South Carolina Nabs First 2013 Football Commitment

Momentum in recruiting is a wave the Gamecocks are riding into National Signing Day and tonight USC got its first commitment for---2013. One day after getting a verbal commitment from highly touted RB Mike Davis, the Gamecocks secured a verbal commitment from D.J. Park an offensive lineman from Dillon High School down in the Pee Dee area of South Carolina. Park is a four-star prospect and ranked the number 217th best prospect in the 2013 class according to 247sports. The massive 6’5” 315 pound road grader is a top five prospect in the 2013 class of South Carolina high school rising seniors.

Park was on an unofficial visit to USC on Saturday and committed to his recruiting coach Shawn Elliott. Elliott will ironically be Park’s position coach when the Dillon native arrives at South Carolina in August of 2013. Elliott offered Park last July when high school junior attended the Gamecocks Showcase Camp.

Park comes from a strong high school program down in Dillon, SC. His teammate wide receiver Kwinton Smith is a verbal commitment to USC in the 2012 class. Smith is on his official visit to Carolina this weekend. Park has some highly touted teammates that also have offers from USC. Offensive lineman Bryce King has a USC offer and the Gamecocks lead for the 2013 interior o-line prospect. Also USC is tracking Dillon RB Jabo Lee who has yet to receive a USC offer.

Per TheBigSpur, Park had multiple offers to consider like Auburn, Clemson, East Carolina, Florida, LSU, N.C. State, UNC, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

With Park’s commitment, the Gamecocks are off to a fantastic start inside the borders of the Palmetto state in regards to recruiting for the next cycle. Remember recruiting is 365 days a year and most importantly it is about relationships. Even though Spurrier has lost some assistant coaches like Ellis Johnson and Jay Graham, Spurrier has kept a key core of coaches, Spurrier Jr., Brad Lawing and Shawn Elliott, who have built trusted relationships with high school coaches around this state over the years and have positioned the Gamecocks to have a very strong haul of the top S.C. talent in 2013.

Go Gamecocks!