Rankings Sneak Peak: 2027s About to Join Our List

In honor of the five-site Prep RedZone Media Days series this June and July, we're giving everyone a 50% offer code on all subscriptions throughout July 31. Get access to more than 100 team previews and everything else we have in store for readers as we gear up for the 2026 football season. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/subscribe">Simply head to our subscription page</a> and use the code "przscmediaday2026" at checkout to take advantage of the savings.   We're less than a month away from cranking up our summer rankings update.   On August 12, at least 75 more names will join our charts, a little over a week prior to most of them beginning their senior seasons with their respective teams.   The list of additions will be vast. It will include players at every position in the game (yes, all three primary specialists will be joining the ranks), all six zones of the state and all five SCHSL classifications as well as some new faces from the SCISA ranks.   The individual storylines are just as diverse.   Among the additions, we've got: Players who made a massive jump in the offseason; those who will see significantly more playing time at their current schools after some roster attrition; a couple out-of-state transfer who come with rave reviews from our sister outlets around the Southeast; still others whose size is now turning heads.   A handful of others from around South Carolina are still under evaluation and may very well join the ranks, as well. And while we're not going to release the entire list, these 10 are more than ready for their time in the spotlight.    [player_tooltip player_id='1823482' first='Brooks' last='Abernethy'] OL, Daniel   Everyone loves tackles and their size and ability to protect quarterbacks' blind sides. But at Daniel, if you ask a certain high-profile signal caller, he might tell you his favorite lineman is the one snapping him the ball. Abernathy is fluid from getting the ball off the ground and engaging his block as you could hope for at this level. It doesn't hurt his cause that he's handling long- and short-snapping duties, too. The reload of one of the blue bloods of Palmetto State football isn't always about the flash; this time, it's about the consistency in the thick of it all.   [player_tooltip player_id='1791455' first='Brock' last='Cole'] RB, TL Hanna   In the variable type of offense the Yellow Jackets run, guys like Cole quietly do the type of damage coach Jason Tone adores. Last Fall, the wing back made opponents cringe time after time after time with his ability to take would-be simple carries into huge gains. His 8.4 yards per carry didn't tell the whole story, as he busted runs over at least 20 yards in six of his last eight games. That include a couple 50-yarders en route to 800-plus yards on the season.   [player_tooltip player_id='1819953' first='Pierre' last='Fuller'] OL, Bamberg-Ehrhardt   The excitement Fuller helped create last fall during the Red Raiders' championship run is hidden no longer. He's got an incredible reach and the type of upper body strength and full-body drive that leaves the vast majority of opposing linemen wondering what the license plate of the truck that just hit them was. When's he's on, he's really on. And that's more often than not in an offense the relies on his stability in a quick pace few tackles can replicate.   [player_tooltip player_id='1764536' first='Ethan' last='Hames'] OL, May River    Hames is a verified 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds. So that's a pretty good start. And he's been in an offensive system that tests offensive linemen like few others. Also, pretty solid. Now put those two things together in an system that allows him to combine what we already know about him and the sky's the limit. Hames is going to be an anchor on a first-year staff with big plans, and the foundation he helps set could be there for years.    [player_tooltip player_id='1840715' first='Tarrant' last='McKenzie'] WR, Aiken (pictured)   The 6-foot-1, 160-pound receiver has a hidden strength to him that has allowed him to lead Aiken in receptions (29) and yards (283) a year ago in an offense that went more than four-to-one on rushing plays to throws. He's not muscled at the line, and while he's not a burner, he's got a pretty good wing span and a decent vertical we're about to see utilized more the closer the Hornets get to the end zone.    Sakai McLendon DL/TE, Conway   McLendon has the physicality Conway needs. One of the first takes new coach Jody Jenerette had about him was that McLendon could - and we quote - “rest on the weekends”. While McLendon is going to help out on offense by playing a close-knit tight end spot shoring up the line, we can't ignore that nearly half of his tackles last fall were behind the line. He knows how to get after it and will a name the Grand Strand will get used to hearing a lot this fall.    [player_tooltip player_id='1818310' first='Hayden' last='O'Rear'] P, Summerville    It's not always easy to evaluate a punter who doesn't need to do his thing very often, and that's where O'Rear's situation left us for the better part of the last year. But the 5-foot-11, 195-pound punter has got it. We saw it in bits and pieces during the state championship game loss to Dutch Fork in December, then again during the combine slate in the spring. We already know he's improving, even if we're only exposed to its in smaller doses.     [player_tooltip player_id='1312753' first='Michael' last='Pembleton'] DB/WR, Andrews   One of the bigger newcomers to the state, Pembleton and his family moved to Georgetown County over the offseason. Almost immediately, he started showing the new coaching staff exactly why he had already earned seven NCAA Division-I offers before coming to South Carolina. Pembleton is excellent in coverage; he had four picks last year at Kempsville (Va.). But he's also athletic enough to be WR1 with the Yellow Jackets.    [player_tooltip player_id='2246636' first='Isaiah' last='Smith'] WR/RB, Camden   When it comes to production value, Camden always finds interesting ways to involve players in ways opposing defenses don't always see coming. This year, you can go ahead and count on the Bulldogs moving Smith around a ton. As a junior last fall, he put up 468 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 27 catches and balanced out his own workload with 30 carries for another 497 yards and seven touchdowns. If you don't care to do the math, that's nearly 17 yards per carry. Tack on another 277 yards on kickoff returns, and Smith's prepared for even more.   [player_tooltip player_id='1822066' first='AJ' last='Veal'] DL, Westwood   Veal has been on our radar since last winter, when our own Chris Dearing wrote that the defensive end “could end up being a big-time contributor for the Redhawks next season.” Well, Veal's offseason explosion has also included a dynamic showing at the Carolinas Coaches Combines, where he showed off his 80-inch wing span and raw speed (4.69 40), some significant college attention and ultimately, a commitment to East Carolina.

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Rankings Sneak Peak: 2027s About to Join Our List

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