Who Are The Most Talented Teams In South Carolina?
In this article:
Every rankings update is its own embodiment of talent. We break them down by class and position, and then we go to work trying to illuminate the masses to what we’re seeing throughout the year. But a question that we…
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Continue ReadingEvery rankings update is its own embodiment of talent.
We break them down by class and position, and then we go to work trying to illuminate the masses to what we’re seeing throughout the year. But a question that we get asked most – Who has the most talent in South Carolina? – has never been broken down quite like this.
After kicking around multiple metrics (most players ranked, for example) in the past, we’ve found a method that will answer that question once and for all.
Well, at least for now.
Using January’s rankings update and a point system for each of the 508 players we’ve included in our rankings from the Class of 2023 right on down to 2026, we have a tangible figure assigned to every team in the state.
This was the numerical system we used for each rankings window:
1-25 – 15 Points
26-50 – 13 points
51-75 – 11 points
76-100 – 8 points
101-125 – 6 points
126-plus – 5 points
Translation: If a player was ranked in the top 25, he accumulated 15 points for his team. A player ranked from 26-50 doled out 13 points, and so on and so forth.
Obviously, this wasn’t some quick or easy task, given how many players we believe have earned a coveted spot in our rankings. Take a look for yourself.
Class of 2023: 248 players
Class of 2024: 151 players
Class of 2025: 73 players
Class of 2026: 36 players
Clearly, that’s a lot of data.
The only players we didn’t include were mid-year transfers, of which there have been more than a handful that we know about so far. In the case of those players, we removed them from the tallies of not only their previous schools, but their current ones. After all, player transfers are not guarantees, and often we see players make a decision for the spring and then make another before the next season fires up.
Now that you understand the process, it’s time to unveil what our numbers showed. Here are the 10 biggest collections of talent, with the points earned, the number of ranked players and each school’s top-ranked player:
School | Number of ranked players | Top ranked player |
10. Westside (82) | 7 | Cutter Woods Cutter Woods 6'3" | 185 lbs | QB Westside | 2025 State SC (No. 5 overall), 2025 |
T8. South Florence (87) | 9 | LaNorris Sellers LaNorris Sellers 6'3" | 215 lbs | QB South Florence | 2023 State SC (No. 2 overall), 2023 |
T8. Oceanside Collegiate (87) | 8 | Monroe Freeling Monroe Freeling 6'7" | 285 lbs | OL Oceanside Collegiate Academy | 2023 State SC (No. 1 overall), 2023 |
7. Myrtle Beach (93) | 11 | John Simmons John Simmons 6'3" | 200 lbs | WR Myrtle Beach | 2025 State SC (no. 12 overall), 2025 |
6. Byrnes (94) | 11 | Armoni Weaver Armoni Weaver 5'11" | 170 lbs | ATH Westside | 2025 State SC (No. 8 overall), 2025 |
5. Northwestern (102) | 11 | Jordan Knox Jordan Knox 6'4" | 295 lbs | OL Northwestern | 2023 State SC (No. 6 overall), 2023 |
4. Midland Valley (105) | 11 | Traevon Dunbar Traevon Dunbar 5'10" | 205 lbs | RB Midland Valley | 2024 State SC (No. 7 overall), 2024 |
3. Summerville (118) | 15 (most in state) | Ashton Allen-Hawkins Ashton Allen-Hawkins 6'1" | 175 lbs | RB Summerville | 2025 State SC (No. 43 overall), 2025 |
2. James Island (119) | 12 | Wushi Ravenel Wushi Ravenel 6'0" | 170 lbs | WR James Island | 2024 State SC (No. 15 overall), 2024 |
1. Greenville (122) | 10 | Mazeo Bennett Mazeo Bennett 6'0" | 170 lbs | ATH Greenville | 2024 State SC (No. 2 overall), 2024 |
Of course, this exactly same metric might turn up dramatically different results in a year. The Class of 2023 will have moved on, and the next crop of high school freshmen will be in place.
For now, though, we have our answer.
Over the next three weeks, we are going to break down the top 10, team by team, ranked player by ranked player. We’ll highlight positional strengths and describe what makes each program tick while giving you a glimpse of what its returning talent could accomplish in 2023.
Enjoy the ride, won’t you?