Marcus Lattimore: What South Carolina ultimately gained from recent recruiting weekend
The newest episode to the podcast series “BLEAV in South Carolina” with me, Marcus Lattimore, and Nick Klos on the BLEAV Network is live.
On this week’s episode, we take a deeper look into this past week’s recruiting weekend for South Carolina. Landing four new commitments, three who went public on Sunday, Lattimore shared the impact this can have on other USC prospects.
“You can’t help but notice. This generation you’re on your phone, four-five hours a day. You’re seeing all of these pictures (and) these commitments. It’s like, ‘what is going on over there,'” said Lattimore. “With you knowing (it) or not it’s sitting in your subconscious. You’re going to give South Carolina a closer look simply because somebody from your rival school committed there. Or somebody that you met on another visit, he committed to South Carolina.”
Shane Beamer has said many times in the past that the best recruiting tool USC has is their players. While Lattimore has echoed those sentiments in past episodes, he also shared how other recruits who the Gamecocks were looking at played a factor in his commitment to South Carolina.
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“When I look back on those times really what stands out the most was just the relationships with the other guys on the visit. You’re just trying to get a feel. Is this somebody that I would like to be my teammate?… We had a lot of good guys and that’s what it really boiled down to. Without the relationships, I don’t know if I would be at South Carolina. If it wasn’t for Bruce (Ellington), A.J. (Cann), (or) Dylan (Thompson), who committed early — he was really recruiting us. Nick Jones committed early and he was a teammate (of mine) in high school. It was the relationships. In that stage of my life if I’m thinking about the glitz and glamour, the tradition, I’m thinking about Penn State, Auburn, (and) Oregon. Schools like that. But the relationships at South Carolina just stood out.”
But there’s another X factor Lattimore believes is giving South Carolina an advantage. One that he had the opportunity to see up-close when he worked for the program as the Director of Player Development in 2018 and 2019.
“Having a Jessica Jackson is a separator. You really have to start right there. Who is the event coordinator? Who’s the one that’s setting up the visits, those small intricate details? (As a recruit) you walk into your room and there’s your name and you have chocolates laid out on your bed. (Jackson) knows how to draw the emotions out of (a recruit). That’s one thing I remember the most. She was just so intentional about the details. When they show(ed) up (it was) personalized for each person and family.”
