South Carolina Football: Gamecock transfer portal target names top-3 teams

South Carolina football has been all over the transfer portal.

The Gamecocks lost 17 players to the portal over the last week and a half, but they have already started reworking the roster. Big-time transfer portal commitments Jerome Simmons (Highland Community College defensive tackle), Jared Brown (Coastal Carolina wide receiver), Oscar Adaway (North Texas running back), Rocket Sanders (Arkansas running back), and Jayden McGowan (Vanderbilt wide receiver) will impact the 2024 South Carolina football team.

More talent could be making its way to Columbia, as well.

One additional target that is high on the Gamecocks is Gerald Kilgore. The redshirt freshman defensive back from Tennessee Tech is the older brother of current USC defensive back Jalon Kilgore. He thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Columbia last weekend and could be on "commit watch."

However, Kilgore is expected to take further visits before wrapping up his transfer portal recruitment. Three schools in particular have stood out for the elder Kilgore brother.

South Carolina football is joined by West Virginia and Florida Atlantic in Kilgore's top-3. It is an interesting group, and how much Kilgore desires to play immediately could be a big determiner in his decision-making process.

The Gamecocks could use some help in the defensive backfield as the 2023 secondary did not perform well enough against the pass. Primarily a safety, Kilgore does possess some versatility on the backend of the defense as he has a skillset that could fit at nickel.

With three freshmen All-Americans from 2022 and 2023 (Jalon Kilgore, Nick Emmanwori, and DQ Smith) entrenched at safety, Kilgore's clearest avenue to the field for the Gamecocks likely would be at nickel or on special teams.

Kilgore has not offered a timeline for his commitment decision, but the South Carolina football target is the only defensive back target who has been on campus so far this transfer portal cycle. If he decides to go elsewhere, that likely will change as the Gamecocks have experienced a fair amount of attrition in the DB room due to graduation and the transfer portal.