Active recruiting week pushes Gamecocks' total to 11

Last week was South Carolina's best of the summer from a commitment standpoint. The Gamecocks added four to their 2011 class, pushing their total to 11.

Offensive lineman Kaleb Broome (6-6, 310) of Georgia Military JC and defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin (6-4, 223) of Atlanta committed on Friday as the Gamecocks staged their Showcase Camp.

Broome was offered Friday by offensive line coach Shawn Elliott and the Aiken native committed immediately.

"I think coach (Shawn) Elliott can make me a great player," Elliott said.

Broome also had an offer from East Carolina and drew interest from Clemson, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Washington State. Broome will graduate from GMA in December and enroll at USC in January. He will have three years to play two

Mauldin picked the Gamecocks over Kentucky.

"I love the coaches and the atmosphere of the school," Mauldin said. "The academics with the football program is outstanding. It meets my needs and wants. I'm not taking any more visits this summer. This is all I needed to see."

Mauldin also had offers from Kentucky, Troy, Samford, Marshall, Middle Tennessee and South Alabama. Last season, he had 70 tackles with 5 sacks.

USC picked up a commitment Saturday from offensive lineman Mike Matulis (6-6, 275) of Lake Worth, Fla., who made an unofficial visit so he could meet Steve Spurrier and commit in person. He also visited USC earlier this month and saw that the Gamecocks had a need for a player of his ability.

Matulis also had offers from Kentucky, Central Florida, South Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Maryland, West Virginia, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and others. He had 20 offers in all.

And defensive back Thomas Finnie (5-11,165) of Miami committed last Monday after making an unofficial visit to the campus. Finnie also had offers from Syracuse, Purdue, Florida International and Central Florida.

In other recruiting news:

LB Jordan Montgomery (6-1, 198) of Groveland, Fla., said last week he's moving toward a commitment to USC possibly within the next few weeks. Montgomery said he favors the Gamecocks over Ole Miss and Central Florida and plans to make an unofficial visit to USC within a couple of weeks. He also has offers from Iowa State, Arkansas, Maryland and Western Kentucky. Montgomery can play linebacker, corner or safety. Last season he had 86 tackles with 2 sacks and 1 interception.

OL Quincy McKinney (6-4, 295) of Columbus, Ga., made an unofficial visit to USC on Friday for his first close-up look at the Gamecocks program. "South Carolina's facilities are beautiful, state of the art, best I've seen," he said. McKinney has not narrowed his list, which also includes offers from Nebraska, Michigan State, Southern Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Duke, Georgia Tech, Memphis and Vanderbilt. Right now McKinney does not have favorites though he's been looking the hardest at USC, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Michigan State and Southern Miss. He plans to take at least a couple of official visits before deciding.

Two of the state's top prospects, OL of Goose Creek and DL of Manning, were at USC on Friday to observe the camp. Shell is down to USC and Georgia, while Dukes has USC and Clemson among his favorites and plans to narrow his list to five in the near future.

ATH Sammy Watkins (6-2, 191) of Fort Myers, Fla., was at Clemson over the weekend for an unofficial visit. Watkins is regarded as one of the top prospects in the country and is projected as a receiver in college. Watkins has 54 offers. "I know Clemson is one of his favorites," said his coach Grant Redhead, who added he expects Watkins to take his official visits from the group of Clemson, Miami, Florida, LSU, Alabama and Michigan. Last season Watkins had 47 catches for 1142 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Also visiting Clemson over the weekend was ATH Kris Frost (6-3, 210) of Matthews, N.C. The Tigers like Frost as a linebacker, and he can also play receiver. Frost also likes North Carolina, LSU, Cal, West Virginia, Auburn and Southern Cal. He's not claiming favorites and plans to announce at the Under Armour All American Game.

LB (6-3, 230) of Gainesville, Ga., now has a top three of Clemson, Florida and Tennessee, and Florida may have moved to the front after Johnson's attendance at the Gators' camp Friday. He has also recently visited Tennessee and is unsure when he'll get back to Clemson. He plans to wait to near the end of his season to make a decision.

QB Phillip Ely (6-1, 186) of Tampa attended the Elite 11 quarterback camp in California last week and is now moving toward making a decision. Clemson, LSU, Wake Forest and Ole Miss are the four he's considering. Ely is 19-0 as a starting quarterback at Plant High School and has led his team to back-to-back state championships.

Clemson remains the favorite of LB (6-1, 215) of St. Augustine, Fla. He is also considering Florida State, Florida, Alabama, Rutgers, UCLA and Georgia Tech.

Clemson commitment RB of Punta Gorda, Fla., attended Florida's Friday Night Lights Camp and no doubt got a strong push from the Gator coaches to de-commit. But Bellamy said afterward he is firm with his Clemson commitment and cannot be turned.

JL Mann DB Pat Martin (6-0, 192) and Spartanburg DB Ronnie Martin (5-10, 175) hit the road again over the weekend. Pat was at Tennessee on Saturday for an unofficial visit. Tennessee and USC are his final two schools. He says a decision is close. Ronnie was at Florida on Friday for the Gators' Friday Night Lights Camp and he's hoping to land an offer from the Gators. He also was at Georgia recently for a camp and performed well but was not offered at the time. He has offers from USC, Nebraska, LSU, Illinois and Colorado. He's also camped at LSU and Alabama.

