On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine: South Carolina trending for Monteque Rhames

Sumter (S.C.) four-star EDGE Monteque Rhames is announcing his commitment on July 30. He previously revealed a top eight of Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and UCF in June.

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, the Gamecocks have a commanding lead to land Rhames’ commitment at 96.2%. The team with the next-highest odds is the Wolfpack at 2%.

Rhames, a 6-foot-5, 230 pound pass rusher, has taken eight unofficial visits to Columbia during his recruiting process. His most recent trip was on June 4. He took three of his unofficial visits to the Gamecocks in just under a month, including two on back-to-back weeks in late March, this spring.

“They practice like us, they’ve got the same name as us with the Gamecock thing. It’s a lot of similarities to what we do now, all that,” Rhames told Gamecock Central in March about South Carolina. “There are a little different plays and stuff like that, but I like the things they do. I talk to almost the whole staff when I go there.”

Recruiting impact if Rhames commits to South Carolina

Rhames is rated as the No. 331 overall prospect and No. 38 EDGE in the 2023 On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 4 player in South Carolina.

If the four-star chooses South Carolina, he would become the third highest-ranked recruit in the Gamecocks’ 2023 recruiting class behind only Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson four-star linebacker Grayson Howard and Sandersville (Ga.) Washington County four-star running back Dontavius Braswell. He would also be South Carolina’s first EDGE commitment. The Gamecocks also don’t have a 2023 pledge from a defensive lineman.

However, South Carolina already has commitments from multiple linebacker and safety recruits including Howard, Lake City (Fla.) Columbia four-star linebacker Jaden Robinson, Eatonton (Ga.) Putnam County four-star safety Jalon Kilgore, Laurel (Md.) St. John’s three-star safety Zahbari Sandy and Perry (Fla.) Taylor County three-star safety Cameron Upshaw.

The Gamecocks’ class is currently ranked No. 27 in the 2023 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings and No. 7 in the SEC. South Carolina’s group of 13 commitments is composed of six four-stars, six three-stars and one unranked prospect.