Modern Turf Recruiting Reap
Moncks Corner — With the May “outside college football recruiting evaluation period” winding down, the HSSR is releasing our first official SC Top 100 prospects list on page 41 of this issue. On the same page is a Top 35 list of 2025 prospects (rising juniors).
We hope the release of this well-researched information assists in a record number of evaluations of prep football talent in the state of South Carolina. We urge colleges to invite these players to your upcoming summer camps for a first-hand observation of the bigger, stronger, and faster mantra that you all embrace. You can never recruit an athlete without first having an evaluation of that athlete. Be fair and reasonable in this fact and EVALUATE, EVALUATE; and when you think you are done, EVALUATE some more.
(It will be a pleasant surprise to you what great results this Nic Saban approach to recruiting will have on your program!) Coach Saban got on Hudl “blind” one day, a few years ago, looking at every tight end he could see highlight film on, without a 247 Prospects “cheat sheet” on his desk. He came upon a highlight clip on Hammond High SC tight end Cannon Smith from Columbia. Saban liked what he saw. Within an hour he was on the phone with Cannon and the entire Hammond School knew about the call within minutes.
Never mind that Cannon’s father (Bill Smith) was on the board at Clemson and that Cannon was pledged to the Tigers. Where he went on to play for four seasons. So, I challenge more college coaches to go on Hudl “blind” like Saban does a lot at Alabama. You will be shocked what 247 Sports misses out on!
Recently the HSSR was dead-on-the-money with our “persistent forecast” of at least five (or more) former South Carolina prep players being drafted by the NFL, each and every year. We started tracking this from 1990 forward. This past April we had 8 players drafted, and unlike the previous draft in 2022 (6 players picked), this time, the USC Gamecocks had three in-state players picked including Zacch Pickens (T.L. Hanna-138-Colts), Cam Smith (Westwood-51-Colts) and Darius Rush (CE Murray-138-Colts).
Clemson had former Dorman star Jordan McFadden picked by the Chargers at 156. In the 2022 NFL draft the state had six players drafted and none of them were on the rosters at either school. The 8th and final player selected from the state was former Westside High LB Nick Hampton from Appalachian State who went with pick 161 to the Rams.
Tennessee had two SC grown prep players selected in Jalin Hyatt (Dutch Fork-73-Giants) and Bryon Young (Carvers Bay-77 Rams). The sixth player was Tulane LB Dorian Williams (Indian Land-91-Bills).
Okay 247 Sports, keep printing your national 247 list with two or three South Carolina prep players on it every year. Hint: The 8 players chosen this year from SC ranged from picks 51 through picks 161. I challenge 247 Sports to start doing a better job with your selections from the state of SC. It appears to me whatever sources you have been using to gather your data have not been accurate, nor fair, to the state of SC and I am quite frankly disturbed by this.
The 2024 Class of football prospects in SC that we are releasing in this issue should produce around 10 NFL prospects over the next three to four years and our trends are dead on the money with this forecast.
Our HSSR Top 10 list of 2024 players include: 1. Josiah “Big Cat” Thompson - Dillon (6-7,285) OL-SC 2. Kam Pringle
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Recognizing the achievements of young athletes in South Carolina since 1986.