SB Nation User Blog: Charlestowne

Alshon Jeffery cleared to play.

Charlestowne — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:52:35 -0000

The big story I'm hearing today is that Alshon Jeffery has been cleared to play ball for Carolina. He received a high enough score on his last SAT, but we were still waiting on a summer class grade that was expected to come out this week. It seems that he has passed everything he needs to be cleared. Also, he will begin his career as a Gamecock by taking classes in Summer II, so he will be on campus to begin working with the team on Sunday.

This is great news for Carolina. Alshon has the physical skills to begin contributing this season. There has been some questions about how we would replace Kenney. While this does not answer that question. It will provide some very useful depth.

As for the Kenney question..... My personal belief is that while he is a special kind of talent, everyone had the same question when Sidney Rice left and Kenney was a virtual unknown on the roster. We may not be able to replace his talent level, but we'll be fine.

"He created 'Thriller', Man, 'Thriller'!"

Charlestowne — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:43:18 -0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8

"He created 'Thriller', Man, 'Thriller'!"

2010 Class to Date

Charlestowne — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:02:26 -0000

Its still early int he process (My God, its only June), but with 7 commits, our 2010 class is shaping up pretty nicely so far. With AJ Cann committing today, I'd like to take this opportunity to do a Mid-Summer look at our next class. Players after the Jump.

First off.... all my ranking information is from Rivals, and does not reflect the other ranking services. Also, rankings and star ratings will be adjusted several times before signing day and really truely bear no reflection on a players final status. (But it at least is an early pre-senior season indicator).

AJ Cann - Bamberg (SC) Bamberg-Ehrhardt - 4-star - #2 Center in the nation - This commit this morning is huge. At 6-3 260 he should grow into a good SEC lineman. He also had an impressive offer list including schools such as: Clemson, Tenn, Aub, Ala, FSU, Ok, Tex A&M, Va Tech, Ga Tech, Mich, NC, NC State, and others. He currently holds a 3.1 GPA which means he's an itelligent young man (important for the O-line) as well as low risk in the academing qualifiing front. Plus he's a highly sought after SC prospect that is staying in-state to play for the Gamecocks. This is big cinsidering the history of these types of athletes leaving the state and B-E's history of sending kids to Clemson.

Brandon Golson - St. Mathews (SC) Calhoun County - 6-2 200 - NR LB - When Brandon committed last week, it was kind of a surprise for everyone. His first offer was from the Gamecocks, and re committed the day he got it. The big part of this (even though I am sure that Brandon is a hell of an athelete on his own merit) is that he is Eric Mack's teammate. Reportedly, Golson's commit to the Gamecocks is very favorably effecting our standing with Mack. As far as Golson's abilities, we're just going to have to trust Shane Beamer's assesment of the kid considering the fact that the general public doesn't seem to know too much.

Kelcey Quarles - Greenwood (SC) - 6-4 250 - 4-star - #1 rated DT in the nation - We can thank Brad Lawing for this one. This is another huge pick up for the Gamecocks. Quarles had some academic issues earlier, but that seems to be behind him now. He's taking summer classes in order to lighten his load for his senior year to help him concentrate on football. I'm not really sure how that works, but if it works, it works. He also seems to be a natural leader, something we need more of on the USC roster. Kelcey seems pretty strong in his commitment to play in Columbia. He also seems happy to have the process over and doesn't want the pressure during his senior campaign. But he has stated, publicly, that he will welcome the recruiting visits from all coaches through out the process in order to increase the exposure of his teammates. The process is not over for Kelcey's services. Lawing will have to stay on him. But there is not currently any reason to worry that he may go somewhere else.

Conner Shaw - Flowery Branch (GA) - 6-2 195 - 3-star - #17 Dual Threat QB - Shaw committed in April, but visited the campus again on Tues. This time he brought some of his teammates with him. Even though none of the kids Shaw brought with him have current Gamecock offers, that could change in the future. Shaw also stated on his latest visit that recent commit of Dylan Thompson (see below) does not effect his decision and he will stay firm with his commitment. Conner was a standout QB in last months Athen's elite 11 camp. He also lead his highschool to victory in a 7-on-7 tournament there last week.

Sean Tapley - Jacksonville (FL) Raines - 6-0 170 4.42 Forty - 3-star - #67 ranked WR - Sean Tapley is the most troublesome commit on our board to date. I have read on the interwebs where Tapely has said that his commit to Carolina is at 60%. It seems that Tapley is using his commit as a placeholder while he looks aroung. It has also been rumored that he may be pulling his commitment soon and switching to Maimi. Two of his teammates are current Maimi commits. We'll just have to wait and see where this goes. My personal feelings are that while Tapley is a good athelete, his skill set isn't something we can't find somewhere else. If he does not want to be a Gamecock, then I'll feel sorry for him, but I wish him well wherever he chooses to go.

