Detailing South Carolina's Commitment To The DMV Area

The DMV is a recruiting hotbed full of elite prospects, and South Carolina has targeted their efforts toward that region.

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There are several hot spots for talent nationwide, but few are better than the DMV area. Several high-caliber names emerge each year, and South Carolina is firmly involved with many.

Coaching staffs typically prefer to recruit their home state the hardest, sometimes venturing into the surrounding areas. The Gamecocks do an excellent job of this, taking mainly South Carolina kids and a moderate amount of southeast products.

Each staff usually picks an area far away from the program to pluck elite talent. Sometimes that's California, the midwest, or the northeast. For Carolina, it's the DMV area, and it has served them quite well.

Head coach Shane Beamer and company are after several names from there. They already have multiple commits in the fold but could continue their winning ways and seal off the region.

• Nyckoles Harbor, TE/EDGE
• Dylan Stewart, EDGE
• Desmond Umeozulu, EDGE (Commit)
• Zahbari Sandy, S (Commit)
• Oluwatosin Babalade, OT (Commit)

These are just some of the names the Gamecocks have pursued in recent years. The list should expand in the future, especially if they can land tight-end Nyckoles Harbor, one of the best prospects in the country.

A staff's ability to recruit nationally directly reflects its success. It's easy to pitch a prospect one hour away why your program is special, as they likely grew up hearing stories about your success.

Going hundreds of miles away is a much different story. The garnet and black logo resonates with kids who grew up dreaming of playing Big Ten football, a significant achievement for a program on the rise.

Despite the known commodities in the DMV, many schools prefer to go out west. If South Carolina can become the premier SEC school for DMV talent, they should gain a lot of ground quickly, as they get access to a pool that most southeastern programs aren't seriously looking at.

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