with the departure of Williams from the class, the Gamecocks have put together one of the best offensive line groups of any unit across the country in the class. Pringle and Thompson have a chance to become the starting tackles of the future, and Franks is a very good prospect in his own right whose best spot is probably somewhere on the interior.
At this point, it is unclear if the South Carolina football staff has a plan to pursue more offensive line help in the ’24 class. One of the top players in the class of 2025 is David Sanders, and the Charlotte native is high on the Gamecocks and is considered the best tackle in the class.