RB Anthony Lauro (5-10 190) of Bradenton, FL plans to make an unofficial visit to USC Saturday along with his parents and little brother. Lauro has not yet been offered by the Gamecocks but is getting plenty of interest from recruiter GA Mangus. “South Carolina has showed me the most interest,” Lauro said. “They would be the top choice right now, but I won’t make a quick decision.” Lauro has been to USC before visiting after his freshman football season. He’s also been to Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Florida and Florida State. He’s also getting interest from Bowling Green, Wisconsin, Rutgers and Georgia Tech. Lauro is considered an all-purpose back. He also plays receiver.
Some of the other prospects who have indicated they plan to visit USC Saturday include WR Tramel Terry, LB Jalen Stevens and LB Gerald Turner of Goose Creek, ATH TJ Logan of Greensboro, NC, WR Mike Williams of Lake Marion, OL Tyrone Crowder of Rockingham, NC, DE Devin Washington of Orlando, DL Tashawn Bower of Somerville, NJ, OL Andy Dodd of Lindale, GA, DL Michael Hill of Pendleton, RB Donnie Miles and OL Devondre Seymour of Suwanee, GA (Seymour is the son of NFL star Richard Seymour), OL Bryce King and committed OL DJ Park of Dillon, LB Rueben Foster of LaGrange, GA, and DB Jadar Johnson of Orangeburg-Wilkinson.
Junior DL Greg Gilmore (6-4 279) of Hope Mills, NC visited Clemson last weekend and was very happy with the visit. “I had high expectations from Clemson and they didn’t disappoint,” Gilmore said. “I loved the place. It’s a great community-a football town.” He spent most of the visit with coach Dan Brooks but also spoke with Brent Venables and Dabo Swinney. “They have a vision of family, of winning football games,” he said. “They make Clemson seem like the place to be. I really like coach Brooks. We talk a lot on the phone.” Gilmore has offers from Clemson, USC, NC State, North Carolina, East Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, California, Vanderbilt and Maryland. He plans to narrow his list soon. “I will come out with a top 10 or maybe a top five soon,” he said. “If I were going to name some of my top schools now I would say Clemson, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and NC State.” Gilmore will visit Virginia Tech February 18th and could visit UNC on the 8th. He does not have a favorite.
Junior OL Cameron Dillard (6-3 285) of Canton, MI flew south last weekend to visit Clemson. “It was really nice,” Dillard said. “I got to talk to coach (Robbie) Caldwell and coach (Dabo) Swinney. They’re really good guys.” Dillard does not have any favorites but appreciates the Clemson program. “I like that they bring family, faith and academics to football,” he said. “Coach Caldwell has been really honest with me, He says they need to get to know me better and that they’re really interested in me. I think they will offer me in the future.” Next Saturday Dillard will visit Michigan State and heads to West Virginia February 11th. Dillard’s father is a South Carolina native and Citadel graduate while his mother is from Greensboro. “We went to see the grandparents while we were down there,” Dillard added. His offers are from Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan and Buffalo. No leaders for the Michigan lineman.
Junior OL Bryce King (6-4 290) of Dillon made his way to Clemson last Saturday where he was shown a good time. “They took us all around the campus and we got to see the locker room,” King said. “My favorite part was putting on the jerseys in the locker room and also running down the hill.” Those in attendance were able to try on Clemson jerseys while in the locker room. They did not leave the room with the jerseys and later ran down the hill. The two activities were separate from one another. King’s next visit will be to USC this upcoming Saturday. He is not unfamiliar with USC or Clemson having visited each campus several times. In February, he heads to Virginia Tech. His offers include USC, Clemson, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, LSU and Tennessee. “I think Oregon or Georgia Tech will be the next to offer,” he added. King does not have any favorites saying, “I like every school that is recruiting me.”
