Myrtle Beach quarterback Luke Doty finds home at South Carolina
After taking multiple visits to the University of South Carolina, Myrtle Beach (S.C.) class of 2020 four-star quarterback Luke Doty decided he might want to stay a while.
Fresh off his most recent visit to the school Monday, the 6-foot-1, 188-pounder committed to South Carolina Tuesday, ending his recruiting process.
"There were a few key reasons," Doty explained. "The coaches have always been really, really good to us and they've been there from the beginning. That was actually the very first place we went to on a recruiting visit, so that played a big part of it.
"Another thing was being able to play for my state school. We sat down and talked about some things as a family and I think that was one of the biggest things was having the honor to play for my state and being able to represent my state at South Carolina.
"The third thing I think was being able to get a great education. For what I want to do, they have an excellent program. There are multiple pathways that I can go with it."
Doty, ranked the No. 7 pro-style quarterback in his class, chooses the Gamecocks over offers from Auburn, Florida State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, TCU, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
Doty was recruited to South Carolina by quarterbacks coach Dan Werner, who took over his recruitment from former offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, who originally offered at the beginning of last football season.
"It started in the winter when we went up for a practice and it's really kind of grown from there," Doty said. "He came down to watch me throw during spring practice and I think that's what really kind of kicked it off. We started talking every week and staying in constant communication and really continuing to build the relationship that we've always had there. I think that's definitely been important."
Doty will now turn his attention to his junior football season at Myrtle Beach and to recruiting others to join him in the class.
"We asked them, 'Hey what's the next step?' and they said, now you just help us recruit other guys in your class and I think I'm definitely going to take advantage of that," Doty said. "I think with my personality and being from this state, I think I can definitely make an impact with some of those guys and their decisions."
Doty joins RB Mecose Todd, OL Tyshawn Wannamaker and OL Issiah Walker as the fourth commitment in the Gamecocks' 2020 class.
Doty is ranked the No. 242 overall prospect in the 2020 class and the No. 4 prospect in the state.