Over 20 In-State 2025 Football Prospect Commit to Major Colleges At This Time

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher

Moncks Corner — With 20 prep players committed to major college football by the time of the annual SCACA Coaches Clinic (July 21-24) being held this year in Greenville the state is a little behind where we normally are just before August football drills begin.

The HSSR would like to once again thank Mark Grainger and his team at Modern Turf over in Rembert, SC for their sponsorship of our monthly recruiting page.

We have heard of at least three or four layers being listed as committed to certain colleges, but those colleges have not placed them on their official commitment list, just yet, and the HSSR waits for that to happen before we count them in the official totals.

In a recent visit with head Shrine Bowl coach Reggie Kennedy, he shared an opinion that I too have had over the years. On July 13^th the staffs of the Shrine Bowl and North South met at Airport High for an all-star combine with 220 players from the 2025 class from all over the state in skills combine test. These were by invitation only, based on these players performances at one of three other combines earlier in the Spring.

“Yes, there were several big-time major college looking kids that had speed, size, and passed the bigger, stronger, faster test among the 220 kids we had at the all-star combine, and several of them have no major colleges yet and that really surprised me,” said Shrine Bowl head coach Reggie Kennedy. “Some players do not even have small college offers.”

(I guess this is why recruiting has always been called an inexact science.)

Going into the start of prep football, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is very pleased with Westside quarterback Cutter Woods flipping from Wake Forest to South Carolina. You have to give his former head coach Scott Early credit because he has been singing this young man’s praises for the past two years.

With Woods, the HSSSR number four prospect, committing to South Carolina, that gives the Gamecocks seven in-state commitments to date (July, 28) and they have a chance to pick up two more players by mid-October. The one player of high priority they are hoping to get Rock Hill receiver Malik Clark (6-2, 172) and we have always felt he was a lean-to North Carolina.

South Carolina has Gaffney's HSSR number two rated Sheldrick Sarratt (6-4,296) committed along with Abbeville FS Demarcus Leach in the HSSR 5^th slot. The Gamecocks have landed a sprint champion athlete in Jaquel Holman (6-2, 200) ranked number six by the HSSR from Blackville-Hilda. Holman was recruited as a LB but is also an excellent RB. Holman is a true 4.4 player with a great future.

South Carolina gained a commitment from sure-handed South Florence WR Jayden Sellers (5-11, 165) last in November 2022. Sellers is HSSR ranked at number 14 and he is the brother of LaNorris Sellers who is a QB at SC right now. Anthony Addison (6-2, 215) is an edge rusher from Sumter pledged to SC and he is ranked at the HSSR number 16 slot. Addison needs to adds some weight but he has excellent speed. The final Gamecock commitment to date is Eastside DE Jaquavios Dodd (6-5, 225) ranked as the 21^st best over-all prospect in the 2025 class.

Clemson has done an excellent job also to date landing the top player in SC in South Florence DL Amare Adams (6-3, 285). The Tigers also have the top RB in SC from Belton-Honea Path in number three rated Marquis Henderson (5-10, 170) who has run a 4.35 forty.

HSSR Top 25 players committed out-of-state are number 12 rated Kevin Peay (6-3, 310) of Lancaster headed to Ga. Tech, number 15 rated Richland Northeast QB Will Wilson (6-1, 215) is headed to NC State, and number 25 TE Mikkel Skinner of Riverside is headed to Cincy.

The HSSR Top 5 2026 Prospects could all play in the NFL one day. They are big-time looking for prime time.

Georgia offered Timberland junior OL Desmond Green (6-5, 333) over a year ago and Tony O’Banner (6-0,207) is an RB/Ath from Thomas Heyward the Gamecocks have been high on for nearly two years. J’zavien Currence (6-1, 190) a DB from South Pointe is already committed to SC.

These prospects just keep getting bigger, stronger and faster.