Dylan Thompson - Boiling Springs (SC) - 6-3 201 - 3-star - QB NR - USC was Dylan's first and only offer. However, he impressed Coach Spurrier enough during the USC camp that The Head Ball Coach offered a scholly. Thompson committed on the spot. This is another commit that not a lot is really known about (Other than he hails from the same high school as Phil Petty, not bad). Thompson played in only 6 games last season for the Bulldogs, but he was able to mass 1,300 yards in the air and 500 yards on the ground with 21 total TDs. Not bad for 6 games.

Elliot Williams - Milledgeville (GA) Georgia Military College - 6-6 285 - OT NR - If some of you have heard this name before its because Elliot was a 2008 commit. After finding out that one of his classes was not actually a prep class, we was declared a non-qualifier and placed at GMC. Elliot has been playing RT at GMC and is looking forward to finally making it to USC. He is not looking around at any other schools.

How are you going to spend your summer: Open Thread

Charlestowne — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:06:51 -0000

So... Spring practice is officially over. That means that we all have to find ways to spend the next couple of months. Luckily, its summer (my favorite time of the year) and finding good ways to pass the time seam to come pretty easy. I for one will spend the next couple of months partaking in a variety of activities. Surfing, beaching, boating, drinking, and maybe some traveling. Hopefully, by the time fall practice starts up, I'll be knee deep into grad school in Cola. (Keeping my fingers crossed)

What are all of ya'll's big summer plans? Go ahead, let us know.

Dabo at it again...

Charlestowne — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:58:16 -0000

The main stream of this site is covering spring practice fairly well, and as I cannot attend any of the practices personally, I really don't have anything to add. So, I am just going to complain about something.

Clemson's recruiting strategy is showing itself, again. Marcus Lattimore, a long time Carolina lean, visited Clemson over the weekend. (For the record, I am not one of those guys that gets bent out of shape everytime a recruit that likes The Gamecocks visits our rivals) According to an interview that Lattimore did with TigerIllustrated.com, Lattimore shared with Dabo that he was interested in majoring in Sports Marketing... Dabo proceeded to try to sell Marcus on Clemson's Sports Marketing program (a program they don't have) by claiming that Panther's owner Jerry Richardson went to Clemson. The fun part is that Richardson didn't go to Clemson... He went to Wofford. He was a star football player for Wofford in the 60's. I just really hope that someone talks to Marcus and sets the story straight.

Stop me if you've heard this one....

Charlestowne — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:45:44 -0000

A Rabbi, a Hindu, and a Hawkeye fan are all on a roadtrip together. Their car breaks down in front of the perverbial farm house. Since they are in the middle of nowhere and its in the middle of the night, they deciede to ask the farmer if they can stay the night. They knock on the door and the farmer agrees. However, the farmer says that he has only 2 extra beds and someone will have to sleep in the barn.

The Hindu says that he grew up in India very poor. His house, as a child, had a dirt floor and that he was used to sleeping in such conditions, so he volunteered to sleep in the barn. Five minutes later, the farmer answers a knock at the door and the Hindu states that there are cows in the barn. Since cows are holy and sacred to his people, he cannot sleep in the same place as a cow and must stay in the farmhouse.

The rabbi now volunteers to sleep in the barn. He says that he does not mind the idea and as long as he has a nice bed of hay to sleep on he will stay warm and comfortable. Again, five minutes later the farmer answers a second knock at the door. The rabbi firmly states that since there is a pig in the barn, and pigs are unclean animals, that he may not stay there.

The Hawkeye fan, seeing no other choice, agrees to sleep in the barn. He says that having gone to the University of Iowa, he is used to farm life and doesn't have a problem laying down with animals (especially if they are unclean, or sheep).

After another five minutes the farmer is forced to answer a third knock at the door. He opens the door...

and its the cow and the pig.

Jarvis Giles and recruiting

Charlestowne — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:17:20 -0000

I want to take a second to talk a little recruiting. (While I am pretending to pay attention during a meeting)

First, Jarvis Giles has declared his intent to become a Gamecock. This is outstanding news. One of the biggest needs for us is a speedy elusive back that hits the hole hard. (giggle) Baker does this for us a little now, but we could really use some depth here. I am very glad that Giles has decided to play his college ball in Columbia. Now if we can get a little more talent on the O-line and some depth at QB, we could be good to go.

That leads me into point 2. SOS era recruiting is looking pretty good. This is shaping up to be our 2nd top 10 , maybe top 5, class in four years. That's pretty impressive. I think that it is difficult for some fans to look at the record and the tough losses to see the direction and effort of Spurrier and his staff. HBC's took on a massive rebuilding project when he came here. (and I use rebuilding loosely here, more like 'building project') This is in a division that includes Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. He has had to work on talent and recruiting bases, fans, facilities, and bringing in an entire coaching staff on what was available at the time and then weed out the elements that were not helping us move forward. Don't get me wrong, all of our coaches over the last 4 years have been talented. But not all of them have fit Spurrier's system, coaching philosophy, and dedication. Being mediocre as a coach as well as a player does not cut it in the SEC. Being OK with mediocre means that you will be doomed to watch others shine. That is the nature of the business. Hell, its the nature of life. If you are going to perform on a weekly basis in this league, you need highly motivated coaches as well as players. When that doesn't happen, you have losses to Vanderbilt, Clemson, and lose by large margins to Florida. Hopefully, these things are changing. Hopefully we are becoming more like Florida and less like Mississippi State. Recruiting classes like this one are the foundations that these changes are built upon.

