South Carolina trending for 4-star IOL Jaylen Gilchrist

Earlier this summer, Virginia Beach (Va.) Salem four-star interior offensive lineman Jaylen Gilchrist released his top three schools, which included Georgia, Maryland and South Carolina.

As the summer draws to a close, one team is trending as the favorite to land him in the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM): the Gamecocks.

That follows the latest expert pick from On3 VP of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong, who put in his prediction on Thursday. And it joins one from South Carolina insider Wes Mitchell back in early March.

Gilchrist is the nation’s No. 110 overall prospect, No. 9 interior offensive lineman and No. 4 recruit from Virginia in the 2025 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking — a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

The 6-foot-4, 305-pounder took June official visits to South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Maryland. He has visited Columbia more than any other campus.

His relationship with the Gamecocks is one that has been ongoing for more than a year, and they’ve continued to prioritize him since then.

“There’s a lot of coaches that will get a highly recruited kid but when they get to the school they treat them like a piece of meat,” Gilchrist told On3’s Chad Simmons last summer. “At South Carolina they actually care about you and treat you like one of their own.”

… It makes me feel like a big priority not only to the coaches, but the entire fan base does.”