{"id":404441,"date":"2026-01-13T10:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T10:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/404441\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T10:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T10:36:11","slug":"south-carolina-picks-up-commitment-from-former-alabama-defensive-lineman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/404441\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina picks up commitment from former Alabama defensive lineman"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Carolina football nearly landed versatile defensive lineman Kelby Collins<\/a> out of high school in the class of 2023. Instead, he picked the Florida Gators. Then, when he transferred from UF two years later, the Gamecocks almost got him again. He wound up with the Alabama Crimson Tide but entered the transfer portal again this winter. Apparently, the third time was the charm.<\/p>\n

Collins has committed to South Carolina, On3\u2019s Hayes Fawcett reported on Sunday. After two years at Florida and one at Alabama, he will have one year of eligibility remaining at USC.<\/p>\n

Joining Collins with a Sunday pledge was his younger brother, Drew Collins<\/a>, a sophomore EDGE from Arkansas State. The Gamecocks earned the Collins brothers\u2019 commitments over Auburn, Mississippi State, and Kentucky.<\/p>\n

At both Florida and Alabama, Kelby Collins was a rotational defensive lineman who saw action at both defensive tackle and EDGE. It is unclear what his role will be at South Carolina. Still, his versatility will allow defensive line coach Travian Robertson and new defensive ends\/outside linebackers coach Deion Barnes to find different ways to use their new weapon.<\/p>\n

According to the On3 Transfer Portal Industry Ranking, Collins ranks as a three-star transfer, the No. 388 overall player in the portal, and the No. 33 defensive lineman.<\/p>\n

South Carolina Transfer Portal Resources:<\/p>\n

Listed at 6-4 and 270 pounds on the Alabama roster, Collins logged two sacks and three tackles for loss in 2025.<\/p>\n

The Gardendale, Alabama native will enter a defensive line situation in Columbia, where the Gamecocks need both immediate impact and depth.<\/p>\n

At tackle, seniors Nick Barrett and Monkell Goodwine graduated, and Zavion Hardy left via the transfer portal. Two incoming freshmen four-star prospects, Aiden Harris<\/a> and Noah Clark<\/a>, will join the team this offseason. That is also true of transfer portal additions Jordan Thomas<\/a> (Georgia) and Tomiwa Durojaiye<\/a> (Illinois).<\/p>\n

At EDGE, seniors Bryan Thomas Jr., JT Geer, and Demon Clowney graduated, and Jaylen Brown transferred. Four-star Julian Walker<\/a> signed with Carolina in the class of 2026. Collins\u2019 brother Drew is the lone transfer addition at the position so far.<\/p>\n

Joining Kelby Collins and Drew Collins on the South Carolina transfer portal commitment list are wide receiver\u00a0Jayden Gibson<\/a>\u00a0(Oklahoma), defensive tackle\u00a0Jordan Thomas<\/a>\u00a0(Georgia), center\u00a0Carter Miller<\/a>\u00a0(UCF), offensive lineman\u00a0Hank Purvis<\/a>\u00a0(Purdue), kicker\u00a0Upton Bellenfant<\/a>\u00a0(Texas Tech), defensive back\u00a0Quay\u2019Sheed Scott<\/a>\u00a0(Kentucky), offensive tackle\u00a0Jacarrius Peak<\/a>\u00a0(NC State), offensive lineman\u00a0Emmanuel \u201cKojo\u201d Poku<\/a> (ECU), running back Sam Dixon<\/a> (Ohio State), wide receiver Nitro Tuggle<\/a> (Purdue), offensive lineman Dayne Arnett<\/a> (Ferris State), defensive tackle Tomiwa Durojaiye<\/a> (Illinois), long snapper Emmet Rhoades (Western Carolina), and offensive tackle Seth Smith<\/a> (Northern Arizona).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Carolina football nearly landed versatile defensive lineman Kelby Collins out of high school in the class of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,194991,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-404441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-kelby-collins-23-gardendale","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}