Four-star ATH sets South Carolina official visit
Just a couple of days after taking a spring unofficial visit to South Carolina, Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh School four-star ATH Brandon Finney has now set an official visit with the Gamecocks.
Finney posted on X/Twitter that he’ll be in Columbia for his official on the weekend of June 21-23 for what will be one of three major June recruiting weekends for the Gamecocks.
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Listed as an “athlete,” the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Finney is being recruited to play cornerback by South Carolina.
He released a Top 5 last month featuring South Carolina, Georgia, Penn State, Maryland, and Syracuse, though Notre Dame has also been heavily involved.
According to the On3 Industry Ranking, Finney is the No. 18 “athlete” and No. 368 overall player in the 2025 class. He’s considered the No. 8 prospect in Maryland. On3 lists him as the No. 5 recruit in Maryland, the No. 11 “athlete” and the No. 248 overall player nationally.
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In addition to his South Carolina official, Finney has a confirmed official visit with Penn State set for June 7.
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Schools like Indiana, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Wisconsin have all offered as well.
Is South Carolina a 4-2-5 or 3-3-5 defense? It’s now both
For most of the three seasons head coach Shane Beamer and defensive coordinator Clayton White have been at South Carolina, the Gamecocks have operated out of a base 4-2-5 defense.
What is more generally known as “nickel” — four defensive linemen, two linebackers, and five defensive backs — has become sort of a default defensive personnel package for many defenses around college football with the proliferation of the spread offense over the last two decades. In short, the 4-2-5 helps defenses match speed with speed.
But as the Gamecocks struggled to stop teams last year, particularly during the middle stretch of the season, they ultimately found answers by using more of the 3-3-5 which essentially replaces one of those defensive linemen with a third linebacker.
