South Carolina Football: Gamecocks add commitment from in-state defensive back

Easy to forget during the busyness of the transfer portal season, the South Carolina football program still is recruiting high school talent, as well. The Gamecocks missed out this weekend on landing top in-state 2025 prospect Amare Adams, but they seem to be putting themselves in a good position to land 2024 running back Daniel Hill.

Adding to the current Carolina football recruiting buzz came in the form of a commitment.

Fort Mill High School defensive back Landon Kurtz has accepted a preferred walk-on spot with the South Carolina football program.

Kurtz is a bigger defensive back who primarily played corner in high school. However, at that size and without elite athleticism, a move to safety could be in Kurtz’s future.

With the Gamecocks’ turnover in the secondary the past two seasons (lost Cam Smith, Darius Rush, Devonni Reed, Joey Hunter, Tyrese Ross, Anthony Rose, and Cameron Upshaw before the 2023 season and Marcellas Dial, KaJuan Banks, Isaiah Norris, DeAngelo Gibbs, and potentially David Spaulding and BJ Gibson so far after the 2023 season), adding bodies to the room is important.

Walk-ons should never be expected to come in and become starters (though, it has happened before), but if Kurtz can provide some depth to the roster, it helps the South Carolina football program. Special teams needs more players who can run and tackle well (important traits for defensive backs), so perhaps Kurtz can help special teams coordinator Pete Lembo’s units.

Long-term walk-ons like BJ Gibson and Isaiah Norris have played several different special teams roles when healthy, and with one or both of those players leaving the program this offseason, replacing them with a player like Kurtz is more important than many fans might realize.

Kurtz also played some wide receiver in high school, but he is not expected to play on offense for the Gamecocks.

You can watch some of his film here.