South Carolina Football: Major defensive back target sets decision date

Jalewis Solomon visited South Carolina football in June as part of the Gamecocks’ massive month of official visitors. The 4-star athlete is being recruited as a defensive back and named Carolina the leader in his recruitment after his visit to Columbia.

However, after taking a trip to Tallahassee to check out Florida State a couple of weeks later, Solomon named the Seminoles his new leader. Solomon also took an official visit to Kentucky to see Mark Stoops’ Wildcat program.

On Wednesday, the Schley County High School standout announced that he will be making his decision public in one month’s time. With an announcement on Twitter that came via On3’s Chad Simmons, Solomon tabbed August 5th as the day he would make his verbal commitment. He will be choosing from five finalists: South Carolina, Florida State, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Auburn.

Solomon is a 6’0, 190 pound athlete who also plays wide receiver for his high school in Ellaville, Georgia. The Gamecocks and Seminoles appear to be at the top his list and are both recruiting him as a defensive back.

The Gamecocks will get what appears to be the last crack at Solomon as he will be in Columbia the weekend of July 28th for the big recruiting cookout.

Solomon is considered a 4-star athlete by three of the four major recruiting services (On3, ESPN, and Rivals), while 247Sports has him listed as a 3-star athlete.

Up to this point in the recruiting cycle, South Carolina football has one cornerback commitment and one safety commitment. 4-star corner Braydon Lee and 4-star safety Kelvin Hunter committed on the same day, just a few hours apart from each other. The Gamecocks are expected to take multiple players at each position, and Solomon projects best as a corner in college.

David Bucey, a recent Gamecock commitment, is a “tweener” who played linebacker in high school but is expected to move to defensive back in college.

Carolina is also in the running for fellow 4-star athlete Kam Mikell (expected to play defensive back at the next level), 4-star safeties Malcolm Ziglar and Kaj Sanders, and 3-star saftey Kaleb Harris.