This Five Points bar is making a unique commitment to Gamecock recruiting
Armed with a bucket of plastic letters and a lengthy claw-like tool, Thomas Dugas steps out from the main entrance at the Cotton Gin in Five Points, reaches toward the marquee above the door and begins constructing a new message.
“When people walk by and actually see me doing it, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s how y’all do that. I was wondering how that happens,’ ” Dugas, a 2017 South Carolina grad and the bar’s general manager, told The State. “The letters are probably bigger than you would expect them to be when you see them up close.”
Dugas’ changing of the letters on the Cotton Gin’s marquee has become a tradition around Columbia in just a matter of months. It began in earnest when four-star quarterback Gunner Stockton announced his commitment to South Carolina in August — a pledge he later backed off in January.
Social media reactions to the photo of the sign hanging just above the Harden Street bar went viral. Dugas, or one of his coworkers, has changed the signage on the marquee to honor every South Carolina football commitment, among other notable happenings in town, since.
“The Gunner Stockton one did get a lot of attention,” Dugas said. “But it has really taken off recently with how many that we’ve had in the last month under this new staff.”
The past two weeks have been busier than most summer weeks for Dugas, his co-workers and the marquee. A red-hot recruiting run by Shane Beamer and his staff will do that. In a span of 11 days, USC hauled in 11 new football commitments.
Almost nightly — if not more than once in a day — a new commit has been added to the marquee followed by a tweet affixed with a photo of the newly added names.
“Every single school has their own little Twitter army with the fans,” Dugas said. “So it’s just kind of us participating in that and the marquee gives us kind of a unique opportunity to do that.”
Beyond those locally, South Carolina targets and commits alike have begun to notice the newly minted tradition.
Three-star offensive tackle Cason Henry, who committed to South Carolina last week, retweeted the picture of the marquee welcoming him and Kansas transfer Karon Prunty. Henry also later made the photo the header for his twitter profile.
Four-star tight end Oscar Delp, who was in Columbia over the weekend for his official visit, earned a spot in the lights above the Cotton Gin with a note that said “Delp wanted” — a reference to South Carolina’s highly-anticipated courtship of the top-100 recruit with ties to the area.
Four-star quarterback Braden Davis also took a liking to the sign, noting it was a fun bonus to his commitment that he and the rest of his 2022 Gamecock pledges have been incorporated into the increasingly popular practice.
“I wasn’t down there at the time when they put that up there but I saw it on Twitter and I thought that was awesome,” Davis told The State on Wednesday.
The marquee above the Cotton Gin read “Welcome home Anthony Rose” in honor of the three-star safety from Florida re-upping his pledge to South Carolina as of Sunday.
But given how USC’s recent recruiting run has shaped up, Dugas has been thrust back into action four times since then. With a handful of commits yet to go public and the Wednesday addition of three-star receiver Landon Samson, the sign ought to change again in the coming days.
“Coach Beamer’s vision is coming to fruition with the guys we’re getting into the program — all the people we’re getting committed,” Davis said. “Everybody is taking notice. We’re putting together something special.”
Added Dugas: “(The changing of the marquee) is kind of just part of the excitement of getting a new commit now.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "This Five Points bar is making a unique commitment to Gamecock recruiting."
