South Carolina is looking for a turnaround season in 2026. Part of the turnaround will be protecting LaNorris Sellers. The Gamecocks have brought in a transfer to help protect their quarterback, landing Jacarrius Peak from NC State.
Now, they have landed another offensive lineman, signing a 6-foot-8, 300-pound lineman from Ireland on the recruiting trail, who issigning to the 2026 class, according to Hayes Fawcett of Rivals.
Neff Giwa, an offensive tackle and former rugby player from Ireland, has signed with South Carolina. He chose the Gamecocks over schools such as Miami, Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. He came to South Carolina through the PPI Recruits program, which is an international recruiting program service.
He was introduced to American football while in Ireland when a former rugby player called Brandon Collier, who runs the Germany-based PPI, told him about Giwa. Collier spoke about first seeing Giwa to Bruce Fledman of The Athletic.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’” Collier said. “I wanted to fly him to Germany tomorrow.”
Giwa began as a soccer player, but then moved to rugby after he was told by his friends about the sport. Collier also noticed that he had all the tools to move to the offensive line.
“He’s so tall, but he actually had good leverage,” Collier said. “He’s also got this toughness about him. He’s like a fighter. He’s got something inside him that I haven’t seen from many kids. Some of the linemen, they’re very athletic, but they played sports that were softer. He played rugby. He was physical as heck.”
After bringing his group of prospects to the United States, making trips to multiple different campuses, Collier said he got lots of interest in Giwa.
“Mario Cristobal started blowing me up about him,” Collier said. “‘We gotta get him to Miami!’ They’re trying to get him to sign for this (the 2026) class.”
Now, Giwa hopes to make an impact on the 2026 offensive line for South Carolina. The Gamecocks open their regular season on September 5 against Kent State.
