Richardson ready to roll

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The South Carolina Gamecocks are represented well at the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, and one of its biggest stars in the game is Rivals100 member Quintin Richardson. Through the few two days, Richardson is working hard, having fun and talking up the Gamecocks.

"Everything has been great so far," Richardson said. "It is our first day of practice and everyone is just getting acquainted. The flight was good, and we are about to go out tonight, so we are just having fun down here.

"I have already learned so much about pass blocking. Hoover High School does it a little different than we did, and it has really worked from them. They have taught me and all of us a lot already. That is really what I have learned the most of so far. Practice went real well overall."

Richardson has already been recruiting for the Gamecocks.

"My main two targets are Carlos Dunlap and Chris Culliver and I think we (South Carolina) have a good shot at them right now," Richardson said. "I am making sure I keep a buzz about Carolina in their ear so we can reel them in."

He met another future Gamecock for the first time on Sunday.

"Joseph Hills came up today, and I met him for the first time," Richardson said. "He is big, tall, and a good looking athlete. I have been hanging around Stephen Garcia and Cliff Matthews a lot, too. Both are my future teammates at South Carolina, and they are cool guys."

Richardson is meeting some guys he will play against down the road.

"I am really looking to get to know everybody down here," he said. "We have a lot of SEC talent down here, so I will play with and against a lot of these guys in the future. I am getting to know a lot of those guys down here this week and I am learning about them as players too. It will be fun to know these guys in the future when we line up against each other."

Fun is fun, but Richardson from Columbia (S.C.) Spring Valley is ready for game-day already.

"It is hard not to hit anybody out there, so I can't wait for Thursday," he said. "We are all All-Americans, so we don't want anybody to get hurt, but at the same time, we try to show all of our ability. I just have to hold all the hits in until Thursday."

He explains how it feels to be chosen as an All-American.

"It is just beautiful. It is a blessing really because there is a lot of guys that would love to be here. Others work just as hard as we did, but they didn't make it, so it is just a blessing to be here for me."

Richardson had this to say to the West.

"Just be ready," he said. "Be ready for some smash mouth football. The offensive linemen are big, the defensive linemen are big, the linebackers are fast, and they need to be ready to be hit in the mouth. We are going to show them how we play football in the South."