South Carolina Gamecocks News: Football loss, recruiting good news, basketball updates, and more

The latest South Carolina Gamecocks News from the last week, starting with the South Carolina football team’s loss to the Florida Gators.

The Gamecocks fell at Williams-Brice Stadium to Florida by a score of 41-39. The embarrassing defensive effort overshadowed a really nice day for the offense.

Spencer Rattler and Xavier Legette were great again (what’s new?), but Mario Anderson had the play of the game and also continued his strong play until an ankle issue limited him some in the second half. The tight end duo of Josh Simon and Trey Knox had nice days.

A new-look offensive line was better on Saturday. There was still too much leak in the pass protection (especially after Vershon Lee left with an injury), and there wasn’t enough push in short-yardage running situations, but the unit played one of its better games of the year.

On defense, a few players flashed (Tonka Hemingway, Jalon Kilgore, etc.), but the unit wasn’t good against the Gators, especially against the pass. The Gamecocks don’t miss a ton of tackles on defense, but they continue to miss tackles in critical spots (in the backfield or in the open field), resulting in huge potential yardage (and momentum) swings.

Though the results on the field were less-than-stellar, the Gamecocks picked up some good news in recruiting.

Class of 2024 4-star athlete Jalewis Solomon decommitted from Auburn at the beginning of the week. By Sunday, the talented defensive back had pledged his services to Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks.

Another commitment in the class of 2024, wide receiver Mazeo “MJ” Bennett, was chosen as the 4A Upper State Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts last week. Bennett, who scored three total touchdowns in the first quarter, had a punt return score and almost took a second kick to the house.

Class of 2024 running back Daniel Hill announced a top-3 that included the Gamecocks. Back in August, Hill announced a top-3 and a commitment date but pushed back his decision. South Carolina was believed to be the choice at the time. The recent top-3 announcement was the same as the one from August: South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee are vying for Hill’s commitment.

The Gamecocks had a big recruiting weekend. Solomon was joined on campus by fellow 2024 flip candidate Kameryn Fountain (4-star EDGE committed to Southern Cal) and some major 2025 and 2026 targets. No news has come out from the weekend outside of Solomon’s commitment, but there have been whispers around the program that more good news could be coming.

Gamecock receiver Xavier Legette is receiving well-deserved honors.

The top target for Spencer Rattler this season was added to the PFF Midseason All-Prospect team and the Senior Bowl Midseason All-American squad. He was also added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list after not being included in the preseason.

A Gamecock freshman continues to shine.

Safety Jalon Kilgore has been incredible in 2023 and was named one of the top true freshmen in the nation by ESPN.

Former Gamecock Marcus Lattimore was announced as an SEC Legend.

The 2023 South Carolina football representative for the award will be Lattimore, one of the most beloved Gamecocks of all-time.

Some NFL Gamecocks had noteworthy performances this week.

EDGE Jadeveon Clowney looks healthy and is a menace to quarterbacks once again. He had two sacks and 9 quarterback hurries on Sunday for the Baltimore Ravens.

Linebacker Ernest Jones had 10 tackles for the LA Rams. It was his third-straight game with double-digit stops, and he has logged at least 9 tackles in every game this season. He is among the league leaders in tackles and has more tackles for loss than any non-DL/EDGE player in the NFL.

A former Gamecock defensive lineman got a new NFL contract.

Defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth signed a new deal with the Tennessee Titans.

Dawn Staley and Zia Cooke competed together for charity this weekend.

The dynamic duo represented Team South Carolina against Team Florida (former NFL All-Pro Jevon Kearse and WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil) in the Johnsonville Charity Cornhole Challenge. Staley and Cooke won $10,000 for charity with their victory.

South Carolina basketball legends A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates are one win away from a WNBA title.

Wilson, who has been dominant this postseason, has outplayed MVP Breanna Stewart and shown that the award should have belonged to her. The Las Vegas Aces are up 2-1 in the best-of-five series. Game 4 will be Wednesday in New York, and the series will return to Vegas for Game 5, if necessary, on Friday.

In other Gamecock professional basketball news, GG Jackson had a strong start to the NBA preseason.

Jackson led all scorers in the Memphis Grizzlies game against the Atlanta Hawks. He showed the ability to be an offensive weapon that could benefit the NBA squad if promoted from the G League.

Lamont Paris’ men’s basketball team had two important visitors on campus this weekend.

4-star class of 2025 forward commitment Hayden Assemian visited as part of the recruiting effort for 5-star ’25 prospect Sadiq “AJ” White. White is from Charlotte and is a priority target for the Gamecocks.

Mark Kingston’s team picked up a big commitment.

KJ Scobey, a top-250 player in the country, made a public pledge to South Carolina baseball. He is a 2024 prospect and can play all over the diamond. He is believed to be the best fit at shortstop.

Speaking of South Carolina baseball, the MLB Postseason has seen some big-time performances from former Gamecocks.

Jordan Montgomery has been very good for the undefeated Texas Rangers. Montgomery has set a new franchise career record for most 6-inning, scoreless playoff outings. He accomplished this in his first postseason appearance with the club.

Christian Walker has been a big-time bat in the middle of the order for the also-undefeated Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks made MLB Postseason history with four home runs in one inning against the LA Dodgers; Walker was the third long ball of the frame.