South Carolina Football: 4-star EDGE interested in Gamecocks
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina football added one of the top EDGE prospects in the nation on Tuesday when 5-star Dylan Stewart made his commitment to the Gamecocks. With numbers thin on the current roster, defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Sterling Lucas is expected to add at least one more player who can play the EDGE spot in the class of 2024.
A relatively new name for South Carolina football fans to follow in recruiting is 4-star Booker Pickett, Jr. Pickett is a Tampa, Florida native who has been ridiculously productive in his high school career. Pickett has 60 sacks in three seasons, including 30 sacks as a junior.
In February, Pickett announced an early top-9 that included South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida State, Miami, Southern Cal, Louisville, Penn State, Georgia, and Ohio State, but very little has come out about his recruitment since then except that Miami is a big factor for him.
As a player, Pickett is long-armed and athletic but is very thin for his position. At 6’3″ and 205 pounds, he will need to get significantly bigger to play defensive end and a little bigger to even play outside linebacker.
However, his father (Booker Pickett, Sr.) played defensive end at Miami in the 1990s, and his uncle (Ryan Pickett) was a great defensive tackle at Ohio State in the late ’90s. While not a guarantee of future growth from the youngest Pickett, the familial size trend would indicate that gaining good size shouldn’t be a problem for him.
If Pickett can gain enough size and maintains his athleticism, he will be an impact player at the next level. His first step off the snap is elite, and he plays with his head up, using his athleticism to shed or even avoid blocks in his pursuit of the football.
Pickett has not been to South Carolina’s campus yet, but according to Gamecock Digest’s (SportsIllustrated) Fisher Brewer, Pickett plans to take an official visit to Columbia this fall for a game weekend.
August 1st was the first day that class of 2024 players could receive official offers. Monitoring Pickett’s Twitter profile, South Carolina football fans may notice that he only tweeted about one official offer that came in on Tuesday. That offer was from the Gamecocks.
You can watch some of his film here.