Bailey chats with Spurrier

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SPARTANBURG - Class of 2015 Summerville (S.C.) four-star offensive lineman Zack Bailey has said for some time that he's solid in his commitment to South Carolina and maintained that that's still the case following the South Carolina Shrine Bowl team's 21-12 victory Saturday afternoon.

Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier has been checking in with South Carolina's commitments over the last few weeks and Bailey says he spoke with Spurrier on the phone earlier this week.

"He was just telling me that he's real happy to see me and he wants to get me up there as fast as he can," Bailey said. "The defense is coming."

Bailey of course saw Spurrier's comments about being at South Carolina for 2-3 more years and then his most recent comments that he's "back on the 4-5-year plan."

"That's fine by me. If he says 4-5 or 2-3, that doesn't really matter to me, because I'm going for schooling," Bailey said. "But I don't really see him leaving any time soon, because football and coaching is a passion that you have and you're not just going to give it up like that. I think he'll be there for a little bit longer than that."

Bailey, who was one of the top performers at this week's Shrine Bowl, says he's not locked in his official visit date with the Gamecocks yet, but it stands to reason that he will take it on the weekend of Jan. 23 with the other commitments.

"It's good, because to be honest I haven't gotten a chance to hang out with all the boys a whole lot," Bailey said. "When I go up to the games I normally leave, just traffic-wise trying to get home and stuff, it's still an hour and a half drive back home. But to get to hang out with the guys a little bit, get to see how they live, and see what kind of things I'm going to have to do when I come in, things like that."

Bailey, who also spoke with offensive line coach Shawn Elliott this week, is looking forward to the next step in his career when he enrolls at South Carolina this summer.

"Definitely just get stronger, get faster, player harder and just come in full force and try and take someone's spot," Bailey said. "That's my goal. I don't want it given to me, I want to fight for it, so that it's my achievement."