South Carolina Football: Rock Hill native commits to Gamecocks

South Carolina football made lots of news on Wednesday. The Gamecocks' National Signing Day haul included 15 high school prospects, 1 junior college product, and 9 transfer portal players (1 more transfer portal verbal commitment is floating out there but might not sign with USC).

Also on Signing Day, multi-year offensive line starter Jaylen Nichols entered the transfer portal, long-time 4-star cornerback commitment Braydon Lee flipped to his home state Maryland Terrapins for personal reasons, and former Gamecock receiver O'Mega Blake committed to East Carolina in the transfer portal.

However, potentially lost in the shuffle of the busy work day was another commitment that came in late on Wednesday. South Pointe High School defensive lineman CJ Dixon announced via Twitter/X that he accepted a preferred walk-on opportunity with the South Carolina football program.

The news should come as a welcome surprise to Gamecock fans. USC is in desperate need of young talent on the defensive line as six of the team's defensive tackles (Dixon's likely future position) are set to be juniors and seniors in 2024. Only Jamaal Whyce (rising redshirt sophomore) is an underclassman.

Dixon is shorter than most defensive linemen (just 6'1"), but he has grown to 270 pounds as he has shown some really good pass rush chops from the interior of the defensive line. This past season, he was snubbed from the South Carolina Football All-State team despite logging 23 sacks.

As a player, he split his time between defensive tackle and defensive end, and he was effective in both spots. While he lacks the elite athleticism to play EDGE full-time, Dixon could develop into a player who can contribute at the big defensive end in the 3-3-5 defensive formation that the Gamecocks utilized at the end of the 2023 season.

You can watch some of his film here.