South Carolina coach Will Muschamp received some big news on Wednesday morning when he found out that Jake Bentley — a 4-star prospect and the No. 6 overall pro-style quarterback from the 2017 class — has decided to leave high school early to enroll at the university this upcoming summer.
Technically, Bentley now joins the ’16 class.
“I’ve established enough credits through high school to get the opportunity to do it,” Bentley said, according to 247Sports. “After talking it over with my family, we felt it was the right thing to do and it’s a good thing for all of us.”
Senior Perry Orth and true freshman Brandon McIlwain have separated themselves as the leaders of what is currently a four-way race for the starting quarterback position come this fall.
That competition just became slightly more crowded and a lot more interesting.
#SpursUp pic.twitter.com/3peTZBvSv6
— Jake Bentley (@Jake_Bentley_) April 6, 2016
“It’s going to be great (to be around family),” said Bentley, whose dad coaches the Gamecocks’ running backs. “The last three years (in Alabama) have been great and moving down here has been great for me in terms of getting into a new system and getting out from under my dad and the whole ‘his dad’s system just runs up the stats’ criticism. My mom is excited. She doesn’t have to drive as much to see us play. All of my cousins and my grandparents also are right there (in South Carolina).
“I will have an awesome support group (at USC).”
As a junior in 2015, Bentley completed 165-of-284 (58.1 percent) pass attempts for 2,834 yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions, adding an additional four scores on the ground.
He believes he’ll be an excellent fit for co-offensive coordinator Kurt Roper’s offense, picking up the playbook and rolling with it right away.
“What (Roper) does is similar to what my dad ran at Byrnes,” Bentley said. “There are also some similarities, some plays and some concepts to what we did at Opelika. So, I do have some familiarity with it.
“I am just going to go in and work my butt off. That’s all I can do,” he continued. “Brandon McIlwain is a great guy. Same thing with Perry Orth, Connor Mitch and Lorenzo Nunez. They are all great guys and are very supportive of one another, so I am looking forward to getting in there and working with them.”
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
