Hibriten's Smith commits to South Carolina
At 11 a.m. Saturday morning, Quin Smith was puking his guts out. By noon, he was offered a chance to be a South Carolina Gamecock.
The Hibriten football standout ended a summer of speculation by giving a verbal commitment Monday to play Division I football for Steve Spurrier in the toughest conference in the country. Smith committed two days after being offered a full scholarship in Columbia, choosing South Carolina over schools like Duke, East Carolina, Western Carolina and Navy.
The Gamecocks plan to play Smith at outside linebacker, strong safety and on special teams.
"I just can't wait to get down there and see what all the hype is about,"
Smith said Thursday. "I'm really excited."
Smith, a rising senior at Hibriten, drove to the University of South Carolina campus on Saturday, running a 40-yard dash and participating in several linebacker skill drills for Gamecocks defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. Due to oppressive heat conditions inside the workout facility, however, Smith found himself vomiting within the first 10 minutes. No matter - Smith finished up his workout impressively, enough so that he was invited to join the South Carolina family within the hour.
"It doesn't get any bigger than South Carolina,"
Hibriten coach Chuck Cannon said. "A big-time program, a great coach and a chance to play in front of 80,000 (fans) every time out. I don't know if there's a better situation out there."
Smith racked up 182 tackles from his safety position in his junior year at Hibriten. He also rushed for 1,320 yards as a running back and scored 21 touchdowns. For his well-rounded contributions, Smith was named the News-Topic's Caldwell County Player of the Year.
Though he hadn't received formal offers, Smith was also in contact with Auburn, Illinois, Georgia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"It's all a result of a lot of hard work that he put in, combined with a lot of hard work from his teammates,"
Cannon said. "When you have a great player and you put him with great teammates, it a good combination."
The Gamecocks first showed interest in Smith in late May, when Special Teams Coordinator and Tight Ends Coach Ray Rychleski showed up at Hibriten inquiring about the Panthers' 6-foot, 205-pound talent. Cannon popped in a highlight reel, and within minutes Rychleski was sold.
"We've got to have him,"
he said.
The Panther coach realized he was serious right away, in part because of Rychleski's enthusiasm and in part because of the kind of football player that Smith is.
"It's just hard to find tough, physical players any more, and Quin is one of them,"
Cannon said. "He doesn't mind getting down there and knocking you around a little, and I think (the Gamecocks) saw that."
The Gamecocks say Smith could see the field as soon as his freshman year as a special teams player. Smith still has full year of high school football to play before then, though.
After his workout Saturday, Smith got a little taste of what Division I athletic life might be like, showering in the team's locker room and touring the football players' living quarters.
"It was all pretty cool,"
Smith said. "Everything was really nice."
Smith hasn't yet been introduced to his new head coach, a man with one Heisman Trophy, one national championship and six Southeastern Conference titles already on his resume.
"Not yet,"
Smith said of meeting Spurrier. "I'm looking forward to it though."
Spurrier led the Gamecocks to a 6-6 overall record last season, 3-5 in the SEC. He is 163-56-2 as a head coach in the college ranks.
