South Carolina Football: Top-100 defensive lineman makes commitment

South Carolina football’s recruiting news won’t stop. After two massive recruiting weekends, the Gamecocks pulled in three commitments on Monday alone. 5-star punter/kicker Mason Love is the only one of the three to go public so far.

Unfortunately for South Carolina football and its fans, not all of the Gamecocks’ recruiting news can be positive.

On Tuesday, a major defensive tackle target announced his commitment, and it was not a pledge made to the Gamecocks.

Jordan Thomas, a top-100 player in the country, publicly committed to the Georgia Bulldogs. Thomas picked the ‘Dawgs over South Carolina, Rutgers, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan, Penn State, LSU, Texas A&M, Auburn, Miami, and Oregon.

The New Jersey native is viewed as one of the most athletic interior defensive linemen in the class of 2024. At 6’5″ tall and 300+ pounds, Thomas is a supreme athlete who has displayed supernatural explosion and quickness for such a mountainous young man.

The Don Bosco Prep School defensive lineman was set to be on an official visit to the University of South Carolina for the final official weekend visit of the month, but with his commitment to Kirby Smart’s program, he will likely be canceling his trip to Columbia. Fellow Georgia commitment and South Carolina target Justin Greene canceled his official visit to Columbia after committing to UGA.

Having missed out on Jordan Thomas, South Carolina football will be in the market for a player or two at the defensive tackle spot. Carolina has five defensive tackles in their third or fourth seasons beyond high school football (Alex “Boogie” Huntley, Tonka Hemingway, Nick Barrett, Elijah Davis, and TJ Sanders), so bringing in young replacements will be paramount to future success up front.

Nasir Johnson, D’Nas White, and Nnamdi Ogboko are three tackle targets in the ’24 class that have some real interest in the Gamecocks. All three of these players were on campus during one of the last two weekends.