South Carolina has signed a top-20 recruiting class — according to the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings — in each of the last four cycles.

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Rivals Football Recruiting

Rivals

South Carolina 2027 Class Breakdown: Gamecocks after fifth-straight Top-20 class

South Carolina kicked off what could be a historic week in Gamecock Nation Sunday night with a commitment from Columbia (S.C.) Hammond School

Hammond (SC) linebacker Jackson Ross during his South Carolina visit. Photo courtesy of Jackson Ross on Instagram

GamecockCentral Football Recruiting

GamecockCentral

Inside the commitment: Intel on South Carolina LB commit Jackson Ross

New South Carolina Football commit Jackson Ross (Columbia, S.C./Hammond) has plenty of traits that one would look for in a high-level prospect at

south carolina gamecocks recruiting target jackson ross

New South Carolina Football linebacker commit Jackson Ross (Columbia, S.C./Hammond) has plenty of traits that one would look for in a high-level prospect at his position.

Why It Matters

The Gamecocks need to continue to sign talented linebackers. The room right now has as much raw talent as it has had in some time overall, but starters Fred Johnson, Shawn Murphy and Justin Okoronkwo are all NFL Draft eligible after this season.

Zoom In

Ross does so much on film that is instinctive. He’s diving for interceptions because he is alert enough to know where the pass is going. On that note, he is coming out of nowhere for a pick on a poorly-thrown out route. His get off at the line of scrimmage in pass rushing situations looks legit with the caveat that the competition level is not the best in SCISA. On that note, Ross tested quite well at a 6-foot-2.5, 220-pounds on the combine and camp circuit and when you have a prospect that has impressive film against not the best competition, those numbers are important. Athletically, he checks the boxes. Ross also looks like a linebacker that loves to play football. You hear coaches ask that all the time “does he love football?”… some have all the talent in the world but don’t “love football” and never reach their potential. I have never seen a great linebacker that had those questions. It is mental in many ways when players go up a level, so it’s impossible to predict with 100 percent accuracy, but Ross plays the game like he loves football.

Zoom Out

Ross is the second commit from the Midlands in the last week. Offensive lineman Jason Ross (no relation) of Ridge View pledged to Carolina last Tuesday. Ross follows previous Gamecocks defensive linemen Jordan Burch (transferred to Oregon after the 2022 season) and Alex Huntley (in the NFL) and current Carolina tight end Mike Tyler (currently projected to see increased snaps in this season, his second) as recruits to the Gamecocks from Hammond in recent cycles.

By The Numbers

-Ross is commitment No. 13 in South Carolina’s 2027 recruiting class and the second in-state prospect.

-The Rivals Industry ranking on Ross of 85.33 is a bit misleading. Rivals rates him as an 87 while 247Sports has him as 89. ESPN has yet to rate him so it is dragging down his rating at the moment.

-Ross runs the 40-yard dash in the 4.5-4.6-second range and also has tested well in the vertical (explosiveness measure) and broad jump.

-He is the only linebacker in the 2027 class.

The Legacy

Of course, Ross is the son of former Gamecock men’s basketball guard David Ross, who played for Eddie Fogler from 1997-2001 and was part of an NCAA Tournament and NIT team. He now is a local attorney in Columbia.

Bottom Line
If Jackson Ross were playing at the SCHSL level, he would probably get consideration to be a top 300 recruit in the country. The film is that good, but analysts are going to measure the competition level as they should. What shows up on film and in the testing, though, that is not relevant to high school level of competition is the twitchiness, the explosiveness, the instincts, the lateral ability and the overall athleticism (he’s an excellent basketball player, too). Ross is a great athlete but is also a very good football player. It’s the opinion here that like the other Hammond recruits before him, there will be a bit of an adjustment period, but it would not be a surprise whatsoever to see him on the field in Year 1 and in the two deep. 

He is a fantastic pick-up for South Carolina at linebacker.


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