(Perry) PJ Dozier announced Wednesday that he will be playing his college ball at the University of South Carolina.
Dozier, the No. 6 ranked shooting guard in the ESPN100, is a South Carolina native who had also considered Louisville, North Carolina, Georgetown and others. Dozier had been pursued heavily by the Cardinals following the decommitment of Antonio Blakeney. Fortunately for Rick Pitino, this loss was not over shoes.
Dozier instead elected to stay close to home and play for the Gamecocks, hoping that he can be the catalyst for the rejuvenation of a somewhat irrelevant school competing in the SEC.
Dozier’s AAU coach, Curt Wheeler, described to Scout.com recently that PJ felt like he could have an “opportunity to stay home and help change the culture of the program like the top football players from South Carolina did.”
High praise is given to what the Gamecocks have turned into on the football field.
“Coach Martin and the athletic department have a plan in place to help the basketball program move forward. P.J. would be the face of the program. Coach Evans has done a great job recruiting P.J. and building a relationship with him,” Wheeler added.
For Louisville, the loss is tremendous. After losing out on Antonio Blakeney, the Cards focused the majority of their recruiting time on the 4-star guard, Dozier. Rick Pitino’s 2015 class remains incomplete, not due to lack of effort. Louisville fans even had #BringDozierToTheVille trending on twitter. Though his class remains incomplete, Pitino is still committed to making this class his best since coming to Louisville.
South Carolina adds Dozier its 2015 recruiting class, that currently includes 3-star forward Chris Silva. Head coach Frank Martin is hoping that signing Dozier can help spark a culture change in Columbia. Dozier is hoping that he can be a catalyst for change in South Carolina’s basketball program, which was 248th last season in scoring. The addition of a 6’6″ skilled, big-bodied guard will undoubtedly benefit the Gamecocks, who finished second to last in the SEC’s talent barren competition last year.
*Section Photo credit to 247 Sports; Featured Photo (above) credit to Jeff Blake, USA Today Sports