South Carolina trending for four-star SAF Kendall Daniels

In mid-March, Norfolk (Va.) Maury four-star safety Kendall Daniels narrowed his list to eight schools.

Miami, Alabama, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Penn State, and Duke all made his final group.

Now, South Carolina is trending in his recruitment. Gamecocks insider Chris Clark has logged an expert prediction with a 70 percent confidence level for South Carolina to land the blue-chip defensive back.

The Gamecocks now lead in Daniels’ Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) at 97.5 percent.

Daniels is the nation’s No. 273 overall prospect, No. 25 safety and No. 7 recruit from Virginia in the 2025 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking — a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

South Carolina recruiting picking up

Entering the month of April, just one prospect was committed to South Carolina — Florence (S.C.) South three-star wide receiver Jayden Sellers.

Since the beginning of the month, the Gamecocks have picked up pledges from Concord (N.C.) Jay M Robinson four-star wideout Brian Rowe, Sumter (S.C.) three-star EDGE Anthony Addison and Abbeville (S.C.) three-star safety Damarcus Leach.

Addison is the Gamecocks’ most recent commit, having joined the class on April 12.

“The fanbase is unbelievable,” Addison told On3. “The fanbase there is different. I have yet to see a fanbase that has matched them.” 

Addison communicates with South Carolina’s headman weekly. Shane Beamer also visited him at his high school. 

“He’s always been upfront with me about everything, even before I had an offer from South Carolina,” Addison said. “… Ever since I met him, all I could see were good things about him. I can tell that he’s building something special. Last year, they had a setback because of injuries, but in his previous years, he’s been making history with the Gamecocks. 

“They beat Clemson. Every time I go up there, he preaches that he wants to win with guys from South Carolina… Growing up in South Carolina, if the head coach tells you that he wants to win with you, that means a lot.”