When it comes to one South Carolina football commit, our long national nightmare is over. Or regional one. Or whatever.
But first, the backstory.
On the first day of the Early Signing Period in December, Jordan Burch verbally committed to playing for the South Carolina football team. Between then and National Signing Day, however, LSU heavily pursued the five-star recruit. In late January, Burch and his mother took an unofficial visit to LSU.
South Carolina football, though, got the final in-person look as Burch took an official visit to the Gamecocks this past weekend. That apparently sealed the deal for the Gamecocks as, Wednesday afternoon, Burch announced that he was sticking to his verbal commitment and signing with South Carolina.
South Carolina football head coach Will Muschamp was even in attendance. That, however, was because his son, 2020 quarterback Jackson Muschamp, is a high school teammate of Burch’s. The younger Muschamp had confirmed Tuesday that he would be headed to Georgia as a preferred walk-on, and was at the ceremony to formally announce his destination.
The Burch situation, though, wasn’t exactly black and white. At all.
Jordan Burch said he wasn't going to do interviews.
— David Cloninger (@DCPandC) February 5, 2020
I asked him if he sent in his letter.
"Yes, sir."
Jordan Burch declined an interview request after the ceremony. When asked if he could confirm if he had signed an LOI, his mother stepped in and said, "No sir, we're not doing any interviews." So, stay tuned.
— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) February 5, 2020
As of our last posting on this subject Wednesday night, the official South Carolina football Twitter account had not yet announced Burch’s signing. At a signing day press conference, though, Muschamp, who couldn’t publicly speak on Burch, reminded the media that his program still has a scholarship available and that “we’re going to be fine.”
That proved prescient as, Thursday night, South Carolina confirmed that Burch is signed, sealed and delivered. For now, at least.
Jordan Burch is officially a Gamecock!#GarnetGang20 pic.twitter.com/dv4OnLNpwC
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) February 7, 2020
Even with all of the histrionics, this is a significant development for the Gamecocks.
The five-star 2020 recruit was the No. 1 player regardless of position in the state of South Carolina. He’s also the No. 2 defensive tackle in the country. On 247Sports.com‘s composite, he’s the No. 8 prospect overall in this year’s class.
Burch is the Gamecocks’ highest-rated signee since Jadeveon Clowney in 2011.
