5-star Clemson football target and in-state prospect Jordan Burch chose South Carolina Wednesday afternoon during Early National Signing Day.
The 2020 Clemson football recruiting class will have to settle with six 5-stars in the cycle as the Tigers couldn’t come away with a commitment from 5-star DE Jordan Burch.
Burch, a product of Columbia, SC, announced Wednesday afternoon that he’d be attending the University of South Carolina in a decision that shocked many national recruiting experts.
The vast majority of analysts believed that LSU and Georgia were the leaders for Burch’s services followed by South Carolina in third-place.
In the end, his fandom and desire to be close to home won out and Burch instantly became the most talented player on South Carolina’s team.
Getting Burch was a huge deal for the Gamecocks, who are in need of as many moral victories as possible. Will Muschamp’s job security has been questioned by those in Columbia and there were plenty of Gamecock fans who have already jumped off the bandwagon.
Picking up Burch gives South Carolina new life in many ways actually gives a jolt of new energy to the rivalry with Clemson football.
The Gamecocks will certainly have a talented defensive line for the foreseeable future and Burch could very well help kickstart that program into getting back in the hunt for the SEC East. He likely will start from Day One and probably saved Muschamp’s job for the next couple of years as a result of his decision.
Clemson football finished the Early National Signing Day with letters of intent from six 5-stars- according to 247 Sports- and several more 4-stars. While Gamecock fans brag about the prospect of having Jordan Burch and Zacch Pickens on the same defensive line, Tiger fans will have players like Xavier Thomas, KJ Henry, Demonte Capehart, Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy, Tre Williams and many others to rely on.
Looking at Burch’s recruitment in hindsight, it seems that Clemson was never really an option or place of intrigue for him.
Burch obviously has grown up a fan of South Carolina and the SEC and it was certainly a sign that he wasn’t truly interested in the Tigers when he never took a visit back to Clemson following the All-In Cookout this summer.
Clemson obviously would’ve loved to have him, but the Tigers will move on just fine with the nation’s No. 1 class.