Shrine Bowl Week of the Carolina’s: USC Angles

This Saturday, the 75th annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas will pit high school football stars from South Carolina against their rivals from North Carolina. The week leading up to the Shrine Bowl is a recruiting smorgasbord, as scouts from recruiting services convene in Spartanburg, SC to evaluate prospects from both states in person. There are several storylines leading up to kickoff of this football game. Here are a few angles from a Gamecock’s spurspective on the Shrine Bowl.

If the Wide Receiver position on the Sandlappers (South Carolina) squad is a representative of the future at USC, then the Gamecocks future pass catchers are in good hands. Shaq Roland, of Lexington HS, a recent South Carolina Mr. Football award recipient and Kwinton Smith, of Dillon HS, form a dynamic duo for the South Carolina Shrine Bowl team. Both are four-star rated players, per 247sports, and well-worth their notoriety earned on the high school gridiron. If the Sandlappers quarterback can get time to throw the ball to his receiving weapons, then Roland and Smith should have big days against the Tarheels secondary.

Another USC Wide Receiver Commitment will be participating for the North Carolina squad. Jody Fuller of Sun Valley, NC will suit up against some future teammates on Saturday. Fuller is a four-star prospect, according to 247sports.

A wide receiver worth monitoring on the Sandlappers is Quinshad Davis of Gaffney HS. Davis is a taller wide receiver prospect than Roland or Smith but has not received a committable USC offer yet. The Gamecocks recruiting numbers are so tight right now that a player with Davis’ skill set might have to take his talents out-of-state unless a last-minute offer comes from USC or Clemson.

The lone recruiting target for the Gamecocks is playing for the Tarheels squad. Jonathan Bullard a defensive end from Crest High School in Shelby, NC is a four-star prospect, according to 247sports. According to Phil Kornblut, Bullard is ready to make his announcement on December 21st after the Shrine Bowl. The highly regarded d-lineman is down to Clemson, USC and Florida. IMHO, Bullard will choose Clemson when he announces next week, because I think Bullard believes he will get playing time a lot sooner at Clemson versus USC (look at Clemson’s roster along the d-line for 2012 and beyond). Now, Steve Spurrier does have his in-home visit with Bullard’s parents this week and that visit will go a long way on selling USC to Bullard’s parents.

Bullard reminds me of Travian Robertson as a high school prospect. Bullard is heavier than Robertson was in high school and like Robertson, who played defensive end in HS, Bullard wants to play Defensive End in college; the problem is that Bullard projects, by experts, as a defensive tackle long-term in college or the NFL. Convincing Bullard that he is a defensive tackle (long-term) versus a defensive end could backfire on USC’s coaches if Bullard is dead set on playing defensive end, but at least Carolina’s coaches would be up front and honest with the young man.

This year’s Shrine Bowl has very few USC commitments or recruiting targets versus year’s past.

We’ll see how the Sandlappers perform on Saturday. I know one thing, if I am the South Carolina quarterback, I will be throwing the ball an awful lot!

Go Gamecocks!