2021 Rankings: Breaking Down the State
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Between the SCHSL’s conventional Upper/Lower State divisions or the much more involved region assignments based upon classification, there is an easier and still accurate way to break down South Carolina’s prep scene.
Everyone basically fits into either the Upstate, Charlotte suburbs, Midlands, Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), Pee Dee or Lowcountry. But which one has the most prospects? We’re about to tell you what the Class of 2021 rankings say.
Utilizing the top 100 spots, we can put a quantifiable figure to the cause. We’ll do that below, as well as mention a few of the top names from each region.
<strong>CSRA (4)</strong>
With mostly smaller schools, it’s no surprise that the area around the eastern suburbs of Augusta is the least represented according to this list. That doesn’t mean the zone is void of prospects. Wagener-Salley lineman [player_tooltip player_id="59306" first="Elijah" last="Davis"] and Strom Thurmond tight end [player_tooltip player_id="59307" first="Brandon" last="Williams"] are a couple of big bodies who would stand out wherever they played.
<strong>CHARLOTTE (10)</strong>
The area around Rock Hill and the rest of the southern Charlotte suburbs have produced some of South Carolina’s top recruits over the years, and 2021 is no different. Alabama commitment [player_tooltip player_id="59296" first="Robbie" last="Ouzts"], future South Carolina receiver [player_tooltip player_id="59300" first="O’Mega" last="Blake"] and York receiver (and Appalachian State commit) [player_tooltip player_id="59308" first="Da’Shawn" last="Brown"] are all inside the top 20.
<strong>LOWCOUNTRY (12)</strong>
The boon of athletes in the Lowcountry may not be rattling the top of the state rankings, but considering the zone placed 12 athletes in the top 100 with top representative chiming in at No. 35 (Coastal Carolina signee [player_tooltip player_id="59326" first="Malachi" last="Taylor"]), and you can clearly see some big influence in the final 65 spots of the top 100.
<strong>PEE DEE (14)</strong>
J.J. Jones, the North Carolina signee from Myrtle Beach, is part of this group. But so is [player_tooltip player_id="59295" first="Ahmari" last="Huggins-Bruce"], the Louisville commitment from the western portion of the zone in Dillon. There’s also talented Marion defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="59297" first="T.J." last="Sanders"] and West Florence defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="59301" first="Nykelius" last="Johnson"].
<strong>UPSTATE (26)</strong>
The state’s top player, Georgia commit [player_tooltip player_id="59291" first="Tyrion" last="Ingram-Dawkins"], is a part of this star-studded section of the state. But he’s certainly not alone in making waves. Fellow defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="59299" first="Jatius" last="Greer"] from Belton-Honea Path is also a top-10 pick soon headed for the college ranks. Add in the likes of [player_tooltip player_id="59302" first="Chance" last="Black"], [player_tooltip player_id="28442" first="Kobe" last="Paysour"], [player_tooltip player_id="59303" first="Jaydon" last="Collins"] and [player_tooltip player_id="59309" first="Andre" last="Goodman"] all inside the top 20, and you’ve got yourself the start of one heck of an all-star squad.
<strong>MIDLANDS (34)</strong>
The Midlands gets a huge boost from its population advantage and large number of schools, and that equates to a ton of prospects. [player_tooltip player_id="59292" first="Justus" last="Boone"], [player_tooltip player_id="59294" first="Joshua" last="Burrell"] and [player_tooltip player_id="59298" first="Thornton" last="Gentry"] each earned spots in the state’s top eight, with [player_tooltip player_id="59304" first="Kendall" last="Long"] just behind them at No. 14.
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