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South Carolina’s prized 2017 recruit, cornerback Jamyest Williams, takes his official visit to Columbia this weekend to meet with the Gamecock football program.
The highly touted four-star cornerback out of Grayson High School in Loganville, GA has been committed to the Gamecocks since late August, but things have taken a turn in his recruitment after his official visit to the University of Georgia this past weekend. Williams himself continues to state he is 100% committed to South Carolina, but anyone who has followed his recruitment closely knows that’s no longer entirely accurate as he prepares for his official stop in Columbia.
Your thoughts on where Jamyest will end up at this point probably depend on your relationship with him and how well you think you know him. After his official visit with the Bulldogs, Williams’ father, JJ, believes the decision between the two schools is 50-50. As for his high school coach though, well, he’s surprised one of his most recent state champs is considering an in-state school to call home.
Whatever you may think on the current state of his recruitment, or wherever you think he may wind up, one thing is for certain: the Gamecocks have cooled off as a hard commitment and, in all likelihood, this one is coming down to the end on national signing day. Unfortunately, the possibility that Williams leans toward Athens next week exists and it’s one South Carolina no longer can ignore.
While a Williams flip would be bad enough in itself, what’s worrisome for Will Muschamp and the program moving forward is that the Gamecocks once top-15 recruiting class may be dismantled before their eyes within the last two weeks of the 2017 recruiting cycle as it would couple Hamsah Nasirildeen’s de-commitment from a week earlier.
Muschamp sold himself to AD Ray Tanner with his prowess on the recruiting trail. And, while he’s done a solid job thus far selling future recruits on becoming a Gamecock, an inability to close on his two top prizes would serve as a major blow toward his strive for success in Columbia. Needless to say, this is a huge weekend for Muschamp and the program, and there’s no time to become complacent on selling the program to Williams.