The USC Gamecocks recruiting for basketball continues and a new name has emerged that Coach Darrin Horn is looking at, Brenton Williams.  The 5'11" combo guard out of Santa Fe College is on campus this weekend looking at South Carolina as a place to finish out his college career.

Brenton Williams is the latest potential target for Coach Horn to fill the gaps in his basketball team.  Some other players he is looking at are: Eli Carter,  Hickey, Colvin, and Ware.

Williams was recently selected as a All Mid-Florida Basketball team member for the 2010-2011 season, in which, he averaged 11.8 points, 1.7 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game.

Williams has three years of eligibility after spending one year at Santa Fe College.  Here is a nice video of a poster dunk he did and his official bio from SF -

Gamecocks recruiting continues and the efforts landed a recent linebacker for the football team but there are many others to try and get to drink the "garnet kool-aid," let's review some activity in the Gamecocks basketball world.

Along with the names of Hickey, Colvin, and Ware. There is another name floating around the Gamecocks basketball recruiting circuit - point guard Eli Carter of Brewster Academy out of New Hampshire. He is rated a three star recruit by Rivals and was going to be a St. Bona player but went away from that choice and is now back on the open market.  Rated as the 22nd best PG and in the top 110 players....well, USC could do no wrong in landing him.

USC has contacted his coach and expressed interest yet no formal movement yet. Carter, 6'2", averaged 15 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds per game.

Here is a video of him in action -



If you want to follow him on twitter, you can -> http://twitter.com/EliCart3r .

Coach Steve Spurrier and the USC football team landed their second commitment Sunday night from T.J. Holloman of Atlanta.  Holloman visited USC this past weekend and attended the spring game.  After seeing what USC has to offer, he said yes.

Holloman played quarterback as well as linebacker last season and said the Gamecocks like him as an outside linebacker. Last season, he had 48 tackles and 4 interceptions.

Holloman also had offers from Louisville, Illinois and NC State. He drew interest from Clemson, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Vanderbilt and North Carolina.

Love this statement from Holloman on why he chose South Carolina -

"The graduation rates at South Carolina are real high," he said. "They get players to the NFL. I really like Spurrier's focus. His first focus is on schoolwork. They won a lot of games last year, were 6-1 at home and won the SEC East. I think they are an up and coming program and I want to be part of a good program both on and off the field."

Holloman, 6-foot-3 220 pounds, is the second commitment for the Gamecocks’ 2012 class.  He joins Kendric Salley as future Gamecocks in the Class of 2012.

Here is a video of him in action -

This South Carolina Gamecocks recruiting nugget is written to bring attention to USC men's hoops pursuit to get some basketball players on the squad for 2011-2012.  We mentioned Anthony Hickey of Hopkinsville, KY recently in this blog posting earlier in the week.  Well, two additional targets have surfaced that Horn is showing interest in of late:

Kevin Ware and Chris Colvin....let's shine the spotlight....

It is our desire on this Gamecocks blog to keep you up-to-speed on recruiting news of interest.  We can not compete with recruiting outlets like Rivals and Scout, but we can provide just a general fan's perspective on some South Carolina recruiting efforts being done by our beloved Gamecocks.  So we introduce to you Gamecock Recruiting Nuggets. 

The intent is to offer "bit size" pieces of info (aka nuggets) on some prospects that the USC sports programs are pursuing, so we will try to cover basketball and football with a occasional baseball spotlight.  We will be short to the point and give our spin.  Hope you enjoy our nuggets...

We will start by bringing to light Kevin Rainey, who is close to making his college choice known....

no comments

The South Carolina men's hoops program, due to the many changes the last two weeks, has a opening on the team for 2011.  To fill it, Coach Darrin Horn is after is 5-11 Anthony Hickey of Hopkinsville, KY.  Horn feels he needs "insurance at point guard" with current starting point guard Bruce Ellington following his heart to give football a try.

Hickey was named Mr. Basketball in Kentucky this past high school basketball season.  It was reported yesterday by Gamecock Anthem, that Horn offered Hickey.  Check out his highlight video and trick shot to see what this kid could bring to the USC hoops squad...

You may recall back in early January that the Miami Hurricanes put in a late offer for Thomas Finnie to come to their University and play football as a defensive back.  That late offer, Finnie jumped on and de-committed from the University of South Carolina just days before he was suppose to start classes as a early enrollee in Columbia.

All that being said, found this tweet interesting -


Seems the true freshman could end up a starter in the 'Canes secondary.  As we said back in early 2011, the kid is a stud and dang you Al Golden!

Yes, I am sorry we lost out on him and I am still bitter.

(h/t - Pre-Snap Read)

College football pundit Phil Steele recently ranked three incoming South Carolina Gamecock football players high on his rankings of incoming freshman quarterbacks and incoming running backs.

USC signee at running back Shon Carson was ranked #23 in the running back class of 2011.  Also in that same category, Brandon Wilds was ranked #51.  This is good to see as USC's coaching staff and fans have to develop talent "post-Lattimore."  Until that happens, the show is his.

At quarterback for Spurrier, Phil Steele ranked Tanner McEvoy as the #23 best incoming freshman quarterback in the Class of 2011.  This too is positive as Tanner could develop nicely under Spurrier and Magnus.

Complete List of Top Incoming Frosh QBs/RBs from Phil Steele

Here is a list of the top thirty high school players in the State of South Carolina entering the 2011 high school football season and the upcoming 2012 collegiate recruiting class.  The names below are the major players you will see talked about going into the 2012 recruiting cycle and the players getting the most hype from the Palmetto State.

They are in alphabetical order:

Lorenzo Mauldin of Atlanta, who felt "shoved away" by the South Carolina Gamecocks, has signed a letter of intent with the Louisville Cardinals football program.  He has yet to earn a qualifying score to gain entry into Louisville but he seems firm on being a Cardinal.  He has stated that he does not get in then he will attend North Carolina Technical Prep School in Charlotte as a Louisville guy but open things back up after finishing his tenure at the Prep school so he could be a Gamecock at some point.

This turn of events is not shocking as the AJC noted a few weeks back he was getting pursued by Charlie Strong to come to his program to play defensive end.  If you recall, this kid was part the "oversigning" saga at USC.  Hopefully, things pan out for Mauldin and he gets to live his dreams as a collegiate football player.  He has been through a lot, not just through this episode but Mauldin has lived in 16 foster homes and currently resides in a children’s group home in Atlanta.  We here at LOHD hope the future is bright for him no matter where he ends up in life.

The Class of 2011 is still something to watch at USC as you will recall that South Carolina signed 32 players in its 2011 football recruiting class. Four of those recruits enrolled in January and will count toward the 2010 class. But that still leaves them three over the NCAA maximum of 25 that can be added to the scholarship roll this fall.....stay tuned.....