Four-star LB commits to South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. (The Big Spur) - The South Carolina Gamecocks landed another commitment on Monday morning.

Four-star linebacker Stone Blanton, who’s been committed to play baseball at Mississippi State for nearly two years, announced that he will sign with South Carolina this week. According to the 247Sports Composite, Blanton is the No. 36-ranked linebacker in the class of 2022.

Blanton (6-1.5 229) had 125 tackles, including 26 for loss with 11 sacks and an interception during his senior season at Madison-Ridgeland Academy in Madison, Miss. Coach Shane Beamer and defensive coordinator Clayton White combined to reel in Blanton, who listed Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Texas A&M among his finalists.

“They want me playing middle linebacker, kind of leading the defense, stopping the run a lot,” Blanton said, following his official visit in June.

“Going out into coverage, obviously, but mainly a run-stopper, physical guy, playing the middle and controlling the defense.”

Blanton, an Under Armour All-American on the gridiron, is an outfielder who will also play baseball at South Carolina. With Blanton’s commitment, the Gamecocks football recruiting class moves up two spots No. 15 in the national recruiting rankings. Their team score of 217.51 is now sixth among SEC teams.

South Carolina hosted Blanton for two games this fall. He attended the opener against Eastern Illinois and the finale against Clemson.

“It’s different to see the coaches,” Blanton said, after the first game.

“You hear them talk how they are on game day in the summer, but to actually see them on game day and see them how they are with their players and stuff, it just kind of reassures you and gives you more confidence in them, belief in them and trust in them and they were everything they ever told me, so I really appreciated all that they did.”

He added, “It was just seeing the atmosphere and seeing the positive energy on game day, because they’ve preached that to me, all about positive energy and supporting their players and having trust in their players, pouring into their players. It’s one thing to say that over the summer, but to actually go in there on game day, you really feel the positive energy. You feel the change. You feel the confidence in the players that they have in the coaching staff.

“Then the swagger they kind of bring into the game. The defense starts with that pick and it’s just a great testimony to coach White and his defense and the offense came in there with a new quarterback, coach Beamer led them and did really well with that. Just to see them in action, that was kind of their pitch. They are who they say they are.”

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