Pride meets Muschamp, evaluating options

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As the Holidays hit and the recruiting dead period arrives (after this weekend), Greer (S.C.) class of 2016 three-star cornerback Troy Pride knows he's going to have to narrow his list soon.

Pride, a long-time Virginia Tech commitment, re-opened his recruitment following Frank Beamer's retirement. Meanwhile, he's seen his recruiting stock continue to climb as offers have poured in from schools like South Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Ole Miss among many others.

The Gamecocks' previous staff offered the 6-foot, 185-pounder in November and on Tuesday new head coach Will Muschamp was in town as part of his tour of the Palmetto State.

"It was definitely good for them to come down and see me, them being the in-state school," Pride said. "He showed the true value that he sees in in-state kids. They're starting to get the state of South Carolina recruited. I definitely like that. There's a lot of great South Carolina talent. I definitely like the approach and that he came to see me on one of his first days on the job. I definitely like that approach moving forward."

Muschamp, who made the visit along with offensive line coach Shawn Elliott, reaffirmed the Gamecocks' offer to Pride.

"He said that he watched my film and he saw that I'm a dynamic player and that he wants me at the University of South Carolina," Pride said.

Muschamp's Florida squads featured dynamic, ball-hawking secondaries (the Gators had the best pass defense in the conference in 2013) built by then-defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson -- who is now the Gamecocks' defensive coordinator -- and Muschamp hopes to replicate that in Columbia.

"We did talk a little bit of a defense and he said that the defensive backfield is definitely a key, key area that he wants to improve," Pride said. "He said he wants guys that embody my skill set. He wants long guys that can run and he continued to drive home the fact that he wants guys like that who can help out the back end of South Carolina's defense. He wants me to get with his new defensive coordinator, Coach Robinson, so that we can coordinate about that. He said he wants to make a great defense, obviously, and that that's the direction it's going to have to take to win championships."

Pride, who has used just one of his official visits on a trip to Notre Dame, says he's currently open to all schools and is evaluating all that are interested --- but he knows the time to narrow the list is coming.

"Moving forward, I'm starting to try to narrow the schools of high interest down," Pride said. "I'm starting to make sure everything is in line, so I'm not scrambling around right before signing day. I want to have everything in order and have everything ready before, so that I can focus on my senior year of track and get mid-terms and everything done."

Pride, who will head to Spartanburg this weekend to begin practice for the annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, is looking at the possibility of taking official visits in January.

"I don't honestly know who I'm going to officially visit yet," Pride said. "I don't have anybody set up yet."

Pride is ranked the No. 11 prospect in South Carolina by Rivals.com

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