South Carolina's biggest risers in On3's final '25 recruiting rankings
On Thursday, the 2025 On300 (On3’s individual player rankings) updated for the final time. The update was kind to the South Carolina football commitment list. Gamecock pledges Malik Clark, Donovan Darden, Josh Smith, Brian Rowe, Cutter Woods, and Donovan Murph all saw significant improvements in their On3 rating.
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Three of the Gamecocks’ six wide receiver commits moved up on Thursday. Malik Clark went from outside of the On300 to being No. 101; he also moved inside the top 100 in the On3 industry ranking—a composite of the player rankings from On3, 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals. Brian Rowe was an industry 4-star, but On3 considered him a 3-star prospect; however, on Thursday, not only did the talented pass-catcher earn a 4th star, he comfortably did so and moved to No. 254 in the ranking. Donovan Murph, who reclassified from the 2026 class, also moved up from 3-star territory to a 4-star designation.
The newly minted top prospect in the class (according to On3) is Donovan Darden. Rated at EDGE but expected to play linebacker in Columbia, Darden is the No. 52 player in the updated On300. He is a freaky athlete at 6’4″ and 225 pounds, and his future is bright for the Gamecock defense. (On3’s Charles Power spoke with GamecockCentral about Darden, and you can read about that here.)
The only other defensive player who made a big leap in this update was linebacker Josh Smith. Smith, who was largely off the national recruiting radar until this fall, earned a 4th star from On3. He is the 12th South Carolina high school signee to earn 4 stars from On3 and/or the On3 industry ranking.
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Quarterback Cutter Woods was an underrated player this cycle. After Thursday’s update, he moved a bit away from the background of the signing class. On3 now considers Woods an 89, up two points from his previous rating. That translated to a jump from the No. 721 prospect in the On3 industry ranking to the No. 598 spot. That is a 123-spot improvement.
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South Carolina now has signed the No. 1 junior college prospect (defensive tackle Zavion Hardy) and six players from the On300 (No. 52 Darden, No. 101 Clark, No. 112 Jaquavious Dodd, No. 246 Jaquel Holman, No. 254 Rowe, No. 285 Shed Sarratt). Two others (No. 180 Murph and No. 287 Kendall Daniels) finished outside of the On300 but inside the On3 industry top 300.
Prior to On3’s update and 247Sports’ recent update, South Carolina football ranked 19th in On3’s team industry rankings. Following 247’s changes, the Gamecocks moved to 18th. When On3’s final rankings dropped, Carolina moved up again to No. 17 in the On3 team industry rankings. Though there will be a few signings next week at other schools, Shane Beamer’s program has all but ensured a third-straight top 20 high school recruiting class.
