They say when you evaluate football players, you have to trust your eyes. Here’s a quick story that proves that to be true.



During the latter portion of the 2016 recruiting cycle, South Carolina was scrambling to acquire defensive line talent. Newly-hired head coach Will Muschamp and his staff were in on several pass rushers from the Atlanta area, but one rose to the top…and quickly.



D.J. Wonnum from Stephenson High in Stone Mountain, Ga., was a player that had shown elite athletic ability on film, even if he spent a lot of time at tight end during his high school career. Muschamp personally evaluated Wonnum, made him an offer and thus made him a priority.



At the time, Wonnum had limited offers. The 6-foot-4 jumbo athlete actually verbally committed to Indiana, then quietly took an official visit to South Carolina the following weekend where he flipped from the Hoosiers to the Gamecocks. The commitment was not met with huge celebration, hype or fanfare. There was not a Bleacher Report mini-movie made about it and really very little talk on social media or message boards. It just happened.



Fastforward to three games into the 2016 season and Wonnum has future star written all over him. It’s not easy for a true freshman to step in and play on the defensive line at this level and the Gamecocks other two true freshman defensive linemen who are playing - Keir Thomas and Kobe Smith- both enrolled early. Wonnum has seen extensive action in his first three games and has eight tackles, including two for loss and a sack, so far.



Wonnum is a perfect example of a great evaluation by Muschamp. He saw something on film that apparently others (outside of the Hoosiers) did not, then proceeded to flip him from a commitment within a week.



It also reinforces the notion that Muschamp and company are committed not only to recruiting the Atlanta area, but to taking the right players out of the Atlanta area. Given that nearly every major program in the country now recruits there and the level of high school football there, it’s not too difficult to miss on players if you don’t have a good eye for evaluation. South Carolina fans should know that better than anyone. Still, there is talent to be had both in terms of no-brainers and guys you have to dig a bit for and project a bit. ??We are seeing that with Wonnum and even though he flipped to Georgia after the Bulldogs evaluated him, we saw that with 2017 defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt from Towers High. Here’s a guy that had a single verbal offer- from N.C. State- when Muschamp and defensive line coach Lance Thompson evaluated him in camp, offered him and got him committed. After he camped at UGA, the offer from the in-state program came. Bulldogs defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, who made a living while an assistant at Arkansas identifying, evaluating and developing under-the-radar defensive line talent, is one of the best in the country in that regard, so even though South Carolina lost the commit, it reinforces that this Gamecocks staff knows how to find players.



It also goes to show you that when you have a good recruiting staff, one that is committed to the process and working extremely hard, they are going to be able to find players and there is no reason to panic if a star rating on a commitment isn’t four or five. Sure, you need to sign your share of no-brainers, but the key to building a solid, successful roster with the depth needed to compete at the highest level in college football lies in your ability to “hit” on more than you “miss” with regards to the lower half of your classes from a rankings standpoint. That does take work and it also takes a good eye for talent and then when you get the players on campus, it takes an outstanding ability to develop players. This is happening at South Carolina right now.