Four-star OL Josiah Thompson finds 'second home' at South Carolina, commits to Gamecocks
New South Carolina offensive line commitment Josiah Thompson says Alabama finished second in his recruitment but as the Dillon (S.C.) four-star prospect explained the reasons for his pledge on Friday morning it didn’t seem like any school came close to matching the comfort level and relationships he has in Columbia.
“The reason I chose South Carolina was it felt like a second home to me,” Thompson told reporters right after his announcement. “Especially, (since) I’m going to be away from my family, I just knew that I would have good people that are going to take care of me, keep me healthy, and make me become great. The coaching staff — Coach Lonnie, Coach Adkins, Coach Beamer, Coach Lindsey — they’re amazing coaches. We have a close communication with each other so that’s what really made me choose South Carolina. I just knew that Coach Lonnie and Coach Adkins have a lot of things for me. They want me to become great on and off the field and help me reach my potential one day. So that’s why I really chose South Carolina.”
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It was a team effort to land Thompson, who ranks as the No. 53 overall prospect and the No. 5 offensive tackle in the 2024 class in the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average including all four major recruiting services.
As Thompson mentioned, Lonnie Teasley, Greg Adkins, Shane Beamer and Jimmy Lindsey as well as recruiting staff members Taylor Edwards and Sam Serbay were all heavily involved in his recruitment.
Thompson, who plans to enroll early at South Carolina, gave the staff the word of his commitment last month when he Facetimed them one night after visiting for a spring practice earlier in the day.
“Their reaction, it was amazing,” Thompson said. “They were kind of nervous at first, I guess because I caught them off guard trying to Facetime them, but once I told them the good news, they were happy.”
On3, which has its own set of rankings, is even higher on Thompson, ranking him as the No. 19 prospect in the country, the No. 2 OT, and the top prospect in the Palmetto State.
Thompson’s commitment continues what is arguably the best recruiting start in school history.
The commitment of Thompson not only gives South Carolina another Blue Chip pledge but means a clean sweep of the top three prospects in the Palmetto State. The Gamecocks also landed Dorchester (S.C.) Woodland four-star offensive tackle Kam Pringle and Greenville (S.C.) four-star wide receiver Mazeo Bennett this calendar year.
It also means the Gamecocks are now 4-for-4 on their 2024 in-state targets who have committed and 3-for-3 on in-state OL targets with the inclusion of Greenville (S.C.) three-star OL Blake Franks.
The Gamecocks now have seven commitments, six of whom are four-star prospects.
Quarterback Dante Reno committed to South Carolina last summer while Pringle, tight end Michael Smith, and linebacker Wendell Gregory committed in January before Bennett, a former Tennessee pledge, committed in February. Franks committed a couple of weeks ago and then Thompson on Friday.
