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The South Carolina Gamecocks learned on Thursday afternoon that one of their top signees for the class of 2014 will not be able to enroll this fall. Army All-American and four-star defensive end Dante Sawyer will not be attending South Carolina this fall, but will instead have to attend East Mississippi Junior College in Scooba, MS.
The Georgia native was one of the top recruits last year for the Gamecocks 2014 class as the 6-foot-3, 260-pound pass rusher committed to South Carolina over Alabama, Auburn and Georgia on Dec. 17. Sawyer was projected to crack the rotation in Columbia this fall as the Gamecocks have to replace many of their defensive ends, including all-American Jadeveon Clowney, who declared early for the NFL Draft.
Junior Gerald Dixon and sophomore Darius English are currently the top two contenders for the defensive end positions this upcoming season, along with incoming freshman Blake McClain and three-star transfer defensive end Jhaustin Thomas.
Sawyer was rated as the fifth-best defensive end in the nation as he showed his worth in the Army All-American game in January, recording a pair of sacks. He was a part of a Gamecocks recruiting class that finished 16th in the nation and ninth in the SEC in 2014 and included 10 four-star recruits.
Sawyer has four years to play and can now sign with any school he chooses since he is attending junior college. The recruiting process opens back up for Sawyer, and I would expect teams to begin openly recruiting him again throughout the summer and fall. The Gamecocks will obviously once again be the team to beat, but do not be surprised if Sawyer decides to look at other schools the second time around.
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