South Carolina Head Basketball Coach Darrin Horn and his staff recently extended a offer to guard Charles Mann out of Union Grove High School.  He is a top thirty shooting guard prospect that could even play some point.  Coach Horn will have his work cut out for him to get him as he has over twenty offers.

Here is a video of him in action:

Dorman OL Patrick Destefano, one of the state’s top prospects, is set to announce his final decision at a news conference at his school at 2:00 PM on Monday. What is not known is will he decide to be a Gamecock or Tiger?

Dorman coach Dave Gutshall has stated that the logical bet is Clemson and many recruiting pundits point to that speculation also.  Destefano has been contacted by Notre Dame, Stanford, Penn State, Florida, Michigan and Alabama and told those schools they were out. Destefano has stated “it will be somebody local." Many suggest his final list consists of Clemson, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.  With saying that, many suggest it is between USC and CU with Dabo's to lose.

Here is video of him in action -

My prediction is he will choose the Tigers but let's hope I am wrong and he goes with USC.  We shall see on Monday. Thoughts? 

Here are some University of South Carolina recruiting updates to help you get through the weekend.  In this Gamecocks Recruiting Nugget we touch on some football news of interest, some basketball updates and a mention of a big "get" for Coach Tanner. 

Plus a video of a quarterback that would be nice to see in the garnet and black...

The South Carolina Gamecocks landed a set of brothers.  The Stadnik brothers to be exact and they are offensive line players to boot.  Today, Brock (6-foot-5, 290 pounds) and Clayton (6-3, 255) Stadnik of Greensboro, N.C, announced that they will be wearing the 'Garnet & Black' in 2012.

Brock played left tackle on the offensive line and was the long snapper in high school. He is an All-State and All-American player, he is ranked on ESPNU Top 150 and Tom Lemming’s Top 100. He was listed in the Rivals.com 250 football players to watch in 2012 and he will be playing in the Under Armour All-America Bowl in January 2012.

Clayton played center on the offensive line and saw some time on the defensive line in high school.  He is considered to be one of the top centers coming out of high school in the South. He is a two year starter and two year Academic All-Conference player in high school.

Both brothers carry a 4.2+ GPA and plan to graduate early so they can enroll in January 2012.  Landing these two men is welcomed news for coach Spurrier and the program as offensive linemen can be the key to gridiron success. The abilities of this talented pair, combined with USC OL Coach Shaw Elliott teachings...well it could mean good things for future South Carolina football successes as depth up-front is key going forward in maintaining SEC East Championship quality performances.

The two Greensboro (N.C.) Western Guilford offensive linemen chose USC over Wake Forest, N.C. State, East Carolina and Virginia Tech. The brothers visited USC in early April and had the Gamecocks high on their list ever since.

These two commitments give the South Carolina Gamecocks football program a total of five commitments for the 2012 football recruiting class. They join Kendric Salley, T.J. Holloman and Carlos Hood as future Gamecocks.

Always good to see when USC lands OL talent.  Welcome to South Carolina football.

The South Carolina Gamecocks basketball program became the first high-major program to offer Montay Brandon for the Class of 2012  He is rated by Rivals as the 12th best point guard and the 80th best player overall in the nation.

Brandon could be a good fit for Horn's up-tempo style.

Here is a video of the player in action -

The Gamecocks could be picking up a pair of offensive line players on Thursday for the Class of 2012.  Brothers Brock (6-foot-5, 290 pounds) and Clayton (6-3, 255) Stadnik of Greensboro, N.C, will announce their college choices Thursday.

They are choosing between South Carolina, Wake Forest, N.C. State, East Carolina and Virginia Tech. The brothers visited USC in early April and have had the Gamecocks high on their lists. They desire to play at the same school and the four schools listed above is what they have in common as far as offers.  Seems to be a race between USC and VT.  I like USC chances here.

