South Carolina Football: Elite Gamecock target reveals commitment plans

South Carolina football has one commitment in the class of 2025 so far. Wide receiver Jayden Sellers (brother of current Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers) pledged his services to the Gamecocks back in October.

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer has his program in the game for a large number of big-time prospects in the '25 cycle, and one of them revealed his commitment plans on Monday.

4-star pass rusher Zahir Mathis, the #1 player in the state of Pennsylvania, announced his commitment plans on Monday.

The elite defensive end/outside linebacker prospect plans to announce his commitment on Wednesday. In the fall, he revealed a top-5 of South Carolina, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, and Tennessee. Presumably, his Wednesday decision will come from one of those five schools.

Mathis is a consensus top-80 prospect in the 2025 class, and he is ranked as high as 41st in the country (Rivals). He has not been overly public with his recruitment, but a recent crystal ball from 247Sports' Brian Dohn went in favor of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Blessed with elite athleticism and surprising strength for his size, Mathis has the makings of a player who can contribute early and who can develop into a stud as he adds some weight in a college strength program.

The Gamecocks are likely to play a combination of younger and older players at the EDGE spots in 2024.

If they utilize the 3-3-5, Carolina could play bigger players like TJ Sanders and Tonka Hemingway outside some, and smaller pass rush types like Kyle Kennard and incoming 5-star freshman Dylan Stewart would get some reps on passing downs.

If they run a 4-2-5, the smaller ends (like Kennard, Stewart, and Desmond Umeozulu) will get a little more playing time. Younger players like Stewart and Umeozulu will be counted on to be major contributors in the fall.

Zahir Mathis is very similar to Umeozulu physically, so if he were to choose the Gamecocks, a role playing behind Umeozulu could make sense in the early parts of his career.

You can watch some of his film here.