DE DeMarcus Walker (6-4 265) of Jacksonville, FL attended Clemson’s junior day last Saturday, and the Tigers have put themselves in the lead position for him according to his coach. “Clemson probably has done the best job up to date,” coach Adam Geiss said. “He’s very comfortable with their staff. He feels good around their staff and enjoys being there. I feel like Clemson leads. He really likes Clemson. Clemson leads, no doubt about it.” Walker also has visited Florida State and Miami and will go to Alabama February 18th. Geiss said Alabama coach Nick Saban plans to call Wednesday with an offer. Walker also has offers from USC, Southern Miss, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, Louisville, Miami and others. Geiss said though USC has offered, the Gamecocks have not yet been by the school to check on Walker. Geiss said Walker will make his decision the first week of August. Last season Walker had 24 tackles for loss with 14 sacks.
Junior QB Josh Dobbs (6-3 190) of Alpharetta, GA had planned to attend Clemson’s junior day Saturday but couldn’t making it in because he was taking the SAT. Not that the test was much of a problem. Dobbs is a 4.0 student who’s never missed a day of class and has an offer from Princeton. But some major programs also like him including Clemson and USC. “I’ve been talking with South Carolina, Clemson, Tennessee, Virginia, Stanford and Princeton,” Dobbs said. “A lot of schools have come thru. Clemson came by a couple of weeks ago and I’ve talked to Coach Mangus and he plans to come by the school in the spring. Clemson and South Carolina seem pretty interested.” Dobbs said he plans to get to future junior days at both. He went to games at both last season. Dobbs is a duel-threat quarterback who runs the spread. Last season he passed for 3200 yards and 32 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 300 yards and two scores.
Junior LB Jalen Stevens (6-3 215) of Goose Creek has named USC, Clemson and Georgia Tech as his top three in that order. “I’m really loving South Carolina right now,” Stevens said. “They’re showing me a lot of love too. I think they have the best defensive scheme to get me to where I want to go.” Stevens says he has told Steve Spurrier, Jr. that he would like to play the spur position for the Gamecocks. “I really like what Antonio Allen did there being able to attack the quarterback and drop back in coverage,” he said. “I plan on staying at 215 (pounds).” Stevens will visit USC this weekend with teammates LB Gerald Turner and WR Tramel Terry. He is good friends with OL Brandon Shell. Stevens also likes Clemson and plans to camp there this summer. “Their defensive line coach wants me to come for that so I’m going to go,” said Stevens. His last trip to Clemson was for the Florida State game. Stevens is looking to camp at Georgia and possibly Alabama as well. He has not received an offer but is hearing from USC, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Connecticut, Tennessee, Florida State, Alabama, NC State, North Carolina and Notre Dame among others.
USC has put itself in strong position early for RB TJ Logan (5-10 175) of Greensboro, NC. “South Carolina is still his favorite,” said Logan’s coach Johnny Roscoe. “They offered him when he was a tenth grader. He went to a couple of games there. They want him to visit this weekend but he’s got basketball.” Logan plans to visit West Virginia next week. He also has offers from Clemson, Ohio State, Virginia, Cal, North Carolina, NC State and Tennessee. Logan has met with new USC running backs coach Everette Sands, but it will be Shawn Elliott who will be his primary recruiter. Elliott is taking over much of the recruiting territory in North Carolina previously handled by Jay Graham. Roscoe calls Logan “the fastest player I’ve ever coached.” Logan rushed for 2460 yards and 43 touchdowns last season. He led the state in rushing and scored 5 touchdowns in the state championship game.
Junior LB Gerald Turner of Goose Creek has offers from USC and Clemson and will make an unofficial visit to Columbia this weekend. “I’ve been there before and I’m familiar with the campus and the city,” Turner said. “Coach (Steve) Spurrier, Jr. told me he is going to sit me down with coach (Lorenzo) Ward so he can talk to me for a while.” It will be Turner’s first meeting with the new head of the Gamecocks defense. On February 18th he travels to Georgia Tech and then will visit Clemson March 3rd. “It’ll be my first chance to meet (Tigers new defensive coordinator) coach (Brent) Venables,” he said. Turner is receiving interest from Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Alabama, LSU, North Carolina, NC State, Tennessee and Georgia. “I’m going to try and visit some of those schools over the summer,” Turner said. No favorites for the Goose Creek product.
