South Carolina Football: 4-star safety puts Gamecocks in top-3

South Carolina football has two defensive backs committed to the program in the class of 2025. 4-star cornerback Shamari Earls and in-state safety Damarcus Leach pledged to the Gamecocks back in April, but USC hopes to bring in some more talent in the secondary before the recruiting cycle ends.

Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray has the Gamecocks in a solid position with several prospects, both at the safety and cornerback positions. One of these players is Georgia safety Lagonza Hayward.

Hayward recently put the South Carolina football program on his list of top schools along with the Tennessee Volunteers, Florida State Seminoles, Florida Gators, Southern Cal Trojans, Georgia Bulldogs, and Alabama Crimson Tide. However, according to a report from Sportstalk's Phil Kornblut, Hayward has whittled his list even further to a top-3.

Hayward's three favorites, according to Kornblut, are the Tennessee Volunteers, Florida State Seminoles, and South Carolina Gamecocks. Hayward does not have an official visit set to Columbia or Tallahassee, but he plans to get those scheduled.

As a player, Lagonza Hayward is a hard-hitting defensive back who also plays wide receiver for his Toombs County High School squad. His future, though, is most likely at safety.

Hayward is a good athlete who plays with aggression. His size (listed at 6'2" and 200 pounds already) paired with that aggression gives him elite run support ability. On film, he appears to enjoy coming down hill and leveling ball carriers or potential pass-passers.

However, he is not a run-game-only player. Hayward has shown comfortability in both zone and man coverage on his high school film, and he has a knack for knocking passes away, either with big hits or by getting one of his long arms in between the receiver and the football.

You can watch some of his film here.