South Carolina Gamecocks News: Updates from football, recruiting, basketball, baseball, and more

The latest South Carolina Gamecocks news from the last week, starting with some updates from the world of football recruiting

The Gamecocks had a busy week of recruiting, especially over the weekend.

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer teased out four different commitments, but just one of those went public.

Blackville-Hilda High School standout Jaquel Holman, a big-time athlete who plays running back, defensive back, and linebacker, pledged his services to USC.

Earlier in the week, Damola Ajidahun announced his top-8 schools, and South Carolina was on the list. The 4-star offensive lineman is from the state of Georgia.

5-star in-state wide receiver Malik Clark has put USC in his top-5.

August 7th will be commitment day for 4-star safety Lagonza Hayward. Officially, he has 7 finalists (the Gamecocks are one), but Carolina has been named a “top-3” and “top-4” team by Hayward recently.

4-star offensive lineman Dontrell Glover will commit on July 1st. He set his decision date immediately following a visit to Columbia. The Gamecocks are a finalist.

Instead of sticking with his previously scheduled July decision date, 5-star EDGE Zayden Walker elected to commit early, and the Georgia native picked the Georgia Bulldogs.

Gamecock dual-sport athlete Nyck Harbor received a huge honor.

The wide receiver for South Carolina football and sprinter for South Carolina track and field was named a Second Team All-American in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints after his showing at the NCAA Championships.

A former Gamecock head coach is on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot.

For the second year in a row, Jim Carlen (1975-1981) is up for induction into the CFBHOF. He also coached at West Virginia and Texas Tech.

Lamont Paris’ South Carolina basketball team has finalized its 2024-2025 roster.

Former walk-on Austin Herro (rising redshirt freshman) is now on scholarship. The combo guard is the 13th and final scholarship player for the Gamecocks’ roster next season.

The Gamecocks also set their season opener.

After recently announcing a game in the non-conference schedule against North Florida, more details came out about the matchup, most notably that it would be the team’s season opener on November 4th.

Dawn Staley’s women’s team made some recruiting news.

The Gamecocks made the top list for 5-star prospect Jazzy Davidson in the class of 2025. Davidson released a top-5, and South Carolina basketball made the cut.

Future Gamecock Joyce Edwards won another big-time award.

The gem of the 2024 recruiting class was named MaxPreps High School Female Athlete of the Year.

After another disappointing year, Mark Kingston is out as the leader of Gamecock baseball.

Kingston was fired on Monday, and an extensive coaching search is underway. Some notable candidates include Monte Lee (assistant coach, South Carolina), Tom Walter (head coach, Wake Forest), Cliff Godwin (head coach, East Carolina), Chris Pollard (head coach, Duke), and Dan McDonnell (head coach, Louisville.

A long-time South Carolina baseball pledge is no longer part of the Gamecocks’ 2025 recruiting class.

In-state pitcher Teddy Garner decommitted over the weekend.

Despite being in the middle of a coaching search, the Gamecocks have landed some new commitments.

Class of 2025 pitcher Luke Roupe (a former Vanderbilt commit) is now committed to the South Carolina baseball program.

Transfer portal hurler Caleb Jones (Winthrop Eagles) also pledged to Carolina this week.

A handful of Gamecocks have left the program via the transfer portal.

Infielders Tristan Salinas, Carson Hornung, and Tyler Zedalis all intend to transfer from the Gamecocks. Salinas and Zedalis were freshmen, while Hornung has just one year of eligibility remaining.

After 14 seasons, South Carolina softball coach Bev Smith has been fired.

Smith had a woeful SEC record during her time in Columbia, and USC made it out of Regional play in the NCAA Tournament just once while she was head coach.