QB commits to South Carolina, puts Gamecocks in rare company for future class

AUGUST 05, 2023 2:01 PM
South Carolina’s football program is looking a ways into the future with its latest recruit commitment.
Class of 2026 quarterback Landon Duckworth announced a decision Saturday for South Carolina, making him one of the earliest public pledges in program history.
The 6-foot-3, 187-pound rising sophomore is from Jackson, Alabama, and he’s the Gamecocks’ first get for the 2026 class. Duckworth chose USC over TCU, Vanderbilt and UCF.
“I felt like South Carolina laid out the red carpet for me,” Duckworth told SportsTalkSC’s Phil Kornblut. “I could really tell that I’m their top QB in the Class of 2026. The way they treated me, I just liked it.”
Duckworth — who turns 16 years old in November — is the lone pledge to USC for 2026, with no commitments yet for 2025. The Gamecocks’ 2024 group numbers 15 members as of Saturday afternoon.
According to 247Sports, he’s just the fifth recruit to make a commitment to any Division I college for the 2026 class. The other four are committed to Ohio State, Alabama, Miami and Florida State.
Like those other four 2026 recruits, Duckworth has yet to receive a star rating.
As a freshman at Jackson High School, Duckworth threw for 1,985 yards and 20 touchdowns at a 60% completion rate (110 of 183 passes). He also rushed for 355 yards and eight touchdowns.
He visited Columbia for the spring game in April and returned last Friday for the football program’s annual cookout. He gushed over the facilities, campus and football staff — particularly offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains.
“We were just talking about how I just need to get better, my work ethic and stuff like that, like working out and watching film,” Duckworth told Kornblut. “I like Coach Loggains. ... He likes me. I can tell he wants me with the way he treats me and just the way he talks to me like he’s my friend.”
South Carolina adding a commitment from a football recruit heading into his sophomore season is unique territory.
Quarterbacks Luke Doty and Dante Reno both committed to the Gamecocks just ahead of their junior years in high school. Former in-state defensive star Shameik Blackshear also committed USC in between his sophomore and junior seasons.
As a rising sophomore, Duckworth is more than two years away from being able to sign a national letter of intent.