South Carolina Football: 10 times that star ratings didn’t matter for the Gamecocks

College football fans across the country have become obsessed with the recruiting industry. With the recent good news in recruiting for South Carolina football (5-star Dylan Stewart’s commitment, specifically), the recruiting rankings are a top point of conversation in Gamecock Nation.

This is for good reason as every College Football Playoff National Champion has had a 50% or better “blue chip ratio.” This means that every national champion since the 2014 season has had a roster made up of at least 50% 4-star and 5-star high school prospects. Clearly, recruiting highly-rated players to a program is an essential part of building a winning team.

However, fans’ interest in bigger names in recruiting has caused many to forget that there are more good players nationwide than just the ones who are highly touted by On3, 247, ESPN, and Rivals.

South Carolina football has seen a number of 3-star (or lower) players turn into superstars after they arrived in Columbia. But which of these underrated players best proved that star rankings are not the end all be all of good recruiting?

***This article will cover only the “modern recruiting era” that began in the early-to-mid-2000s when Rivals.com became more mainstream, Scout.com and College Football News’ recruiting rankings partnership got huge, and ESPN began covering recruiting. 247Sports (2010) and On3 (2021) began later but are important parts of the discussion, as well.

***No 4-star prospects (or higher) will be considered for this list unless they were bumped up to a 4-star after committing to the South Carolina football program.

Honorable Mention

Ace Sanders: Ace Sanders (2010-2012) was a consensus 3-star prospect from the class of 2010 who the Gamecocks landed out of the state of Florida. Sanders would go on to become one of the top punt returners in the history of college football and a good receiver for South Carolina football before getting drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft.

Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith: Two current Gamecock defenses backs, Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith (2022-present) were 3-star prospects from Columbia who the Gamecocks grabbed late in the class of 2022. Both players were Freshmen All-Americans at the safety position and are in line to be leaders on the Carolina defense in 2023.

Jerell Adams: Jerell Adams (2012-2015) was a 4-star defensive end prospect according to 247Sports but a 3-star tight end recruit according to ESPN and Rivals. As it turned out, they were all wrong in their rating of the South Carolina native.

Adams was not a defensive end at all like 247 thought, and he shouldn’t have been ranked so low as a tight end by ESPN and Rivals. He went on to become one of the best tight ends in school history despite sharing snaps with other big-time players like Rory “Busta” Anderson and Justice Cunningham. He was drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft and had a brief professional career.

DJ Wonnum: Perhaps the greatest “value” signee of the Will Muschamp era in Columbia, Wonnum was a 2-star recruit for most of the 2016 process before a late bump as a senior moved him to a low 3-star prospect ranked well outside of the top-1000 players nationally. Wonnum would go on to an All-SEC career as an EDGE player before being drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Rokevious Watkins: Rokevious Watkins (2009-2011) was an unranked offensive line prospect out of high school and out of Georgia Military College except for one 2-star rating from Rivals. Watkins became one of the best run blockers in recent memory at South Carolina and was an all-SEC selection before being drafted in the 2012 NFL Draft.

Justice Cunningham: A 2-star prospect in the 2009 class along with Rokevious Watkins, Justice Cunningham (2009-2012) was an important player on some of the best Gamecock teams ever. The blocking tight end partnered well with pass-catching options at the position like Rory “Busta” Anderson and Jerell Adams.