The South Carolina football team welcomed home 16 new Gamecocks from their respective high schools in the early signing period over winter break.
The Gamecocks' 2024 class currently ranks No. 19 nationally and No. 10 in the SEC. Among some of the conference foes ahead of South Carolina, the team ranks behind Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, each of which the Gamecocks will play in 2024.
“We got winners,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “Six of them, in our signing class, played in their state championship game — the high school seniors. So that’s great.”
South Carolina’s newest players include two five-star, seven four-star and seven three-star athletes.
“It’s a smaller class, but if you just look at the quality of the people in the class, it’s an extremely highly-ranked group, as it should be,” Beamer said. “It’s a close group, and it’s a low-maintenance group, which is what I love.”
Beamer said the commits had a competition the night before signing day to see who could submit their national letter of intent to the school first. Beamer said four-star wide receiver Mazeo Bennett from Greenville, SC turned his in first at 7 a.m. on Dec. 20.
“There’s like a different level that he reaches ... when competition starts. So I’m excited about adding that to our program without a doubt,” Beamer said.
Beamer said three-star quarterback Dante Reno turned his papers in second on signing day. Reno committed to the team on July 2, 2022, making him the first recruit of the 2024 class. Reno is from Fiskdale, MA, and his father, Tony Reno, is the head coach of Yale’s football team.
Before Reno's commitment, his father advised him to play at a school with a stable head coach and somewhere he could win.
“He’s grown up around the game, and (I) love having coach’s kids on the team because there’s not much that they haven’t seen,” Beamer said. “He’s battle-tested, even though he hasn’t played at the college level yet.”
Similar to Reno's preparedness for collegiate football, Beamer said five-star edge Dylan Stewart has the "body type" to be successful for South Carolina and that he's "put together already."
Stewart is the first of the two five-stars for the Gamecocks and comes in at No. 14 among all 2024 recruits. Fellow five-star offensive tackle Josiah Thompson is close behind at No. 26.
“Obviously getting Dylan Stewart is a huge pick-up for us,” Reno said. “He’s one of the best players in the country, if not the best defensive lineman in the country.”
Stewart committed to South Carolina on Aug. 1, 2023 and said he “stayed solid” throughout his commitment and paid no mind to other schools that reached out.
“They’re expecting me to come in and play,” Stewart said. “Of course, learning first and getting everything under the belt, but come in and play and have an impact.”
Joining Stewart on defense is four-star athlete Jalewis Solomon from Ellaville, GA. Solomon went to Schley County High School which made it to the semi-final game of the 1A state championship tournament.
“He is built different,” Beamer said. “A lot of guys, when you’re recruiting, they talk about what their goals are and what they’re going to accomplish as a player in your program, and you believe all of them, but when (Solomon) says it, you know it’s going to happen.”
Beamer said Solomon could play on offense, defense or special teams, but will begin as a cornerback for the Gamecocks.
Solomon is one of the seven defensive commits in the class and is joined by eight offensive players and one punter — three-star Mason Love from Riverside, MO.
Beamer also pointed out the unique connection between the 2024 class.
“These guys committed and stayed that way and got tight,” Beamer said. “(They) were at a bunch of our home games, and it’s as close a signing class coming in of guys that I can remember. They’re very focused.”
South Carolina will have another chance to add to its 2024 recruiting class when the regular period for signing opens on Feb. 7 as it looks to improve upon its last season.