Sting Factor: Jaden Robinson'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 one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
Jaden Robinson’s commitment to South Carolina lasted about five weeks.
It was an interesting recruitment as the four-star linebacker from Lake City (Fla.) Columbia committed to the Gamecocks on July 4 but one day before his pledge, Florida came through with an offer.
Robinson had developed strong relationships with coach Shane Beamer and his staff but that Gators’ offer always loomed and became even more pressing after Robinson visited Gainesville for Friday Night Lights later in the month.
Everything got more interesting when Robinson’s friend, three-star DB Cameron Upshaw, Jr., backed off his pledge to the Gamecocks only to reaffirm his pledge shortly later. The hope was that Robinson might consider Florida but not flip.
However, that is not the case as the four-star linebacker is now part of Florida’s class - and probably done with his recruitment now.
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LOCAL REACTION
Jaden Robinson is an elite athlete who would’ve filled in nicely at linebacker where the Gamecocks were recruiting him. It seems the staff has known about this move and started to make other plans, like the recent offer to Auburn commit Terrance Love. It’s also possible they go looking in the portal to fill the slot after the season. Either way, the linebacker room is currently set up nicely as long as they hold onto Grayson Howard and develop the 2022 class. - Caleb Alexander, GamecockScoop.com
Sting factor: 7
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NATIONAL REACTION
Losing Robinson is not ideal but we hardly knew you. The four-star was committed for only a few weeks over the summer and there was always a threat that Florida could flip him after offering in early July. While keeping Robinson would have been the far better option, this is not debilitating to the Gamecocks. Grayson Howard is a very talented player and South Carolina loaded up at the linebacker spot in the 2022 class led by four-star NIck Emmanwori so the Gamecocks should be just fine there. Things are pointing in the right direction in Columbia and while Robinson won’t be a part of it, his decommitment shouldn’t sidetrack South Carolina much. - Adam Gorney, Rivals national recruiting director
Sting factor: 5