South Carolina football offers four-star offensive lineman

At this stage of the recruiting calendar, most news revolves around the class of 2027. However, South Carolina (and all other programs) are keeping an eye on future classes, too.

On Friday, the Gamecocks extended an offer to class of 2028 Huntsville (AL) Jemison High School standout Samuel Bailey. Already rated as a four-star prospect, Bailey is one of the top blockers in the ’28 cycle.

The state of Alabama has become increasingly friendly to South Carolina football’s recruiting efforts in recent years. In fact, the class of 2026 provided the Gamecocks with three players from the Yellowhammer State, as four-star quarterback Landon Duckworth, three-star linebacker Keenan Britt, and three-star defensive back KJ Johnson all signed with USC.

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Bailey is an offensive tackle at the high school level, and at 6-6 and 295 pounds, he projects to stick at the position at the college level.

As a player, Bailey primarily operated on the right side of the formation during his sophomore year in 2025. Like all younger players, he has some technical refinement to go. Even so, he showed flashes of big-time blocking ability, both in the run game and in pass protection. Bailey is a solid athlete with tons of potential as a prospect.

According to the Rivals Industry Ranking—a composite average of the rankings from Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN—Bailey is the No. 228 overall player in the class of 2028. He is also the No. 15 offensive tackle nationally. In the state of Alabama, he is No. 9, regardless of position.

Rivals is higher on Bailey’s future than the industry ranking. He is the No. 53 overall player in Rivals’ player rankings. He is also No. 5 among offensive tackles and No. 3 in the state of Alabama.

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