“Welcome Home” Corey Rucker

Wide receiver Corey Rucker is a former two-star prospect from Yazoo County, Mississippi and is a late addition to the 2022 recruiting class. His commitment strengthens what is already one of the best transfer classes, or what may turn out to be the best transfer class, in the nation.

Coming in at 6 feet 1 inch and weighing 190 pounds, Rucker is most comparable to current Gamecock wide receiver Rico Powers in both size and explosive ability. However, in terms of productivity, Rucker is off to a quicker start to his college career than Powers.

Working from both the inside and outside receiver positions, Rucker has the speed to take the top off a defense. He’s explosive getting in and out of his breaks, displaying the ability to create separation from the defender. When the ball is in the air, Rucker aptly adjusts and has shown the capability to make difficult catches as his hand-eye coordination is exceptional. He flashes the strength, balance, and quickness to take a short gain and turn it into a big one, often breaking arm tackles along the way.

Rucker was an underrated recruit coming out of high school with only 4 scholarship offers, which were all from non-Power 5 schools. He was rated as a 5.4, 2 star according to Rivals. He clearly proved that rating wrong as he earned Freshman All-American honors and was named All-Sun Belt 2nd Team in 2021 playing for Arkansas State.

After taking a recent visit to South Carolina, Rucker rated the visit as a 300 out of 100 and silently committed at that time. He’ll join a much improved receiving corp and give the Gamecocks another explosive option. His commitment leaves Carolina with one more scholarship to give in the 2022 class, which can be used on either a high school recruit, portal transfer, or JUCO. Just when Carolina fans thought the 2022 class couldn’t get any better, in stepped playmaker Corey Rucker. The 2022 season is setting up to be an exciting one.