David Reaves is a Douchebag.

Charlestowne — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:20:28 -0000

As a general rule, I try to avoid the whole name calling thing.

That being said: David Reaves is a Douchebag.

I can understand that he gave Jarvis Giles a call. Giles used to be committed to Tenn. before the Doughnut King resigned and it makes sense to see if the kid is still interested now that they have a new head coach and a direction.

For Reaves to try and turn not just the open recruits that he was recruiting for South Carolina, but to actively persue the committed players in this class is douchbaggery of the highest caliber. So far, it hasn't really worked out for him. Not only are our committed players staying, but it looks like Giles may end up at South Carolina anyway.

I have to give props to Chris Payne (our first commit in this class, by the way) for sticking to his guns and having nothing to do with Reaves now that he's gone.

On another note, I am kind of glad that Reaves is gone. He was a good recruiting coordinator for us. But he was an awful QBs coach. Our QBs have not been getting quality coaching, or Smelly would be a lot better than he is in his 3rd year. The Gamecock QB situation needed a bigger shakeup than just Garcia getting some meaningful practice time. Hopefully this will help. Currently it looks like Spurrier is going to get more involved in the development side of the QB situation. That can only be a good thing in my opinion.

Fla and So Cal : SEC and Pac 10

Charlestowne — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:39:18 -0000

I saw a link in one of the Blogs last week that took me to a nice little article in the So Cal student newspaper. In this article, the author claimed that the current perception that So Cal's dominance over the Pac 10 was no longer impressive because of the talent gap between So Cal and the rest of the Pac 10. The author also claimed that this was Pete Carrol's fault.

The crux of the argument basically said that because of So Cal's dominance on the field and on the recruiting trail, the rest of the conference as deteriorated into mediocrity. Because of this mediocrity, beating up on the rest of the Pac 10 didn't impress poll voters anymore and hurts So Cal's standings nationally. Or at least, that's the perception. (Side note: The fact that Oregon State could win the conference if they win out kinda debunks this argument, by that's not the point here)

Why am I talking about this on an SEC blog or a USC blog?

Good question, with the performance we've seen out of Fla for the last couple of weeks (Average margin of victory for the last 6 games: 44.33) and the fact that many of the big play makers are underclassmen, I start to wonder when this type of on field dominance is going to end for Fla. If that's the case, does Fla do to the SEC what So Cal has done (supposedly) to the Pac 10? I don't think so. But its scary to think about.

Right now the SEC is the conference that recruits want to be in. Many of our bigger teams are known for recruiting nationally. If it stops being a hard fought conference, does that change? I hope not. One of the things I like about being a USC and SEC fan is that you never know who the top teams are going to be every year.

The Proudest Father Alive - Part 2

Charlestowne — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:12:38 -0000

Week 2:

	WVU 3	ECU 24
Total Yards	251	386
Pass Yards	72	243
Rush Yards	179	143
TOP	24:19:00	35:41:00

WVU	Pat White	11/18	72 yds	0 TD	0 Int
		20 car	97 yds	0 TD
	N. Devine	12 car	94 yds	0 TD

ECU	P. Pickney	22/28	236 yds	1 TD	0 Int
	J. Williams	17 car	69 yds	2 TD
	B. Simmons	16 car	50 yds	0 TD

Once again, WVU has some serious clock management issues. ECU out gains WVU by 135 yds total and 171 in the air. Pat White’s throwing performance isn’t bad. He completes 61% of his passes and gains 6.5 yards per pass. Not great, but obviously not being called to throw down field. This is odd considering how far WVU fell behind. Pickney had another stellar day exploiting the weakness in WVU pass defense that was exposed in week 1. He threw for 78.6% and averaged 10.7 yards per throw. I am beginning to believe that he is the real deal. Williams and Simmons combined for another fine day rushing for a total of 119 yards.

I think that WVU was seriously overrated beginning the year. I haven’t looked at the ranking for this week, yet. So I can’t comment on how much the consensus has reacted. I also don’t want to get into how much is coaching (i.e. Rich Rod, game planning, scheme, etc.) or how much is personnel since that’s a completely different post and I am grossly under qualified and don’t know enough about the team to comment. However, it seems that Pat White’s arm is being seriously under utilized. If WVU keeps this up, they are going to find themselves extremely predictable and in a world of pain. They still have Colorado, Rutgers, Auburn, Louisville, Pitt, and USF on the schedule. I wouldn’t look to far past Marshall either, at this point. I am certainly glad not to be a WVU fan right now.

ECU looks pretty good. Their defense has held its first two opponents to and average of 247 yards per game and their offense looks stout. This is against two teams that were supposed to be a lot better than ECU. If they keep this up, I expect we shall see them in a late season bowl game with a chance to really prove themselves. I don’t know who deserves the credit for either finding Pickney or coaching him up, but that man deserves a raise. Or an offer from South Carolina, I would love to have a QB that is a player like that on our team.