TE Colin Thompson (6-5 255) of Warminster, PA will make his decision public this Thursday. Thompson has offers from USC, Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, Pitt, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina, Temple, Stanford and Syracuse among others. Thompson has visited Florida, Wisconsin, Pitt, Rutgers, Notre Dame and Boston College.  I don't see USC landing him due to last year's class for South Carolina having 3 tight ends but hopefully Thompson will shock me.

In basketball news of interest, 2011 Christian County (KY) PG Anthony Hickey committed to LSU yesterday. Gamecocks were in running.

This Gamecocks Blog normally does not point out when a player visits the University of South Carolina as we leave that to the other outlets but since it is a quarterback this time around, we feel it is worth a note of mentioning.  On campus for a visit today is quarterback Brendan Nosovitch (6-2 195) out of Central Catholic in the Allentown, PA area.

The Gamecocks have offered and quarterbacks coach, also his recruiter, GA Mangus has let him know that the Gamecocks have strong interest in him for the Class of 2012 and has even made a trip to PA to visit him.

Nosovitch has offers from Virginia and Temple. He’s also getting interest from Penn State, Maryland, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Northwestern, Pitt, Purdue, Vanderbilt and North Carolina. He has been to Maryland, Rutgers and Penn State and he will visit North Carolina the day after USC.  He grew up a PSU fan and it may be tough to tear him apart from that choice if the offer is on the table.  But USC could use a QB like him for the future.

Last season in a spread offense he passed for 3111 yards and 43 touchdowns and rushed for 1700 yards and 25 scores as he led his team to the 3A state title.  Nosovitch claims a 4.6-second 40 yard dash and a 4.3-second pro shuttle.

Here is a video of him in action -

Here are some interesting nuggets of information concerning South Carolina Gamecocks recruiting of late -

Curious as to the reasons why Coach Darrin Horn and the USC Gamecocks men's basketball program is not targeting Jared Guest as a potential recruit for the Class of 2011.  Guest is a local palmetto state product, he is a native of Columbia and a product of Richland Northeast High School.  Guest, coming out of high school, attended Charis Prep in Wilson, NC. He is uncommitted at this point and starting to drawing major attention.

He visited VCU and Maryland recently with a Georgia trip scheduled.  South Carolina is not looking at this kid, which I can not understand.  Guest, 6'8" 190lbs,  can play the three or four spot which could be a good fit for USC going into the future as the need for players down low is there.  He is a "Horn type" big guy, meaning he is tall and lengthy.  He will not be over physical but he has the spring in his step, combined with upside to grow into a solid three or four option underneath the basket. He averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds per game last season.

Not saying he is a a program-changing recruit but he is a local kid that is getting interest from the likes of VCU and Maryland...why not USC?

Below is a video of this young man, you be the judge...seeing him play below, knowing he is good enough for VCU and Maryland....wouldn't you think USC should make a run for a local product?  Maybe there is a back-story to this that you can share or he could not be a Gamecock fan which I find hard to imagine.

The South Carolina Gamecocks landed a talented defensive linemen in Carlos Hood today to fit nicely in the Class of 2012.  Hood (6'4" 275 lbs) is out of Stone Mountain, GA and is the third commitment for the Gamecocks' 2012 class.

Hood is the second player to commit to the Gamecocks and the second from the State of Georgia this week as TJ Holloman did it last weekend.  Hood chose to be a Gamecocks over such offers from the likes of Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Miami, South Florida, Illinois, East Carolina and Southern Miss.

This is a very nice pickup for USC to go up front on the D line.  USC is really building some impressive depth upfront on the defensive side of the ball.  Hood could be a factor for playing time early but could be well-suited for a redshirt year to get stronger.  Having him up there with the likes of Clowney is a nice thought for the future of the program once players like Ingram and Robertson are graduated.  Hood has good feet and good hands; should be a 3-4 star kid once the stars are handed out.

Here is a video of the newest Gamecock in action -