Steve Spurrier and the USC football staff can put a bow on a consensus Top 20 recruiting class, after receiving all 22 Letters of Intent today with more than half of the LOIs coming across the southern border of the Palmetto state. The biggest news story of USC’s National Signing Day today is the 12 Georgia high school football players that will trek northward and play collegiately in Williams-Brice Stadium for the next four to five years. The dozen Peach state products make up almost half of the 25-man class that Head Coach Steve Spurrier will welcome to campus. Georgia produces more than 200 major college prospects annually, trailing only Texas, California and Florida.
For the first time in four years, USC kind of coasted into National Signing Day without any drama. If you remember, the last three National Signing Days for South Carolina had plenty of suspense, like the famous “pumping gas saga” with WR Alshon Jeffery and former UT Coach Lane Kiffin in 2009. Then in 2010, RB Marcus Lattimore, choosing between USC & Auburn, was accompanied by former Auburn RB Stephen Davis inside Lattimore’s church on Signing Day Eve leading to speculation that the Byrnes product would spurn the home state Gamecocks. Fortunately, Lattimore would instead only accept a Gamecocks hat from Davis and select USC as his future home. While last year every red-blooded American USC fan interrupted his/her sweetheart’s Valentine’s Day plans until some kid named Clowney placed a hat on his head and announced for the Gamecocks on ESPN. So it was kind of nice to sit back and relax today. The F5 (refresh) key on many a laptop remains intact today…
Here are some interesting numbers and tidbits from the USC recruiting trail – 2012:
State-by-State Breakdown:
South Carolina (Five) – WR Kwinton Smith, OL Mason Zandi, WR Shaq Roland, TE Jerrell Adams (via Fork Union Prep in Virginia), RB Kendric Salley
North Carolina (Three) – WR Jody Fuller, OL Clayton Stadnik, OL Brock Stadnik
Georgia (Twelve) - RB Mike Davis, CB Chaz Elder, DE Jhaustin Thomas, Safety Kyle Fleetwood, LB T.J. Holloman, DT Carlos Hood, CB Rico McWilliams, CB Chris Moody, OL Joe Harris, DE Darius English, CB T.J. Gurley and Kicker Nick St. Germain
Florida (Three) – TE Kelvin Rainey, Spur Jordan Diggs, OL Cody Waldrop
New Jersey (One) – LB Kaiwan Lewis
Pennsylvania (One) – QB Brendan Nosovitch
USC Coaches Recruiting Body of Work: Who is getting it done on the recruiting trail?
Steve Spurrier Jr (2) – WR Kwinton Smith, TE Kelvin Rainey
Lorenzo Ward (9) – RB Mike Davis, CB Chaz Elder, DE Jhaustin Thomas, Safety Kyle Fleetwood, LB T.J. Holloman, DT Carlos Hood, CB Rico McWilliams, CB Chris Moody, OL Joe Harris
G.A. Mangus (6) – LB Kaiwan Lewis, DE Darius English, Spur Jordan Diggs, QB Brendan Nosovitch, OL Cody Waldrop, and Kicker Nick St. Germain
Sean Elliott (1) – OL Mason Zandi
Brad Lawing (2) – WR Shaq Roland, TE Jerrell Adams
Jay Graham (now at Tennessee) (4) – WR Jody Fuller, OL Clayton Stadnik, OL Brock Stadnik, RB Kendric Salley
John Butler (now at Penn State) (1) – CB T.J. Gurley
Jeep Hunter (former USC Coach) - None
Judging by the list above, it appears Defensive Coordinator Lorenzo Ward and Quarterbacks Coach G.A. Mangus are earning their paychecks out on the recruiting trail, as well as coaching on the field. Shout out to former RB’s Coach Jay Graham, as well, for his production on the recruiting trail.
Now just because a coach is not the lead recruiter for a prospect, all the USC coaches assist the lead recruiters on all prospects, especially if the coach will be the position coach of the recruit. OL Coach Sean Elliott, DL Coach Brad Lawing and WR Coach Steve Spurrier Jr. all had low commitment numbers, but all three coaches definitely worked behind the scenes to help secure the commitments of all players at their respective positions. Also, sometimes in recruiting cycles a coach’s recruiting territory does not yield a lot of major D-1 prospects, so more time is spent assisting other assistant coaches.
USC Class Tidbits:
→Kicker Nick St. Germain is the first scholarship kicker at USC since Ryan Succop.
→RB Kendric Salley was the first 2012 commitment when he committed to USC on December 3, 2010.
→DB Chris Moody was the last 2012 commitment when he committed to USC on January 30, 2012. Moody was also the only player South Caroina “turned” from another program (Vanderbilt).
→USC beat UGA head-to-head on three recruiting battles inside the Peach State’s borders: OL Joe Harris, CB Chaz Elder and RB Mike Davis
→The Gamecocks signed 10 of the top 75 high school football players from the state of Georgia
→South Carolina beat UGA head-to-head on a highly regarded Florida prospect, OL Cody Waldrop
→South Carolina signed four Parade All-Americans: Quarterback Brendan Nosovitch of Allentown, PA; Wide Receiver Shaq Roland of Lexington, SC; Offensive Lineman Brock Stadnik of Greensboro, NC; and Defensive End Darius English of Powder Springs, GA.
→Quarterback Brendan Nosovitch won the Maxwell Football Club’s First Pennsylvania Player of the Year Award. Nosovitch finished his senior season with 3,809 passing yards and 39 touchdowns. He rushed for 841 yards on 134 carries and 20 touchdowns. Nosovitch holds the PA state record for career passing yards with 12,809 yards.
→Wide Receiver Shaq Roland 2012 named the South Carolina Mr. Football Award winner (4th year in a row USC signed South Carolina Mr. Football award recipient)
→With the signing of Jordan Diggs today, USC now has three sets of Gamecock legacies on its roster: Kelcy Quarles (father Buddy played at USC in the mid 1980s), brothers Gerald Dixon & Gerald Dixon Jr. (father Gerald Sr. played at USC in the late 1980s) and Jordan Diggs (father played at USC in the mid 1980s).
→Three teammates from Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, GA signed with South Carolina: RB Mike Davis, DL Carlos Hood and DB Kyle Fleetwood
→Consecutive years that two teammates, DE Darius English and Kicker Nick St. Germain, from McEachern High School in Powder Springs, GA signed with South Carolina. Last year LB Marcquis Roberts and TE Rory Anderson signed with the Gamecocks
→RB Mike Davis’ older brother, James, played collegiately at Clemson University last decade
→In the last two recruiting classes, USC has signed 21 players from the state of Georgia in contrast the Gamecocks have signed only 13 recruits from South Carolina
Star Rankings:
247sports: 5-star (0), 4-star (11), 3-star (12), 2-star (2)
ESPN: 5-star (0), 4-star (10), 3-star (14), 2-star (1)
Rivals: 5-star (0), 4-star (8), 3-star (15), 2-star (2)
Scout: 5-star (1; Shaq Roland), 4-star (5), 3-star (18), 2-star (1)
Team Rankings (Unofficial):
247sports: 15
ESPN: 15
Rivals: 19
Scout: 10
SPURspective will breakdown more national recruiting news while comparing the rest of the Southeastern Conference’s recruiting classes and rankings later this week.
Go Gamecocks!
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