South Carolina Football: In-state Gamecock target bumped up to 4-stars

Shane Beamer and his South Carolina football coaching staff have one player committed in the class of 2025. Wide receiver Jayden Sellers (younger brother of Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers) pledged his services to the program in the fall, but no other prospects have pulled the trigger on a USC commitment since then.

However, as one might expect, there are a lot of recruits who are considering the South Carolina football team as they evaluate their futures. Even at wide receiver, the Gamecocks are still in on a number of big-time players. One of those players is Rock Hill native Malik Clark.

A Rock Hill High School product, Clark is only rated by one of the four major recruiting services right now, but On3 is all-in on the athletic receiver. While 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals have yet to give an official ranking to Clark, On3 recently bumped him up to 4-star status after their latest rankings update.

Clark's new status as a 4-star recruit won't come as a surprise to those who have checked out his film. Listed at 6'3", Clark has impressive size for the position, and he has enough speed to run away from defenses, having already been time running a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash. Everything Clark does on the field looks smooth and effortless, something indicative of room to grow in his speed and explosiveness.

In his Rock Hill offense, Clark has been comfortable running shorter routes and carrying the ball in the run game, but he is most dangerous attacking defenses over the top. South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains dialed up a lot of deep shots last year when Spencer Rattler and Xavier Legette were the stars of the show. Clark is the type of receiver who could fill that type of role in a Loggains-led offense, and quarterback LaNorris Sellers has the arm to make it happen.

South Carolina is not the only major program in the running for Clark. Other Power-4 teams like North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech are involved in his recruitment.

You can watch some of his film here.