Even in the midst of the hustle and bustle that was SEC Media Days, the South Carolina Gamecocks picked up their sixth commitment from the high school class of 2016 today.
And this one may not have been much of a surprise: Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge offensive lineman Will Putnam gave his word to the program a day after spending four hours at USC yesterday.
I am proud to officially announce that I am committed to the University of South Carolina Go Gamecocks! #wecocky pic.twitter.com/z39U3sRLia
— Will Putnam (@willputnam66) July 14, 2015
Charlotte, Elon and Virginia Tech were the other three offers for Putnam, but the Hokies and Gamecocks were the favorites. He will join a class that will include, for starters, four-star wide receiver Bryan Edwards and three-star (or four-star, depending on your recruiting database of choice) quarterback Brandon McIlwain. You could assume that he would be redshirted in his first year as Steve Spurrier tends to do with his o-linemen, but with Brandon Shell and Will Sport done after the 2015 season, it's not hard to imagine Putnam at least getting a shot at getting on the depth chart next year. (The Gamecocks did offer JUCO OL Ashton Julious the same day, so their strategy could be to snag a few linemen from the junior college route, add some depth and age and end up redshirting Putnam after all.)
We're keeping track of the commits and the targets on our big board, so hop over there and take a look.