Published May 13, 2012 - 8:08am
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South Carolina’s 2013 recruiting class has taken shape in the last few weeks and if the most recent additions are any indication, it could be one of the nation’s top overall hauls.
Steve Spurrier can’t comment on incoming players until after they’ve signed, but he has to be excited about potential impact quarterback Connor Mitch. A 6-3 gunslinger out of Wakefield High in Raleigh, N.C., Mitch threw 48 touchdown passes as a junior and picked the Gamecocks over offers from Alabama and LSU among several others.
If Mitch signs, he’ll be the second four-star QB the Gamecocks have acquired in the Spurrier era. The other, though held in high-esteem by most of his teammates, was kicked off the team midway through his senior season. Mitch should be in the starting mix as a redshirt freshman alongside Dylan Thompson and Tanner McEvoy.
Mitch’s redshirt season will be Connor Shaw’s senior campaign under center for the Gamecocks.
Gerald Turner, an inside linebacker from Goose Creek, S.C., is a hard-hitter and coverage specialist. He has a near identical frame to former Gamecock great Jasper Brinkley.
South Carolina is hoping to get one other player from Melvin Ingram’s former high school — Richmond County — in Rockingham, N.C. after a recent verbal from weakside defensive end Devante Covington.
Covington is friends with four-star guard Tyrone Crowder, the eighth overall blocking prospect according to Rivals, and sources close to the program tell me that the 6-foot-2, 315-pound man-child should have the Gamecocks in his final five.
“Crowder is still wide open in his recruiting but appears to be leaning toward schools close to home,” says a southeastern region prep beat writer. “That gives schools like USC, Clemson, UNC and others a great chance to land him.”
Thursday’s addition of Pharoh Cooper, a multi-position standout out of Havelock, N.C., puts South Carolina’s early commit list to 12. Barring signing day casualties, this number — and overall ranking — will only improve.
The countdown has begun for most fans anticipating the Thursday night opener in Nashville.
But until then, the Gamecocks have another College World Series to win.
