South Carolina emphasizes in-state recruitment
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier takes pride in signing the best player in South Carolina, and he has good reason to after the track record the Gamecocks have had recently.
“Certainly, getting Mr. Football again this year is neat,” Spurrier said. “Really, looking back at Stephon Gilmore being the first, he really helped us four years ago. We had just come off the Outback Bowl, where we played like crap. I had hoped somebody didn’t get a hold of Stephon and get him out of here, but he was a midyear guy, so he came in January and stuck with us. Then Marcus Lattimore, then (Jadeveon) Clowney, and now Shaq Roland. They’ve all been outstanding players and will continue to be, so it’s pretty neat that we’ve been able to do that.”
Spurrier’s past three Mr. Football recruits have led to three consecutive defeats of Clemson, one SEC East Championship, and the school’s first 11- win season. When Roland, the 2011 Mr. Football out of Lexington, signed his letter of intent, he became the fourth- straight South Carolina Mr. Football to commit to USC, bringing a host of expectations with him. Nevertheless, Roland was relieved to get signing day over with and make his commitment to USC official.
“I’m just looking forward to going there,” Roland said. “We should have a great season.”
Roland said that Steve Spurrier Jr., who coaches wide receivers, told him that he can make a similar impact as the pastthreeMr.Footballs.
“He’s a great guy,” Roland said. “He told me they have a need for a receiver to replace Alshon (Jeffery), as far as his position. They think I can make an impact early.”
Spurrier recalled watching Roland in a high school game and being impressed with his speed.
“I got a chance to watch the first half of one of their games this year,” Spurrier said. “He caught one or two touchdowns in the first half. I got a chance to watch him play, compete and so forth. He’ll have a chance to come in here and compete and go from there, as will the other receivers.”
Roland is one of just five in-state recruits in the Gamecocks’ class this year. Spurrier Jr., who also serves as recruiting coordinator, stressed the importance of recruiting within South Carolina, but said there weren’t as many highly rated prospects in the state this year. Spurrier also argued that Georgia, specifically the Atlanta area, just has more people, which leads to more players from that area.
New running backs coach Everette Sands also stressed that USC needs to “keep the best players in South Carolina at South Carolina.” Sands, who is originally from Conway, S.C. said that he will recruit the southwestern part of the state, as well as the southeastern part of Georgia. He came to USC in January after coaching at North Carolina State and faced several challenges in joining a new staff so close to signing day.
“It’s in the middle of recruiting, so just making sure you’re doing things the right way,” Sands said. “You don’t want to hurt North Carolina State, but at the same time, I wanted to do what’s best for me and my family. Doing things fair for them on their recruiting side, but also getting to know the running backs on this side.”
One of the new running backs Sands will get to know is Kendric Salley out of Williston, S.C. Ironically, Sands had recruited Salley for N.C. State.
“Kendric’s a good player,” Sands said. “It’s unfortunate he got hurt this year, but he still came back even after his injury and had a good year, so he’s a guy that we offered when I was at North Carolina State.”
Other USC signees from South Carolina are tight end Jerrell Adams, wide receiver Kwinton Smith and offensive tackle Mason Zandi.
“There’s still plenty of players in this state that are excellent players,” Spurrier Jr. said. “We know that if we’re going to become as good a team as we can be, then we have to recruit this state very well.”