As expected, South Carolina makes Top 5 for four-star WR Jonathan Paylor
Burlington (N.C.) Cummings four-star WR Jonathan Paylor is fresh off his official visit to South Carolina and it should come as no surprise that the Gamecocks made Paylor’s Top — and likely final — five schools.
The Gamecocks plus N.C. State, North Carolina, Maryland, and Penn State made the final group for the big-play wide receiver from the Tar Heel State.
Now it’s decision time for the 5-foot-9, 170-pounder.
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Paylor has been eyeing July as a decision timeline for some time and told GamecockCenral on Sunday that he has a tentative decision date of July 28, though that is not finalized.
A long-time priority target of South Carolina wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, Paylor gave his official visit to Columbia strong reviews.
“It was amazing from start to finish,” Paylor said. “I got down here, first of all, we checked into the hotels, they had everything laid out — excellent, right? So got in there, had everything I needed. So after that, we checked out and got to the lobby. Vibes were excellent. All the guys got here, Mazeo Bennett, Kam Pringle, Dante Reno, just chopping it up, talking. And after that, we headed down to the facility and talked to the coaches.”
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Paylor has also taken official visits to N.C. State, North Carolina, and Maryland. The Wolfpack are considered the Gamecocks’ biggest competition.
“So some key factors in my recruitment right now, (one that is) big for me is family,” Paylor said. “One thing is getting my parents involved with all types of recruitment and all types of anything that’s going on with me. That, and really right now, for me, it’s academics. What school can graduate with me the fastest. Like, for me, it’s a big deal in my family to get a college degree. And I’ll be the first.”
According to the On3 Industry Ranking – a weighted average of rankings from all four major recruiting services – Paylor is rated as the No. 189 prospect in the country for the 2024 class.
He is additionally ranked by the metric as the fourth-best prospect in the state of North Carolina and the 29th-best receiver in the country.
