Ryan Hilinski said it felt like home, felt like family.
And he needed no more time to make his decision.
The three-star quarterback from Orange (Calif.) Lutheran, who has had a phenomenal offseason, committed to South Carolina on Wednesday, just days after taking a visit to Columbia and falling in love with the place.
“South Carolina is family,” Hilinski said. “They haven’t stopped treating me the same way since they started recruiting me. I feel comfortable there and I think it’s the best place for myself and for my family.”
Those comments back up what Hilinski said earlier in the week after experiencing the environment at the Gamecocks’ spring game over the weekend.
The Orange Lutheran standout hit it off with quarterbacks coach Dan Werner, loved the rest of the coaching staff and atmosphere, and decided it was the right time.
In the last few days, Hilinski had narrowed his list to South Carolina, Arizona, Arizona State, Georgia, Ole Miss, Oregon and Texas A&M.
But the list can be shortened to one now since he fell in love with the Gamecocks and is not looking back. A busy spring is now finished and so is his recruitment.
“This weekend the decision was made while I was there,” Hilinski said. “I just decided to keep it to myself.”
Until now.
