So far in the class of 2025, the South Carolina football program has one commitment on the offensive line. 4-star in-state prospect Shed Sarratt (a product of Gaffney High School in the Upstate) pledged his services to the Gamecocks early this summer, but as of now, there have been no other offensive linemen to join him in the class. Class of 2026 offensive line recruit Anthony Baxter is committed, however.
The Gamecocks have been in the game with a number of highly-touted offensive linemen during the '25 cycle, but for a variety of reasons, none of them have worked out so far.
That was the feeling for 4-star interior offensive lineman Jayvon McFadden, as well, but earlier this week, the Washington DC native revealed his top-4 schools list, and South Carolina surprisingly made the cut. USC's surprise inclusion had some wondering if the Gamecocks had worked their way back into a solid position to land McFadden's services, but that wasn't meant to be, either.
BREAKING: Four-Star IOL Jayvon McFadden has Committed to Ohio State, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) August 24, 2024
The 6’4 290 IOL from Washington, DC chose the Buckeyes over Maryland & South Carolina
“I see Smith (4) at Ohio do it at WR I feel like I can do that at OL!”… pic.twitter.com/XbGdRHljTL
On Saturday, Jayvon McFadden announced his commitment to the Ohio State Buckeyes. He picked OSU over the South Carolina Gamecocks, Colorado Buffaloes, and Maryland Terrapins.
The good news for South Carolina football fans is that offensive line is one of the positions on the team that has a lot of young talent. Right now, there are 7 Gamecock offensive linemen who have at least three years of eligibility remaining and who were rated as a 4-star prospect during their high school recruitments.
True freshman 5-star Josiah Thompson likely will start at left tackle this season, and sophomore Tree Babalade, sophomore Trovon Baugh, redshirt freshman Markee Anderson, and redshirt sophomore Ryan Brubaker are all battling for spots in the two-deep. True freshmen 4-star prospects Kam Pringle and Blake Franks are probably headed for redshirts, preserving even more eligibility. Redshirt sophomore Cason Henry, who was not a 4-star recruit out of high school, is the starter at right tackle, as well.
Shane Beamer's coaching staff has also done a pretty good job mining the transfer portal for blocking talent. Last year, Nick Gargiulo started every game and then was drafted by the Denver Broncos after transferring in from Yale. This year, new transfer portal additions Kamaar Bell and Torricelli Simpkins (coming from Florida Atlantic and North Carolina Central, respectively) are poised to start at the two guard positions.
The Gamecocks still should add a player or two to the offensive line haul in the 2025 cycle, but there are plenty of reasons to believe Carolina will be just fine up front in the years to come, whether Sarratt is the only blue chip lineman coming in next offseason or not.