When will the rest of South Carolina's 2024 class arrive?
The final three high school signees in South Carolina’s 19th-ranked class of 2024 will soon be on campus.
While 12 of the Gamecocks’ high school signees enrolled early and went through spring practice, the rest of the class — defensive back Jalewis Solomon, running back Matthew Fuller, and tight end Michael Smith — did not and will soon join them in Columbia.
“Yeah, they’ll all be there,” head coach Shane Beamer said Wednesday in Charleston. “Matthew Fuller literally is texting me right now before I walked up about how eager he is to get to Columbia. I just had a text from him. Michael Smith and Jalewis, they will all be there Memorial Day is when they come in, a couple days before Memorial Day actually, so the end of this month, they’ll all be here. (Junior college transfer defensive lineman Jerome) Simmons will be a little bit later than those guys.”
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
The newcomers missed out on the opportunity to get a head start via spring ball but all three of the high school signees are four-star prospects who could potentially break into the rotation at their respective positions.
In the past, Beamer has singled out Solomon when talking about the Gamecocks cornerback group and said that he fully expects the Ellaville, Ga. native to compete for playing time this year.
“We’re going to try and get them ready to play,” Beamer said Wednesday. “I mean, we’re excited about all those guys. Matthew will get the opportunity to compete at running back. Jawewis will have an opportunity to compete for a role on defensive back, and then Michael’s a guy we’re really excited about as a tight end, and then Simmons as well. We started five true freshmen at times last season.”
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
In addition to the three highly rated freshmen, Beamer said the Gamecocks will also add more walk-ons to their numbers this summer.
“We’ve got a big group of guys, walk-ons that are joining the program as well,” Beamer said. “They’ll all be there by the middle of June, so we should have (almost) everybody in Columbia scholarship-wise before June 1st. Everyone on the roster except Simmons by the middle of June, and Simmons will be shortly thereafter.”
That would presumably also include South Carolina receiver transfer commits Dalevon Campbell and Vanedrevius Jacobs who pledged to the program during the spring transfer window. Then the Gamecocks 2024 roster will officially be complete.
