Gamecocks Land under the Radar Louisiana OL Lloyd Cushenberry
Written by Ryan Wright
South Carolina went into the talent rich recruiting waters of Dutchtown High School in Louisiana on Thursday to land offensive lineman Lloyd Cushenberry.
Cushenberry helped drive the Griffins into the first round of the Louisiana high school playoffs in 2014 before falling to Barbe 14-10. Charged with the task of protecting Southern Miss quarterback commit Jared Sparks, the 6’4”, 310 pound, lineman has been an under the radar recruit with offers from Tulane, Troy, Stephen F. Austin, Nicholls, and Grambling State.
As college recruiters took the offseason to evaluate tape Cushenberry’s stock has continued to rise receiving offers from Louisiana Tech, Louisiana Lafayette, Purdue, Louisiana Monroe, Colorado State, and Arkansas State.
A June 22 offer from the Gamecocks turned into a verbal commitment Thursday night with the Geismar area native making the announcement on Twitter posting, “Proud to announce that I’ve committed to The University Of South Carolina!!”
South Carolina now has 14 verbal commitments to their 2016 recruiting class picking up nine of those commitments since July 14. All three of USC’s offensive line recruits have been picked up over this hot streak; OT Akeem Cooperwood, OG Will Putnam, and Cushenberry.
2016 South Carolina Gamecocks Verbal Commitment List
FS Marlon Character, 6’0”, 170 lbs, Grady HS, Atlanta, GA
FS Jaqui “JJ” Givens, 6’1”, 165 lbs, Atlee HS, Mechanicsville, VA
CB Tre Jackson, 5’10”, 178 lbs, Univ. Lab HS, Baton Rouge, LA
DE Jordan Smith, 6’5”, 225 lbs, Lithonia HS, Lithonia, GA
DE Cecil Stallings, 6’4”, 250 lbs, Tucker HS, Atlanta, GA
LB P.J. Blue, 6’3”, 210 lbs, Park Crossing HS, Montgomery, AL
LB Jacorey Morris, 6’3”, 220 lbs, Clarke County HS, Grove Hill, AL
OT Akeem Cooperwood, 6’7”, 325 lbs, Georgia Military College, Milledgeville, GA
OG Lloyd Cushenberry, 6’4”, 310 lbs, Dutchtown HS, Geismar, LA
OG Will Putnam, 6’5”, 270 lbs, Hickory Ridge HS, Harrisburg, NC
RB C.J. Freeeman, 5’11”, 195 lbs, Northern Guilford HS, Greensboro, NC
QB Brandon McIlwain, 6’0”, 188 lbs, Council Rock North, Newtown, PA
WR Bryan Edwards, 6’3”, 205 lbs, Conway HS, Conway, SC
WR Chris Smith, 5’10”, 170 lbs, South Pointe HS, Rock Hill, SC
Photo credit: 247sports.com; OG Lloyd Cushenberry.