Gamecock Digest

Jontae Gilbert On Recent Visit To South Carolina: "It Really Felt Like Home"

2025 five-star defensive back and South Carolina Football target, Jontae Gilbert, dishes on his recent visit to Columbia.

Fisher Brewer

Jontae Gilbert On Recent Visit To South Carolina: "It Really Felt Like Home"
Jontae Gilbert On Recent Visit To South Carolina: "It Really Felt Like Home" /

Shane Beamer and South Carolina's Football coaching staff are going to have a chance to close the deal with multiple blue-chip 2024 prospects at their annual Summer cookout event on Friday night, but there are also some high-level 2025 guys that the Gamecocks are heavily in the game for. One of their top priorities for this next cycle is five-star defensive back Jontae Gilbert from Atlanta, Georgia, who is committed to Ohio State but has visited South Carolina multiple times in the past month.

Jontae was initially scheduled to attend the cookout on Friday but changed plans and decided to visit on Thursday, a visit that did take place per Gilbert's social media activity.

When reaching out to Jontae to get an initial reaction to his latest visit to Columbia, the Georgia native pointed to his growing bond with the defensive coaching staff and how the players finished out their Summer strength and conditioning program.

"The things that stood out today [were] the meetings and talks I had with the defensive coaching staff, and I got to see the guys finish their last of the summer workouts, which was really intense."

As noted earlier, Gilbert has become quite familiar with South Carolina's Football program this year. Although he's currently an Ohio State commit, when asked where the Gamecocks stand in his recruitment, Jontae conveyed that they're right there alongside the Buckeyes.

"[They're] really high [up there], next to Ohio [State]. It really felt like home today honestly."

While Gilbert might be looking ahead to Fall camp with his Douglass Astro teammates, he plans to make even more trips to South Carolina this Fall with one prominent matchup on his mind.

"I know for sure [I'll be there for the] Clemson game, and a game before that."

With the upgrades that have been made to Williams-Brice Stadium over the past couple of years, most notably the LED lights, it's safe to say that the Gamecocks would like to be able to put on a show for the rising junior as Torrian Gray continues to try and load up in the defensive secondary.

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Fisher Brewer
FISHER BREWER

Fisher has been covering the Gamecocks for 5 years as a freelancer under the name of USCTalk, a popular page in the Carolina community that led to his first reporting job for Rivals.com. He left to go back to being a freelancer and then, a year later, joined the Sports Illustrated family in January 2023.

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