The news of USC tight end Weslye Saunders involvement with the NCAA's investigation of agents put a little scare into one of the Gamecocks' targets. "I like South Carolina a lot, but I talked to my mom and she said they had been in trouble recently and she wants to see how things shake out," said DE Darrius Caldwell (6-5, 205) of Atlanta. USC recruiter Lorenzo Ward contacted Caldwell's coach about the matter and that seems to have settled some nerves. Caldwell has not been to any camps or taken any visits this summer. Right now, he has a top five of Central Florida, West Virginia, Virginia, Ole Miss and Marshall. He wants to make his decision before the season.

DL Giorgio Newberry (6-6, 255) of Fort Pierce, Fla., has over 37 offers, including USC and Clemson. Others include Florida, Tennessee, Florida State, Alabama, Notre Dame, Stanford, and North Carolina. Newberry says he plans to narrow his list to 10 and both USC and Clemson have a shot of making that list. He does not have any favorites.

TE Drew Owens (6-3, 230) of Charlotte says his top five are Clemson, USC, Arkansas, N.C. State, and North Carolina with no favorite. He has moved up his timeframe for committing to October. He is unsure if he will take all five of his officials.

but says he will definitely take one each to Clemson and USC.

DL Roderick Byers (6-4 262) of Northwestern was at USC Friday and has the Gamecocks, Clemson, and Georgia Tech as his top three. Byers will visit Florida State in late August. He has offers from USC, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest, Texas Tech, and Oregon and is not claiming a favorite.

DB LaQuentin Smith (6-1 208) of Orlando recently visited Arkansas for a camp. Smith has a final three of USC, Arkansas and South Florida. There is no favorite among his final three and he plans to make a decision within a couple of weeks.

RB Marcus Caffey (6-0 184) of Atlanta had planned to attend USC's camp Friday but he decided to join his team for a seven on seven tournament in Hoover, AL instead. USC is among the schools standing out the most with him right now. The others are Wake Forest, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Arkansas. He doesn't have a leader.

DB Neville Hewitt (6-2 195) of Conyers, GA was also not able to make it to USC's camp Friday but continues to favor the Gamecocks and will make an official visit in the fall. He also has offers from Buffalo, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Delaware State and Memphis.

OL Max Lang (6-5 290) of Orlando was in for the USC camp. He's been strong on Texas Tech and South Florida. Lang also wants to visit Miami and South Florida before making a decision. Some of his other offers include Florida State, Arizona State, Duke, Louisville, Miami, Ole Miss, Rutgers and Syracuse.

DB Ahmad Christian (5-10 195) of Jacksonville, FL says he is ready to start narrowing his list. He has visited USC, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, and Vanderbilt. He's looking at Auburn and USC for two of his official visits. His offers are from USC, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Tennessee, South Florida, Ole Miss, Florida International, Marshall, Connecticut, and Purdue. He did not name a leader.

DB Douglas Middleton (6-0 185) of Winston-Salem, NC has offers from East Carolina and Marshall, and he continues to hear from USC where he camped earlier in the summer. He's also interested in NC State.

ATH Chris Milton (6-0 180) of Folkston, GA has not put much into his recruiting this summer and thus all the offering schools are still alive in his mind. He was at Florida State last Thursday. And he visited Wake Forest and North Carolina earlier in the summer. USC is among his offers and he wants to visit before the summer is over. He also wants to visit Tennessee. He also has offers from Maryland, Vanderbilt, South Florida, Purdue, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Louisville, Illinois, East Carolina and Duke. He plans to narrow his list during the season.

TE Craig Weick (6-6 220) of Byrnes has offers from Coastal Carolina and Liberty and favors the Flames right now. He's camped at Liberty and Marshall and visited Furman last week. He plans to see Western Carolina in a couple of weeks.

DL Joshua Walker (6-1 265) of Hampton, GA has visited Wofford and Furman and is hoping for an offer from them at some point.

USC target OL Trip Thurman (6-6 311) of Dover, DE committed to Florida Friday while at the Friday Night Lights camp.

BASEBALL NEWS:

Committing to Clemson for 2011 was pitcher Patrick Andrews of Hilton Head Prep according to the Island Packet. Patrick was named the MVP in World Wood Bat Association 17U National Championship Tournament. Last season at Hilton Head Prep, Andrews was 3-4 with a 1.95 ERA. He struck out 71 in 57.1 innings. He also has offers from North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Citadel, College of Charleston and Furman.

For the 2012 class, the Tigers have picked up a commitment from 1B Andrew Cox of Belton Honea-Path according to DiamondProspects.com. Cox batted .440 last season.

USC has landed MIF Joey Pankake of Easley for the 2011 class. He had de-committed from the College of Charleston about a week ago and was also being heavily recruited by Clemson and North Carolina. Pankake was the Region Player of the Year and was named All State.