Sting Factor: Antario Brown's decommitment from South Carolina
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
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THE SITUATION
Antario Brown committed to South Carolina over Virginia Tech in early August but his pledge would not be long-lasting.
The Savannah (Ga.) Beach high three-star running back decommitted from the Gamecocks over the weekend and said “unforeseen circumstances” led to his decision.
The Hokies along with NC State, West Virginia and others are involved in his recruitment.
South Carolina is not hurting for running backs as Kevin Harris is off to a very strong start this season and the Gamecocks signed five-star RB MarShawn Lloyd last recruiting cycle but he’s recovering from a knee injury.
Still, even with a lot of talent in the backfield, South Carolina is not so loaded with talent that the Gamecocks have the luxury of turning players away, even as they already have a commitment from three-star running back Caleb McDowell, a former NC State pledge, out of Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County.
Keeping Brown in the class was important for South Carolina, but if the Gamecocks could survive some attrition anywhere, it would be at running back.
LOCAL REACTION
“Brown is a talented under-the-radar kid who South Carolina was the first to offer in the spring. The Gamecocks felt strongly enough about Brown that they took a commitment from him despite already having a running back committed for the class and signing several backs last class.
"While the Gamecocks obviously liked Brown as a player and person, since the season started Harris has emerged and is the SEC's No. 2 rusher as a sophomore. The Gamecocks will also get Lloyd back from injury for 2021 and have Deshaun Fenwick and ZaQuandre White in the mix as well. Throw in the fact that running back commit Juju McDowell is off to a strong start to his senior year of high school and running back is not really a huge position of need for South Carolina right now, especially with some of the other major needs in this class.” - Wes Mitchell, GamecockCentral.com
Sting factor: 3
NATIONAL REACTION
“Brown is a talented kid and a downhill, big and physical runner that South Carolina liked a lot. He was one of the higher-ranked prospects in the Gamecocks' class, but they are looking solid at running back when you look at current depth and the commitment of McDowell. This isn’t a huge hit.” - Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 4