2024 4-star OT Josiah Thompson announces top nine schools

Dillon (S.C.) four-star offensive tackle Josiah Thompson revealed his top nine schools on Thursday morning. They are Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Thompson is the No. 74 overall prospect and No. 5 offensive tackle in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 2 player in South Carolina.

First I will like to thank all of the amazing coaches for giving me the opportunity to join their amazing program. This recruiting process has been an awesome experience for my family and I. With that being said, here are my top 9 schools.🙏🏾💯 pic.twitter.com/jZI3hYxMfc

— Josiah Thompson (@JosiahtThompson) December 8, 2022

“What is important to me is relationships,” Thompson told On3’s Chad Simmons on Sept. 14. “I want to connect with the coaches and the players. Where I go, I don’t want to feel like I am with strangers. I want to bond with everyone. I feel that will make me comfortable and make me the best I can be.”

The 6-foot-6.5, 275-pound prospect has visited multiple finalists. According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, the Gamecocks have a commanding lead for his commitment at 91.3%.

RPM was released to the public in December. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. 

It factors in machine learning, social sentiment, visits and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.

“Coach Beamer is doing a great job,” Thompson told Simmons. “He is catching a lot of eyes with what he is doing at South Carolina. He has a great bond with his players and he is making the team better.”

The four-star also expressed high praise of Clemson. He has visited the Tigers three times, most recently on Nov. 26.

“When I visited Clemson, the staff made a big impression,” Thompson said. “I like the school, the facilities, and I want to get back.”

Thompson has an On3 NIL Valuation of $71K. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.