SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

When Will Muschamp walks into the media room at Williams-Brice Wednesday afternoon, he’ll have NLIs from almost all of his 2019 recruiting class.

The early signing period starts tomorrow, meaning Gamecock commits will officially put pen to paper and sign with South Carolina as part of the newly-implemented signing period that came about roughly two years ago.

It’s taken some time to get adjusted to, but now colleges like South Carolina are signing the bulk of their recruiting classes in December as opposed to the tradition February signing date.

“I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest with you,” Muschamp said. “The recruiting calendar has always been more accelerated than it has in the past because of the dates and signing date being in February and you have young men taking their official visits their sophomore year of high school and you’re recruiting a guy two or three years before he’s signing a letter of intent.”

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Muschamp said Tuesday the Gamecocks are hoping to sign anywhere between 18 to 22 players in the 2019 class. Right now, after picking up a commitment Monday afternoon, they currently have 18 in the 2019 class.

That means there could be more than one player committing to the Gamecocks Wednesday at some point. If so, and the Gamecocks end up signing 22 players this signing period, it would only leave three available spots to fill come February to round out the class.

This is the second time the Gamecocks have signed the bulk of their players in the early period, inking 23 last December.

“I think it’s a been a good thing, number one. A lot of young men are ready to get it over with,” Muschamp said of the December signing period. “A lot of young men I’m talking to on the phone say, ‘Coach, I’m ready to get this over with. I’m tired of dealing with it. I’m tired of all the phone calls; I’m tired of coaches coming by school, coming by home. I’m ready to make my decision.’ Because the calendar is so accelerated, it fits well where it is and I think it’s a good thing.”

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Of the potential 18-22 players the Gamecocks will sign this week, Muschamp said he expects 13 or 14 of those to be mid-year enrollees.

Those players, headlined likely by Ryan Hilinski and Zaach Pickens, will arrive on campus in January and go through spring practice with the team while getting a head start on their college careers.

“In order to be mid-year you have to be recruiting the right kind of student athlete, which we are; (a guy) that’s had his stuff together that understands academics and has a maturity level to be ready for that situation, which is difficult to do. Then, two, you have to have room under your 85, which means you have to be graduating your student athletes.”

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The Gamecocks will also have a few players coming in December to go through bowl practice, including defensive end commit Devontae Davis, as they get ready to play in the Belk Bowl Dec. 29.