South Carolina Gamecocks Football Recruiting: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Its been a while since the Gamecocks have had some good news, but lets get started with the good news in this update.

The Good:

The South Carolina Gamecocks have had a lot of bad news recently in the recruiting world, but recently the Gamecocks have received a boost.  It's been about a week, but the Gamecocks secured the commitment of three star safety Toure Boyd from a JUCO in California.  The Gamecocks are listed as his only Power 5 offer, but after watching his film, which I will discuss in his commitment profile, the kid is a headhunter and if he can gain some weight when he gets to USC, he will be able to help provide some depth to a lackluster season by the Gamecocks safeties this year.  He is currently listed at 6'1 and 195 pounds and will have three years to play two at USC.

The next bit of good news for you fans out there, the Gamecocks have finally gained another offensive tackle to help rebuild from the damage done by the Paris Palmer and Austin Clark decommits.  New Gamecock, Blake Camper is a three star offensive tackle hailing from Virginia Beach, VA.  He currently is 6'7 and weighs 280 pounds according to 247Sports.com.  Originally a Rutgers Scarlet Knight commit, Camper has decided to flip and play football and the Gamecocks.  He chose the Gamecocks over Rutgers, as well as offers from the Maryland Terrapins, Miami Hurricanes, and the West Virginia Mountaineers.  While Camper is not as good of a pickup as Palmer would have been, he will provide depth at a position that quickly became a position of need for the class.

The final bit of good news, the trio of commits that all visited other programs have stayed committed to the Gamecocks through their visits.  Damon Arnette (Michigan Wolverines), Quandeski Whitlow (Louisville Cardinals) and Christian Pellage (Florida Gators) all left their visits without flipping from USC, and they will all be present for the Gamecocks big recruiting weekend, and a possibility of a flip is very low at this point.

The Bad:

There isn't too much bad news this week.  Probably the biggest news is that three star cornerback and current Mississippi State Bulldogs commit, Maurice Smitherman has cancelled his visit to USC this weekend.  With Mark Fields decommiting and subsequently eliminating the Gamecocks, Smitherman would have helped ease the pain, but the Gamecocks will have Rashad Fenton and Gerald Robinson on campus to try and fill what will be the final defensive back slot in the class.

The Ugly:

The worst news since my last update is that Arden Key is still not committed to the Gamecocks and they will have to go up against LSU and Auburn for his third commitment.   Key and his family just finished up a visit to LSU, and apparently new d-line coach Ed Orgeron made quite the impression on Key.  While Key is scheduled to visit South Carolina this weekend, he still has visits to Miami and Auburn before National Signing Day comes around.

Stay tuned for more recruiting updates as we get closer to NSD, go Gamecocks!