2024 top-150 TE Michael Smith commits to South Carolina: 'It's all love there'

Savannah (Ga.) Calvary Day School four-star tight end Michael Smith wanted to commit before or during the spring. It turned out “the pieces just fell into place” for a January pledge to South Carolina.

Since the summer, Smith visited the Gamecocks three times and was impressed by head coach Shane Beamer and tight ends coach Jody Wright. He decided to make the news official Tuesday by choosing South Carolina over Arkansas.

“The communication was always there with coach Beamer and coach Wright, just building relationships,” Smith told On3. “As I started praying about it, the signs started to show: random people coming up and saying, ‘Hey, I see you in the South Carolina jersey’ or ‘Hey, I could see you wearing garnet and black.’ So the signs started to build and I was like, ‘Alright, that’s why’ because it has my major. I felt comfortable. It was a family environment.”

Smith saw the Gamecocks’ games against Georgia and Texas A&M this season. After earning eight wins in year two under Beamer, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound pass catcher believes South Carolina “is ready to be a great program.”

The Gamecocks are already off to a fast start in the 2024 cycle with commitments from Smith, Fiskdale (Mass.) The Loomis Chaffee School four-star quarterback Dante Reno and Dorchester (S.C.) Woodland four-star offensive tackle Kam Pringle, the top player in South Carolina. Smith believes it will only get better once he arrives in Columbia.

“The tight end, Jaheim Bell, when I met him when I was up there, I was like, ‘Okay, I see a tight end that I can relate to, so let me see how they use him in a game,'” said Smith, the No. 146 overall prospect and No. 6 tight end in the 2024 On3 Consensus. “It was pretty much how I’m used here at Calvary.”

Smith believes he can develop with the Gamecocks

Smith remembers watching Bell record five receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Despite that dominant performance, he felt like Bell got better when Wright became his position coach last February.

“I watched the bowl game with Jaheim Bell and how he played and the way he played with coach Wright, it really was almost an improvement,” Smith said. “I feel like it’s just growth there. He can develop you real well.”

The Georgia native is excited to learn from Wright when he arrives at South Carolina. He also likes being around Beamer.

“He’s a highly energized guy,” Smith said. “As long as he’s around, nobody will be low energy. He has all this energy around him. You can feel it… He shows love to the players, he has that energy. He always has that flag on him as he coaches. Man, I love Beamer.”

Smith hopes to help South Carolina reach new heights when he arrives in the Palmetto State. If the Gamecocks do, he and his teammates will certainly make the nearly 80,000 fans who pack Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturdays very happy.

“The energy is through the roof,” Smith said of game day at South Carolina. “Everyone is talking about the game. If you’re a player, you’re going to be loved, no matter what… It’s all love there. Everyone’s gonna talk about you and everybody knows you, pretty much.”