South Carolina visits with nation's No. 1 prospect, Maryland commit

South Carolina football defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Sterling Lucas was in the DMV on Friday evening. Coach Lucas went to Maryland to visit with On3’s top class of 2026 prospect, EDGE Zion Elee.

Elee, who is committed to Maryland, plays at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore and holds a 5-star rating from three of the four major recruiting services. He was an Under Armour All-American as a junior this winter.

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Whether the Gamecocks can push their way into contention for a flip here remains to be seen. However, Elee is the type of player programs all over the country will keep recruiting, and he is listening. Despite his Maryland commitment, Elee plans to take other official visits.

As of now, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine projects an eventual Elee flip, though, it is not to the Gamecocks. Instead, the RPM favors the Oregon Ducks to land Elee. The Ducks led for Elee before his surprise pledge to Maryland in December.

As a prospect, Elee is a future star. Spending time at both hand-in-the-dirt defensive end and at stand-up outside linebacker, he’s a menace to opposing offenses. He is extremely athletic with a quick first step and good bend. However, he’s not just a speed rusher; he can win with power, too. On one play in particular on film, he earned a sack by driving his blocker backward so hard and so fast that the offensive lineman knocked over the quarterback. Adding to his value as a defender, Elee plays with a high motor.

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It is worth noting that South Carolina has had some real success landing talent from the DMV in recent years. Head coach Shane Beamer and several other Gamecock coaches have ties to the area, and those connections have helped bring in a number of big-time players in recent years.

Since the class of 2023, Carolina has signed two 5-star players (Dylan Stewart and Nyck Harbor) and two 4-star prospects (Desmond Umeozulu and Tree Babalade) from Washington DC and Maryland. Two of those four blue-chippers were EDGE players. While not the traditional “DMV,” USC also has signed a 4-star prospect from Norfolk, Virginia in each of the past two recruiting classes (Fred “JayR” Johnson and Kendall Daniels).

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