{"id":16946,"date":"2019-02-07T16:04:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-07T21:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/?p=16946"},"modified":"2019-02-08T14:23:39","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T19:23:39","slug":"alumni-success-influences-next-gamecock-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/alumni-success-influences-next-gamecock-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni success influences next Gamecock generation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.91&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;0px|0px|0px|0px&#8221; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;2px|0px|8px|0px&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.47&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.92&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;2px|0px|37.9062px|0px&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0px|0px|18.9531px|0px&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;10px|||&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.92&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;News Story&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.19.7&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;0px||0px|&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While debuting his third recruiting class on National Signing Day, South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp was quick to offer praise to a Gamecock who roamed the field at Williams-Brice Stadium a few years<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">before Muschamp arrived on campus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lover of good defense, Muschamp broke down<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">former South Carolina stand-out Stephon Gilmore\u2019s significant plays at cornerback for the New England Patriots in Sunday\u2019s Super Bowl and reinforced Gilmore\u2019s continued connection to the program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cHe\u2019s an outstanding player, and a great ambassador for our school,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Muschamp\u2019s comments were not surprising to those who keep up with the team on social media, where the program has been promoting Gilmore\u2019s performances throughout the NFL postseason.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Legend. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XwlwgRMgyw\">pic.twitter.com\/XwlwgRMgyw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GamecockFB\/status\/1092461081094750209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 4, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In an era where fans and programs alike breathlessly follow the latest news on recruits, promoting powerful alumni has become another weapon in the fight for the nation\u2019s best high school athletes, said USC journalism assistant professor Kevin Hull. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey have really gone all in on social media; a lot of the top programs have,\u201d said Hull, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">who researches the intersection of sports and social media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although social media is a factor in recruiting, Muschamp is also a proponent of keeping former stars around the program in a literal sense. That strategy was put into action with the debut of the team\u2019s new operations center, which features designated space for former Gamecocks to work with current players.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI wanted that before this building was ever built,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a former players locker room that is spacious enough for over 20 guys to be here at any one time to be a part of any team drills that they want to be a part of and to positively affect our guys.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, Muschamp said part of his recruiting strategy is to motivate potential commits to want to surpass the achievements of their predecessors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI tell recruits all the time, \u2018Come be the first, not the next. Come be a part of the first SEC Championship team. Our road is a little tougher, a little rougher and a little bumpier. It\u2019s not as smooth as some places, but you can come here and have great success,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gilmore is the latest former Gamecock to get national attention, but the strategy isn\u2019t just limited to football.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-16982\" src=\"http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/0207RecruitingG1_MRREVISED-213x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"213\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/0207RecruitingG1_MRREVISED-213x300.jpg 213w, https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/0207RecruitingG1_MRREVISED.jpg 582w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After sending six players to the WNBA in the last five years, including league rookies of the year Allisha Gray and A\u2019ja Wilson, women\u2019s basketball coach Dawn Staley\u2019s 2019 recruiting class boasts three of the top ten players in the nation. It\u2019s a group that ESPN wrote \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">could be considered among the best of all time\u201d in terms of recruiting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the diamond, the Gamecocks continue to reap the rewards of their success under former coach turned athletics director Ray Tanner, which included back-to-back national championships in 2010 and 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We&#39;re 9\u20e3 days away from Opening Day!! We had nine guys in &quot;The Show&quot; last year and can&#39;t wait for that total to grow in 2019!! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Gamecocks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Gamecocks<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForeverToThee?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ForeverToThee<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YZssqbiAEp\">pic.twitter.com\/YZssqbiAEp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Gamecock Baseball (@GamecockBasebll) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GamecockBasebll\/status\/1093161139914055680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 6, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two of Tanner\u2019s former stars, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Steve Pearce, played critical roles in the Boston Red Sox run to a World Series title in 2018. And both spoke publicly throughout that run about how their time as Gamecocks prepared them for the big stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt was just about winning,\u201d Bradley Jr. told the media about his four years in garnet and black. \u201cNo one cared about anything else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Spurs Up !! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FDfBnmBnSp\">https:\/\/t.co\/FDfBnmBnSp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ray Tanner (@RayTannerSC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RayTannerSC\/status\/1052369687248596992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 17, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hull said moments like those provide indirect recruiting tools for South Carolina athletics, especially in the era of social media. Today\u2019s recruits are typically active on Twitter and other platforms, he explained, so teams can use them to make sure they notice when a former Gamecock stands out in the pros.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEvery tweet they send out is really geared at recruits first,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Carolina\u2019s 23-person football recruiting class features five in-state players, including South Carolina\u2019s \u201cMr. Football\u201d award winner, DL Zacch Pickens. Other high-profile recruits include QB Ryan Hilinski, ranked the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in his class, and DB Shilo Sanders, the son of former NFL and MLB stand-out Deion Sanders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under Armour All-American DL Jaquaze Sorrells rounded out the 2019 class on National Signing Day, choosing the Gamecocks over multiple other teams including Alabama.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On National Signing Day, the success of Gamecock alumni at the next level helped the program put together a top 20 recruiting class.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":17019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[46,38,69,41,66],"tags":[519,520,521,108,522,523],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16946"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16946"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17078,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16946\/revisions\/17078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}