OL JJ Gustafson (6-6 265) of Dallas received a visit from Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris recently and was offered by the Tigers. “He offered me and two of my teammates,” Gustafson said. “He also offered wide receiver Jake Oliver and linebacker Jordan Mastrogiovanni.” Gustafson’s other offers are from SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, Purdue and Arkansas. “Coach Morris is from Lake Travis which is a Texas powerhouse,” he said. “He told me he would love to get some Texas kids to Clemson and that they have needs on the O-Line.” He added that he is interested in the Tigers. “I would love to visit them and as many schools as I can but, logistically, I don’t know if that’s possible,” Gustafson said. “I wouldn’t rule out an official visit. I know they know how to put points on the board and had a good recruiting class this year. That bodes well for the future.” Other schools showing interest include Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. He plans to attend a junior day at each school and believes offers could come soon. “I don’t have any favorites right now and am considering all schools,” he said.
Junior DB Nick Washington (5-11 170) of Jacksonville, FL has offers from Clemson, USC, Florida, Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, Notre Dame, Tennessee, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Miami, Vanderbilt and Virginia. He is garnering interest from most ACC and SEC schools. Washington listed USC, Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and FSU as his top schools and has visited each. “Clemson and South Carolina have great family atmospheres and strong teams,” Washington said. “They’re both up-and-coming programs that had great seasons and both have good coaching staffs.” Washington has been to games at Death Valley and Williams-Brice. “I really like them both,” he added. He has also attended several games at Florida and was at the Alabama-Auburn game this past season saying, “It was a lot of fun.” Washington does not have any plans for upcoming visits and does not have a leader. He rushed for 11 touchdowns in his junior campaign and had four interceptions returning one for another score.
DE Jaylen Miller (6-3 250) of Gaffney is expected to be one of the state’s top defensive prospects next season. An excellent performer in the classroom, Gaffney coach Dan Jones says the four year starter matches that on the field. “He’s very athletic, determined and strong-nosed,” Jones said. “He’s strong, a state champion weight-lifter. He’s a five technique and sometimes a seven when there is a tight end. He’ll probably be a defensive tackle or nose tackle in college. He has great feet and good upper body strength.” Miller has not yet been offered but that’s probably just a matter of time. He’s been drawing interest from USC, Clemson, NC State, Tennessee, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Maryland and several others.
Junior LB Brett Wade (6-2 220) of Kennedale, TX received an offer from Clemson last week as offensive coordinator Chad Morris delivered it in person. “Coach Morris came by to see me and told me about the offer,” Wade said. “He just told me that they were looking forward to getting me down there to look around and see what they have to offer.” Wade is also familiar with the Tigers new defensive coordinator Brent Venables. “He was recruiting me while he was at Oklahoma,” he said. Wade is somewhat familiar with the Tiger program. “I know that they’re the defending ACC champs and that they have some crazy fans down there,” Wade said. His other offers are from Penn State, Texas Tech, Missouri and Tulsa with interest from Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and most Texas schools. He has visited Texas A&M, TCU, Texas and Kansas State. “They’re all D-1 schools with top-notch facilities, ” he said. “The only real differences are the settings at each school.” He is unsure of when he will visit Clemson but does plan to do so in the future. As a junior he totaled 130 tackles and just under 10 sacks. No leaders for Wade.
DL Greg Webb (6-2 305) of Erial, NJ now has 24 offers. He already had offers from Connecticut, Rutgers, Syracuse, Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa State, Central Florida and NC State adding offers from Boston College, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas and Kansas among others. He continues to hear from USC. “I talk to them all of the time on Facebook and stuff,” Webb said. “They want me to come down to Gamecock country for a visit.” Webb is interested in such a trip. “I want to visit South Carolina and Alabama,” he said. “I’m not sure when that will be. This spring, I plan on taking one long trip to visit a lot of schools but we’re trying to figure out what we can afford.” USC is a possible destination during that trip. Webb says he is trying to get used to the attention and plans to narrow his list down in the near future. “Just a year or two ago, I was just a player. Now with all of the offers, people seem to know who I am,” he said. “It hasn’t been too bad and I am adjusting to the attention. I may try to start narrowing my list and focusing on some schools.” He is unsure of how many schools will make that list and when he will begin to make it. Webb does not have a leader.
