Take Two: Is MarShawn Lloyd a lock for South Carolina?
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Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
THE STORYLINE
South Carolina pulled off a major recruiting victory in May when four-star running back MarShawn Lloyd committed to the Gamecocks.
Almost every national program was going after the Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha standout, but the Gamecocks won out and one big reason was because of Lloyd’s growing relationship with running backs coach Thomas Brown.
That could go a long way as Lloyd navigates through the next few months of the recruiting process especially as other powerhouse programs try to sway the talented four-star running back.
There continue to be rumors about Lloyd taking visits to Georgia and Penn State. Maryland is not going to give up. And others could stay involved as well. Lloyd has said he plans to stick with South Carolina, but added that some trips could happen without giving specific dates.
Georgia recently landed a commitment from five-star running back Kendall Milton, but the Bulldogs have eyed two backs in this class. Penn State received pledges from four-star RB Caziah Holmes and four-star ATH Keyvone Lee, who could play running back, so the Nittany Lions might be slipping a bit.
Will Lloyd take visits and make his recruitment interesting through the fall? Or has South Carolina locked up one of the best running backs in the 2020 class for good?
FIRST TAKE: WES MITCHELL, GAMECOCKCENTRAL.COM
"MarShawn Lloyd's surprise commitment to South Carolina on Memorial Day hasn't stopped other teams from continuing to pursue the four-star back. Anytime a prospect is taking official visits to other programs - particularly ones like Georgia and Penn State that produce big-time backs - it's going to be something worth tracking and keeping an eye on. From the South Carolina perspective, Lloyd hasn't given the Gamecocks much to worry about. He maintains a strong relationship with running backs coach Thomas Brown - that hire was a big reason the Gamecocks landed him in the first place - and has made it clear that he wants to create his legacy at a place like South Carolina rather than follow in the footsteps of others. Lloyd has also helped recruit others to South Carolina. As long as the Gamecocks have a solid season on the field, my feeling is that Lloyd ends up sticking with his initial commitment to Carolina."
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“I think he sticks. Georgia could very well get Zachary Evans to go along with Kendall Milton and I don’t know what that would do with Milton and whether he’d be excited about playing together with another five-star.
But I think Lloyd is in a good situation at South Carolina. He would be the bell cow there and he’s the highest-ranked running back that the Gamecocks have gotten in a while. I think they want two running backs at South Carolina, so they can’t afford to lose Lloyd in this class.
“Based on schools he’s looking at and the schools he might visit I don’t think he’s going to flip. It would be huge to keep him since he’s a top 50 kid from Maryland, so for South Carolina to get him would be big. He could have an impact like Mike Davis had for the Gamecocks.”