Top recruit has over 130 offers. Why South Carolina is ‘very high’ on his list

The South Carolina football team has surprised many in the recruiting world by landing five-star recruits in back-to-back signing classes.

Could David Sanders Jr. help the Gamecocks go three for three?

Sanders, the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 2 overall recruit in the Class of 2025, is just getting into the thick of his recruiting process. And a lot can happen between now and December 2024, when the star offensive tackle from Charlotte plans to sign early with his school of choice.

But for a decorated prospect who described his recruitment as “an even playing field” to 247Sports earlier this month, South Carolina is far from out of the race.

“They’re not taking the backseat to anybody,” Sanders, a rising senior at Providence Day School, told Rivals of USC back in November.

USC and coach Shane Beamer made huge splashes in the 2023 and 2024 recruiting cycles by landing five-star athlete Nyckoles Harbor (now a sophomore wide receiver) and five-star edge rusher Dylan Stewart (a January early enrollee) back-to-back.

For the 2025 class, the Gamecocks’ latest five-star target is Sanders, who turned in a dominant junior season for Providence Day and was named Gatorade’s High School Player of the Year for North Carolina.

Sanders (listed at 6-foot-7, 270 pounds) graded out at 93% for the season at left tackle and had 11 pancake blocks despite playing the season with a shoulder injury. He also had 24 tackles, four sacks and 32 quarterback hurries as a defensive lineman as the Chargers went 12-1 and won a private school state championship.

Andrew Ivins, 247Sports’ director of scouting, wrote that Sanders “has the skill set to emerge as a multi-year starter at left tackle for a contender” and compared him to Charles Cross, an All-American left tackle at Mississippi State and first round NFL Draft pick in 2022.

Sanders is the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 2 overall recruit in the 247Sports composite rankings, which factor in rankings from multiple websites, and is being pursued as such. At the start of the 2023 season, he had over 130 scholarship offers, per the Charlotte Observer.

In a January interview with 247Sports, Sanders said that Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee were the three programs standing out to him the most and he’d “probably” visit those three SEC schools for their junior day events in late January.

But, as Steve Wiltfong of the website wrote, “these aren’t the only three programs Sanders is keen on as several schools still have his attention.”

“Obviously Clemson is in there,” Sanders told 247Sports. “UNC has been doing a great job. Florida State, Ohio State, University of Southern Cal, Texas, South Carolina as well. It’s still an even playing field as of right now. Now that the ’24s are gone, the ’25s are seeing where everyone goes from here.”

South Carolina’s recruiting pitch

USC was on Sanders early and offered him a scholarship in January 2022, months after his freshman season at Providence Day in Charlotte. The Gamecocks were the fourth school and third Power Five school to offer Sanders, only behind Michigan and Florida State.

Despite South Carolina’s struggles in 2023 — the Gamecocks went 5-7 and 3-5 in the SEC and missed a bowl for the first time under Beamer — Sanders and his family gave glowing reviews of the program after a gameday visit at Williams-Brice Stadium last fall.

After taking in USC’s 38-28 win over Jacksonville State on Nov. 4, Sanders’ mother described the visit as “absolutely amazing” and said the family was “clearly a priority for the program.”

Later that month, in an interview with Adam Friedman of Rivals, Sanders gave a detailed breakdown of why he was attracted to South Carolina as a potential fit, hitting on a few factors including driving distance (USC is only 90 minutes from his house in Charlotte, the closest of any major school recruiting him).

“It’s pretty much just a straight shot,” Sanders said. “So if I want to go there by myself (to visit), I can do it. Now that I’m driving, I can do it by myself. That’s a pretty cool feature for me, to know if I was to pick South Carolina that I can see my family — each and every day if they wanted to, but certainly every weekend. … That would be awesome for us.”

Sanders went on to praise how the city of Columbia embraced him on his visit — a “We Want David Sanders” message popped up on the Cotton Gin sign in Five Points that weekend — and Beamer’s energy and charisma.

Sanders also took notice of how Beamer and offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley weren’t afraid to play young linemen. True freshman Tree Babalade started nine of 12 games at left tackle, and true freshman Trovon Baugh started eight games at right guard for USC.

“(Beamer’s) building a young class to be able to dominate the SEC, hopefully, in a couple of years,” Sanders said. “That’s one of those places I feel like you can go in and really contribute as a true freshman, walk in and compete for a starting job. South Carolina is definitely very high on my list just because of that aspect.”

Sanders — who hasn’t announced a list of finalists but has said he wants to commit to a school before his senior year — added that early playing time would be a “major factor in his recruitment.” He was impressed with how USC handled its offensive line development, allowing Babalade and Baugh to evolve into every-week starters.

“And they’re doing good in one-on-one battles with first rounders,” Sanders said in November. “I mean, they don’t look like they have a problem as freshmen. Obviously, that not only comes from coaching, but just their culture within the program.”

South Carolina football 2025 commits

Listed in order of commitment date

• 3-star WR Jayden Sellers, South Florence (SC)