South Carolina football saw a shake-up in its 2026 recruiting class back in October when four-star tight end Jamel Howse walked away from his commitment. Howse, who had been pledged to the Gamecocks for roughly a year, publicly explained his decision by saying he wanted to join an offense where he believed he could “get the ball more often.”
Over the weekend, Howse officially announced his next move. On Sunday, he revealed via social media that he is committing to the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
This decision reunites Howse with Dowell Loggains — now the head coach at App State — who served as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator when Howse first committed. The tight end also made an official visit to Boone in October, which helped pave the way for his flip.
Since backing off his pledge to USC, Howse hasn’t drawn significant attention from major Power Five programs. His recruiting stock has slipped as well; Rivals and 247Sports now list him as a three-star prospect. Still, he enters App State’s recruiting class as its highest-rated player.
South Carolina does still have one tight end committed in its 2026 group. Rivals four-star Caden Ramsey, an in-state standout from Cross High School, pledged to the Gamecocks in September and has since reaffirmed his commitment, stating he is fully “locked in” with USC.
Despite recent departures from the class — including Howse and fellow decommit Amari Thomas — the Gamecocks still hold the No. 16 recruiting class in the 2026 cycle per the Rivals Industry Rankings, which places them eighth in the SEC.
USC also sits 11th nationally in average player rating, good for sixth in the conference. Notably, South Carolina and Auburn are the only two programs ranked inside the top 35 nationally with fewer than 15 commits in the class.
