South Carolina is coming off of a stellar 2024 recruiting class, finishing 19th in the nation. What can we expect from the Gamecocks in the 2025 class?
The South Carolina staff is focused on a bunch of recruits for the 2025 recruiting cycle, but these five are the main focus: Zayden Walker, David Sanders Jr, Elijah Griffin, Jontae Gilbert, and Ari Watford.
Walker, Sanders Jr, and Griffin are all top 10 players in the class and listed as the best players in their respective positions. While Gilbert and Watford are both four-stars prospects and ranked as top 30 players in the class. Any of these five players would be major pickups for the Gamecocks, but now we’re going to take a more in depth look at each one of these prospects.
Zayden Walker
Zayden Walker is a 6-3, 220 lbs LB from Ellaville, Georgia. Walker is listed as a five-star and ranked as the best linebacker in the nation. Walker is the brother of Gamecock signee Jalewis Solomon, a four-star athlete included in the 2024 class. Walker is visiting South Carolina on February third, he also has scheduled visits to Georgia, FSU, and Miami.
David Sanders Jr
David Sanders Jr is a 6'6", 270 lbs OT from Charlotte, North Carolina. Sanders is listed as a five-star, ranked as the best offensive tackle in the nation, and is the number one player in North Carolina. He’s taken 3 unofficial visits to South Carolina, which is more than any other school David has visited.
Elijah Griffin
Elijah Griffin is a 6'5", 285 lbs, DL from Savannah, Georgia. Griffin is listed as a five-star, is ranked as the best DL in the class, and is the best player in Georgia. He’s already taken one unofficial visit to South Carolina. Hopefully, Griffin will take another trip to Columbia soon.
Jontae Gilbert
Jontae Gilbert is a 6'1", 185 lbs DB from Atlanta, Georgia. Gilbert is listed as a four-star, top 30 player in the nation, and a top five DB in the 2025 class. Currently Jontae is crystal balled to Clemson, but it was just announced that he’s taking another visit to South Carolina later on this month. The Gamecocks are also included in Gilbert's top 10 schools along with other top programs such as LSU, Tennessee, Texas, Clemson and more.
Ari Watford
Ari Watford is a 6'5", 220 lbs DL from Norfolk, Virginia. Watford is listed as a four-star, top 30 player in the nation, top five EDGE in the class, and the best player in Virginia. South Carolina is listed in Ari’s top six schools alongside Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Syracuse, and Penn State.
As of now, it is not certain that any of these recruits pick South Carolina, there is still plenty of time for things to change. It’ll be interesting to see where these guys end up, and how the 2025 recruitment class ends up for the Gamecocks.
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