On Thursday, South Carolina managed to flip four-star EDGE Julian Walker from the Michigan Wolverines. The new Gamecock pledge then signed his paperwork to make things official with USC.

In South Carolina’s 2026 signing class, Walker (No. 72 nationally in the Rival Industry Ranking and No. 26 nationally in the Rivals300) ranks behind only Darius Gray (No. 45) in the Rival Industry Ranking and behind only Zyon Guiles (No. 24) in the Rivals300. Ranked 26th, he is also within future five-star range in the Rivals300.

The (second day of) Signing Day pilfering made national recruiting waves. In fact, Rivals’ Greg Smith called the flip one of college football’s best in the class of 2026. Walker’s Michigan-to-South-Carolina swap was one of Smith’s six biggest flips of the cycle.

Walker’s choice primarily came down to the Wolverines and the Gamecocks, but the North Carolina Tar Heels got involved late. His high school coach, Tom Knotts, even said that head coach Bill Belichick was “throwing money at him.”

In the end, though, relationships with South Carolina won out. Walker’s father, Jamil Walker, is on the strength staff at USC. Head coach Shane Beamer, defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Sterling Lucas, and defensive line coach Travian Robertson all have strong relationships with the dynamic pass rusher.

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A product of Dutch Fork High School just outside of Columbia, Walker will get to stay home with the Gamecocks. At 6-6 and 255 pounds, he could be a candidate to play early, though he has considerable developmental upside, too.

On Saturday, two days after his signing, Walker wrapped up a state championship season with the Silver Foxes. He was arguably the player of the game, as he logged three sacks and a defensive touchdown against Summerville.

Walker’s next time on a field will be in garnet and black. He will be part of a group of EDGE players looking to help replace the production of graduates Bryan Thomas Jr., JT Geer, and Demon Clowney.

Rising junior Dylan Stewart, rising senior Desmond Umeozulu, rising sophomore Jaylen Brown, and rising redshirt freshmen Jaquavious Dodd, Anthony Addison, and Kobby Sakyi-Prah all have eligibility remaining in the room. Redshirt senior George Wilson is also expected to apply for an additional year after an injury sidelined him for all of 2025.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Meechie Johnson scored 17 points and South Carolina beat Stetson 82-51 on Saturday.

Johnson made all five of his field-goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, and all five free throws while also handing out four assists. Grant Polk made 4 of 6 3-pointers and scored 12 points. Elijah Strong had a pair of 3s and 12 points for the Gamecocks (6-3), who shot 55%, including 44% from the arc (12 of 27).

Collin Kuhl, Ethan Copeland and Jamie Phillips Jr. scored 10 points apiece for the Hatters (3-8), who lost their fifth straight after shooting 32% and making just 4 of 21 3-pointers.

Stetson scored the first five points before South Carolina went on a 18-4 run capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Strong and the Gamecocks led the rest of the way. They finished the first half on an 18-3 run with Johnson scoring the final six points with a three-point play and a 3-pointer for a 43-24 lead.

The Gamecocks remained comfortably ahead in the second half, taking their largest lead of 33 with under three minutes to go.

Up next

Stetson is home against Rhodes College on Dec. 15.

South Carolina is home against The Citadel next Saturday.

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — Mason Bendinger and Karmani Gregory scored 15 points each in South Carolina Upstate’s 78-67 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday.

Bendinger added six rebounds for the Spartans (6-5). Gregory added his 15 points while going 4 of 9 from the floor, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and 5 for 5 from the line while he also had six assists. Carmelo Adkins shot 4 of 10 from the field, including 2 for 7 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 4 from the line to finish with 14 points, while adding seven rebounds. Learic Davis scored 11 points and Isaiah Skinner 10.

The Catamounts (4-5) were led in scoring by Justin Johnson, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Cord Stansberry added 11 points, six rebounds and two steals for Western Carolina. Samuel Dada had 10 points and eight rebounds. CJ Hyland also scored 10 points.

Up next

Up next for South Carolina Upstate is a Saturday matchup with North Carolina on the road, and Western Carolina visits Virginia Tech on Thursday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.