When South Carolina’s staff was finally assembled, the Gamecocks began hitting the recruiting trail hard and put together a 2021 class stitched together with a mix of high school players, JUCO prospects and transfer portal players.

With the class all but built, attention now turns to assembling the 2022 classes and beyond with both coordinators liking where things are heading right now.

“It’s going to be exciting. We would love to go out and get 12 commitments right now and talk about our stars and that great stuff,” offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said. “We’re recruiting kids who have never seen us play, coach or do anything. I mean there’s still a long way between now and signing day. We’re continually talking to guys, consistently talking to guys.”

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Since December the Gamecocks have landed eight transfer players, two high school prospects and two from the JUCO ranks.

All but one transfer is on campus—defensive back Carlins Platel will enroll before the season—and there are six high school players are still left to get to Columbia: Kolbe Fields, LaDareyen Craig, TJ Sanders, JonDarius Morgan, Caleb McDowell and O’Mega Blake.

Both junior college players, Bam Scott and Isaiah Norris, will enroll sometime over the summer as well.

“We’re very pleased with some of the guys we’re bringing in,” defensive coordinator Clayton White said. “I’m very pleased with the way things our going with the current state of our country with the pandemic. We can’t go out and recruit and evaluate. It’s a lot of different ways to evaluate kids and we like what we’re seeing.”

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The Gamecocks are still exploring the transfer portal for potential additions but the focus now turns to the 2022 class.

They have one commitment in the group already—four-star defensive back Anthony Rose—but Satterfield said the staff is going to be patient and find the guys who fits what they want to do.

“Just cause they’re going somewhere now doesn’t mean they’re going to en up there. We’re not going to panic. The worst thing we can do right now is panic and try to get names on a list that may not fit what we’re looking for,” he said. “We’re heading in the right direction. We have some really good relationships built and I think it’ll only go up from there.”

A potentially big boost for South Carolina could come this summer with the NCAA debating whether or not to allow prospects to begin visiting programs at the start of June.

That would allow coaches to first off evaluate players if there is a camp circuit but also get them around the coaching staff in person instead of on a virtual call.

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“It’s going to be very important to get these guys on campus so they can see our facilities. Some of these guys in the class of 2022 may not have been here,” White said. “Class of 2021 guys may have gotten recruited in January before the pandemic but the 2022s did not or the chances are slim. It’d be nice to get these guys on campus. Obviously if you get a chance to have a camp and work them out, that’d be even better.”