South Carolina Football: Gamecock target receives honor for the "other football"

South Carolina football defensive back target Onis Konanbanny is not like most Columbia-area football recruits.

For starters, Konanbanny isn't from Columbia. Originally from France, he and his family moved to London, England before moving to the United States. He attended Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Georgia in 2022 before spending his junior season this year at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia.

He also grew up as a soccer player, and he excels on the pitch. In fact, Konanbanny was honored as an All-Region selection for the Highlander soccer squad.

The same quick feet and sudden athleticism that is needed as a soccer player have translated to Konanbanny's game on the gridiron. The 4-star defensive back has spent much of his career as a corner and has the makeup of a player who can be really good at the next level.

Naturally, Konanbanny has good speed and quickness as a corner, but he also accelerates really well, meaning he gets to top speed quickly and has impressive start-and-stop ability.

Konanbanny is a much more physical tackler than many high school corners. He doesn't mind coming up in run support and has a penchant for putting big hits on would-be receivers to separate them from the football.

Though he spent much of his younger years making plays on a football with his feet, he has transitioned into being a good playmaker with his hands when the differently-shaped football is in the air. He is a good leaper and has plus-length, allowing him to knock away or intercept a lot of the passes that are thrown in this direction.

This winter, Konanbanny released his top-10 list, and South Carolina football was not on it. However, at the time, he had not yet received a Gamecock offer and was still relatively new to the Columbia area. Since then, USC has become a factor in his recruitment and has a chance to make things interesting with the teams (notably the North Carolina Tar Heels, Tennessee Volunteers, and Penn State Nittany Lions) who have been part of his process for longer.

You can watch some of his film here.