Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
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THE STORYLINE
South Carolina scored a major recruiting win on Wednesday when five-star defensive end Jordan Burch committed to the Gamecocks.
The Columbia (S.C.) Hammond School standout picked the hometown school over four national powerhouses: LSU, Clemson, Georgia and Alabama.
It was a tremendous boost for hot-seat coach Will Muschamp and Burch is the type of talent that could have an immediate impact on the Gamecocks’ defense. Burch’s decision was one of the biggest of the early signing period, if not the most impactful.
But this story might not be over. The five-star defensive end did not sign on Wednesday and could wait until later to get that done which, in essence, means Burch just had a glorified commitment ceremony and there is no finality to his recruitment.
Those elite programs mentioned above will not give up recruiting him over the next few weeks since Burch is such a top talent.
There might not be any reason for South Carolina to be concerned. Burch has indicated that he would like to sign with his Hammond teammates in February. But in the recruiting world, February is a lifetime away.
Should the Gamecocks be concerned that Burch didn’t sign or is he all wrapped up and just waiting to join his teammates later on?
FIRST TAKE: Chris Clark, GamecockCentral.com
“I wasn’t surprised at all that he committed to South Carolina. South Carolina had plenty of traction for a long time during the recruiting process and there were a lot of positive indications for South Carolina leading up to the announcement. Several schools appeared to have confidence and any time there is a five-star that’s wanted by a lot of college football bluebloods then it’s always a question. I wasn’t surprised at all but there was still some uncertainty going into the day.
“As for not signing, we had heard leading up to the announcement that he may not sign early. I wouldn’t take it off the table that he does sign early, but it’s certainly possible he waits. He has indicated that he does want to sign alongside some of his teammates in February, Alex Huntley being one of those. Any time a guy does not sign until later, he’s a summer enrollee, so there’s no downside in waiting.
"That does leave his recruitment open for other schools to contact him. I don’t know there is any real, actual, non-speculative reason to be worried about it, but at the same time if you’re not signed, it does leave it a little open-ended.
“While not inking during the early period leaves Burch open to being recruited until the next signing day, there is reason to believe that South Carolina’s chances of holding onto him are quite good. Burch is planning to sign alongside his Hammond teammates in February.”
SECOND TAKE: Mike Farrell, Rivals.com
“It was surprising to me just because of the state of the program, as far as Muschamp getting the vote of confidence and being under so much pressure for next year. But playing with Muschamp’s son, staying close to home, that part isn’t surprising. Overall, I thought he was going to choose Georgia or Clemson.
“It’s a great get for them, but not signing makes no sense. This is a kid who I don’t think likes the recruiting process, I don’t think he likes the attention, but he’s going to get a ton of it by not signing. So he should sign on the dotted line, gotten it over with, and head off to South Carolina to start a great career."
