Corey Rucker arrives at South Carolina
Former Arkansas State wide receiver Corey Rucker officially arrived in Columbia earlier this week after committing to South Carolina football in April via the transfer portal.
While Rucker has been committed to the Gamecocks for some time now, he was never officially announced as a signee, meaning head coach Shane Beamer could not talk about the addition until now.
After South Carolina landed wide receiver Antwane Wells Jr. from the transfer portal prior to the start of spring practice, the Gamecocks wanted to add one more playmaker to the position and jumped at the chance to add the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder to the roster.
“Excited about him and just trying to continue to add depth and competition to that receiver room,” Beamer said. “He was a guy that had a really, really, really productive year last year at Arkansas State and excited about his production and what he’ll be able to bring to that receiver room also as we continue to build that up and add depth. And the thing that’s good about him is he’s not an older guy that has one year, I mean he’s still got three years to play which is fantastic as well.”
To Beamer’s point, Rucker earned Freshman All-America honors last season when he caught 59 passes for 826 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, all for the team lead. As a true freshman in 2020 (which didn’t count due to COVID), Rucker collected 16 catches for 453 yards and five touchdowns.
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A speedy receiver who could play outside or in the slot, Rucker chose South Carolina over offers from Auburn, Ole Miss, Utah State, Virginia Tech, Washington, Washington State, Vanderbilt, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Appalachian State, and Texas State after taking an official visit to the school.
“I would say the relationship I built with Coach (Justin) Stepp over this recruiting process, just having him talk to me every single day, building a relationship with him,” Rucker told Gamecock Central. “I would say after the first week of him recruiting me, it felt like I had known him for probably like three months. So that was huge for me.”
To his credit, Rucker has acclimated himself to Gamecock Nation quite well.
Rucker is a huge Dawn Staley fan. He’s joked about being the nephew of South Carolina megacelebrity alum Darius Rucker.
And since arriving on campus he’s already tried Columbia staples D’s Wings and Beezer’s.
Welcome Home, indeed.
