‘We need you.’ South Carolina commits making plea to land five-star Dylan Stewart
South Carolina had one of its biggest recruiting events of the summer this weekend and Josiah Thompson was keeping a close eye on one specific prospect.
Thompson, the Dillon offensive lineman who committed to USC in April, made sure he spent a lot of time with five-star defensive end prospect Dylan Stewart at the cookout Friday at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The event included some of the USC’s top prospects for Class of 2024, 2025 and 2026 and featured games including a scavenger hunt.
The Gamecocks are one of the favorites to try and land Stewart, the five-star defensive end. Stewart has visited USC multiple times including his official visit back in June.
Thompson and the other commits for the Class of 2024 made another plea with him over the weekend. USC has yet to land a defensive lineman for the class. According to the 247Sports composite rankings Stewart is the 10th-best player in the Class of 2024.
“Come here man, we need you. Iron sharpens iron. We got the tackles, now we need a defensive end,” Thompson told The State on Sunday, recalling his message to Stewart. “We can help each other become great, especially at the next level. It would be a great get for us.”
Stewart has USC, Ohio State, Georgia, Miami and Maryland as his finalists. He’s taken official visits to each one except Maryland. All five remain in the hunt.
Mike Hunter, Stewart’s coach at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington DC, told Sports Talk’s Phil Kornblut that his player doesn’t have a timetable for making his decision and each of the schools have done a good job in trying to land him.
“I think all of them have done such a good job of recruiting him. It’s kind of hard to eliminate anyone as opposed to picking a school,” Hunter said. “Hats off to all the coaches and staffs who have been recruiting him. They’ve made it pretty tough for him to eliminate schools at this point. I told him that’s part of the business. Got to say no to someone.”
Getting Stewart would be a huge boost for the Gamecocks’ class, which includes eight four-star prospects ranked by 247Sports including Thompson.
USC is ranked No. 24 in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports’ recruiting rankings.
“This class is special and it is showing with a lot of four and five-star recruits coming to South Carolina,” Thompson said. “It just shows you South Carolina can continue to be something great in the future in college football.”
After spending Friday at USC, Thompson was back on campus on Sunday to participate in High School Sports Report’s Media day to talk about the upcoming season. The 6-foot-6, 280-pounder said things have slowed down a bit since he committed to USC and he has been focused on getting ready for his senior season.
Thompson, the No. 1 recruit in the state and No. 54 national recruit per 247Sports, said some of the areas of emphasis he has been working on is getting faster, stronger, hand placement and becoming more explosive.
He also would like to get a championship ring before he leaves Dillon. The Wildcats haven’t won a title since 2017.
“Want to really win that state championship, especially coming up short in the lower state last year,” Thompson said. “We have been working hard and are ready to make a run.”
South Carolina football 2024 commits
July 2, 2022: QB Dante Reno — Windsor, Conn.
Jan. 22: OT Kam Pringle — Dorchester, SC
Jan. 24: TE Michael Smith — Savannah, Ga.
Jan. 27: LB Wendell Gregory — Marietta, Ga.
Feb. 3: WR Mazeo Bennett — Greenville, SC
March 31: OL Blake Franks — Greenville, SC
April 14: OL Josiah Thompson — Dillon, SC
April 19: DB Kelvin Hunter — Florence, SC
April 19: CB Braydon Lee — Upper Marlboro, Md.
June 12: P Mason Love — Riverside, Mo.
June 17: LB Fred Johnson — Norfolk, Va.
June 23: RB Matthew Fuller — Jesup, Ga.
June 26: DB David Bucey — Savannah, Ga.
July 30: WR Zy’Marion Lang — Palmetto, Fla.
