South Carolina earns a commitment from in-state wide receiver Elijah Caldwell
South Carolina football has had a big recruiting week for the class of 2023 and 2024. The next weapon to join the group is 2023 three-star wide receiver Elijah Caldwell, who announced a commitment to the Gamecocks on Thursday afternoon.
Caldwell hails from Northwestern High School in Rock Hill (S.C.) and chose the Gamecocks over his other finalist N.C. State. Head coach Shane Beamer has always made it a priority to keep South Carolina talent in-state.
Caldwell is the sixth player from South Carolina to join the 2023 class, joining the likes of Markee Anderson, Xzavier Mcleod, Monteque Rhames, LaNorris Sellers and Judge Collier, who also hails from Rock Hill.
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Caldwell is No. 866 nationally and a three-star prospect in the 2023 class according to the On3 Consensus. He is also the No. 126-ranked wide receiver in the class and the tenth-ranked prospect in South Carolina.
Caldwell originally committed to West Virginia in July but de-committed in December just before the early signing period. He instead chose to wait until February to sign.
South Carolina beat out West Virginia, Purdue, N.C. State, and Duke to land Caldwell. The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine had him as a 93.6 percent chance to commit to the Gamecocks.
Caldwell also had scholarship offers from Georgia Tech, East Carolina, and Marshall.
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Justin Stepp made a big push to get Caldwell to commit and it worked. Stepp and Beamer met with Caldwell during an in-home visit on Tuesday.
Caldwell also made his official visit during the Jan. 20 weekend, and it was a big success.
Caldwell is the fourth wide receiver to join the class. He will also be playing alongside three-star recruits Kelton Henderson, CJ Adams and Tyshawn Russell.
Wide receiver is a position of need for South Carolina. The Gamecocks are losing Josh Vann and Jalen Brooks to the NFL but return Juice Wells.
He will be signing during the late signing period which begins Feb. 1. Caldwell will then join the team in the summer ahead of camp.
Caldwell had a massive senior season for the Trojans amassing 77 receptions for 1,365 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2022.
