Brownell lands commitment

First year Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell is on the board with his first commitment from a player he recruited for Clemson.

The only player Brownell signed in the spring he had originally recruited for Wright State. But one of the first players he and his staff went after following their arrival at Clemson was 6-7 Bernard Sullivan of Charlotte.

He had been strongly considering the Tigers when Oliver Purnell was there, and Brownell made sure Sullivan knew he was still wanted.

"When they showed the commitment to him, he turned up the interest," said Sullivan's AAU coach John Perry. "He's real comfortable with the coaching staff and has a chance to go in and play right away."

Sullivan averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game last season.

"His back-to-the-basket post moves are strong," said Perry, coach of Team Charlotte. "He has a good mid-range jump shot from the elbow in. He can hit the three. And he's an excellent rebounder."

Sullivan is an excellent student and strongly considered Harvard, according to Perry. He also had offers from Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Virginia, USC and Davidson.

In other recruiting news:

6-6 David Rivers of Little Rock, Ark., said last week Clemson is his clear favorite over UTEP and Nebraska. Rivers talked to the Clemson coaches about a week ago and will be setting an official visit, probably for the Miami football game. "Clemson is number one," Rivers said. "They are under a new coach and I think it would be a great opportunity for me." He wants to take his visit to Clemson, and perhaps others, before making a commitment.

Newberry has signed guards Brunes Charles of Naples, Fla., Brock Walters of Jacksonville, Fla., and Pat Ryan of Orlando.

Football news

Blythewood RB Brandon Wilds (6-1, 220) committed to USC late last week, picking the Gamecocks over Illinois, Maryland and East Carolina. Wilds did not hold a press conference to announce his decision, and he didn't go on television or radio to proclaim the winner. He simply called the USC coaches and told them, and then he told his own coach. "I don't buy into all that hype," Wilds said. "That's why I didn't want to make a big deal of it." Wilds says he felt USC was the place for him. "It just feels like home and it is close to my home," he said. Wilds rushed for 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns last season. He is USC's 14th commitment for the 2011 class.

Clemson will definitely get a visit from OL Giorgio Newberry of Palm Beach, Fla. He told the Palm Beach Post four of his official visits will be to Clemson, Notre Dame, Tennessee and LSU.

WR Stanton Seckinger (6-5, 200) of Porter-Gaud is becoming a popular name on the recruiting scene. The Charleston Post and Courier reports Seckinger now holds offers from Clemson, N.C. State and Memphis, while USC, Georgia and Tennessee are showing interest in him. The Clemson offer is for a greyshirt where Seckinger would not go on scholarship until January 2012. Last season, Seckinger had 58 catches for 1095 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was also his team's leading scoring in basketball and won the state long jump championship in SCISA.

ATH Chris Milton (6-0, 180) of Folkston, Ga., says he's focusing on USC, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and South Florida from his 18 offers. Each of those five could get one of his official visits. He does not have a favorite.

RB Marcus Caffey (6-0, 184) of Atlanta has offers from USC, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Illinois State, Kentucky, Tulane, Minnesota, Purdue, West Virginia, Illinois and Wake Forest. He has not decided on official visits but said USC is a good possibility for one in September. He does not have a favorite.

OL Darrell Williams (6-5, 250) has a final five of USC, Florida State, South Florida, N.C. State and Ole Miss. He plans to get down to a final three soon and those will be the only official visit he will make. Florida State will be one of those final three and he said USC has a good chance to make the final three.

QB Shamier Jeffery (6-2, 190) of Calhoun County says he will take an official visit to USC, and he wants it to be his last one. He's also looking at Auburn, Kentucky, Georgia and Clemson for possible visits. Jeffery said USC continues as his favorite.

LB Cedric Cooper (6-2, 204) of Lithonia, Ga., says that USC and Clemson are two schools he is very interested in and he could take official visits to both. His offers are from USC, Clemson, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Middle Tennessee.

OL Marcus Jackson (6-3, 310) of Vero Beach, Fla., committed to Miami earlier this year but says he will take all five official visits. He's looking at USC, Florida State, Florida, Michigan State and Tennessee for those trips.

TE Jay Rome (6-6, 240) of Valdosta, Ga., may now be down to three schools, according to his father Stan Rome. "I think it's Clemson, Georgia and Alabama, in no particular order," said his father. "Florida could be in there, but I don't hear him talk about them nearly as much as the other schools." Rome said he expects his son will take official visits to Clemson and Georgia. He's not expecting a decision from his son until after the turn of the year.

DE Stephon Tuitt (6-5, 260) of Monroe, Ga., was at Clemson on Saturday to watch a friend perform at basketball camp and while there he spent some time with the Tigers football staff. He currently favors Georgia Tech over Notre Dame.

DL Maurice Couch (6-3, 290) of Garden City JC, Kan., says he will take all five of his official visits and he plans to see USC, Southern Cal, and Kansas for sure. The USC visit is set for the Alabama weekend and he will go to Southern Cal for the Notre Dame game. Couch said Ole Miss also is recruiting him hard. USC and Kansas are his top two.

ATH Sherman Ragland (6-1, 186) of Durham, N.C., is committed to Wake Forest but says he is considering taking an official visit to USC. He has offers from USC, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Virginia, South Florida, Duke and East Carolina. Ragland says USC is the only other school he is considering visiting outside of Wake Forest.

DB Wayne Lyons (6-0 ,185) of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., has scheduled his first official visit to UCLA on Sept. 18. He's also looking at Stanford and Auburn for visits. USC is among his other offers and is one of his 14 finalists. He's not sure if he'll set a visit with the Gamecocks.

USC made a strong push for DE Darius Caldwell (6-5, 205) of Atlanta, but he committed to Georgia Tech late last week after picking up an offer from the Yellow Jackets. Tech's new 3-4 defense was particularly attractive to Caldwell, who also considered Ole Miss, West Virginia and Central Florida.

Baseball news:

OF Reid Moman of J.L. Mann committed last week to USC for the 2011 class. Moman is a lefthander hitter who batted .412 and scored a team high 8 runs in the recently completed Big League World Series.

And committing to USC last week for the 2012 class was P/3B Jamie Callahan (6-3, 180) of Dillon. Callahan is rated among the top players in the state for his class one of the top prospects in the Southeast. Callahan is thought of as good athlete who could project as a front line pitcher for the Gamecocks. He's the fifth commitment for USC's 2012 class.