Muschamp learns a lot from linemen playing basketball. A look at Burch, Huntley, hoops
At times, South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp chooses to delve into basketball.
The topic is often related to a player he’s trying to add to his program. Just before signing day in 2018, he went north to Virginia to watch offensive lineman Jakai Moore hit the hardwood. On another visit to see Moore, he and offensive line coach Eric Wolford caught a game of lineman Vershon Lee, and just watching the big man move up and down the court, the coach knew Lee had the talent he was looking for.
With that in mind, it was worth dropping in at Hammond High School’s gym Tuesday night.
Two Gamecock commitments who Muschamp can’t yet talk about were on the court there, the same court where both are scheduled to sign their letters of intent next week.
Four-star recruit Alex Huntley is more in the classic role one might expect from a big defensive lineman on a basketball court: a powerful, hard-working post. Five-star end Jordan Burch’s play is a bit more unusual, seeming to match his non-traditional recruitment.
It’s just not every day one looks out on a court and sees a 6-foot-5, 275-pound player standing in the middle of the court helping to break the press.
Burch’s handle is more honed, more polished than most folks his size. He could throw a behind-the-back dribble, bring the ball up smoothly, even run the offense. He wasn’t necessarily racing up and down the court, but he could deliver a sudden burst of movement, cutting past someone or appearing in position to receive the ball.
And when asked to finish a no-look pass, he took contact like it was nothing and almost calmly dropped in a lay-up on the way to 24 points.
“There’s not many teams we have 6-5, 275-pound point guard.” Hammond coach David Ross said after the 59-52 loss to cross-town rival Cardinal Newman.
Burch had previously played center for the Skyhawks, but a dearth of guards moved him to the backcourt. He has skills developed on the AAU level, though sometimes he can’t quite squeeze through the cracks in a defense that most guards can.
At times it seemed his aggression was, to a degree, dialed back. Instead of setting highly solid screens, he slipped a few. He only sometimes posted up with authority, and this makes sense — he can send most high school players toppling like bowling pins and refs on that level are often not kind to big men. (He was on the wrong end of at least two charge calls.)
At one point, he took a hard foul and looked around for the call, shaking his head and cracking a slight smile when the late whistle finally blew.
In a small twist of fate, he was sharing the building with a player whose recruiting hype could perhaps one day rival his. Ashlyn Watkins, who went viral for a dunk as a freshman and is currently drawing looks from college powerhouses as a sophomore, played for Cardinal Newman in the game before instead on the sideline watching the second half play out.
Burch, Huntley and their Hammond teammates will sign with their colleges of choice next Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Burch hardly speaks to media, a rarity in the modern recruiting landscape that makes his thought process all the more unknown. He slipped out of the gym quickly and quietly Tuesday night.
His plans have been hard to read. Teachers at his school didn’t have a sense of where he was going in the hours leading up to him committing to South Carolina in December. As quickly as things seemed to be finished, they suddenly weren’t, as he chose not to sign his letter of intent with the Gamecocks that week.
That left a door open and more than a few Gamecocks fans on edge.
The hardest core of fan fretted over the weekend as news broke that Burch took a trip to visit defending national champion LSU, a team he said was runner-up to South Carolina for his original commitment.
At least one high-profile national expert projected him to sign with LSU, and it remains something to watch up until the paperwork is completely in.
But Tuesday night in the basketball gym seemed in some way is very far from all that.
Several sets of college coaches will reportedly be in to watch Burch on Friday, but Tuesday featured just a small gym, modestly filled. Hammond‘s student section was decked out in neon greens and oranges, while the in-city rival‘s students clustered in a section only about 10 feet away. Before the game, he looked calm, warming up with his Air Pods in and alternating between goofy hard shots and flashing moments of his athleticism.
The Skyhawks trailed most of the way, facing a team heavy on basketball skill. They made a few runs late, often powered by Burch attacking off the bounce or opening things up. He had a couple big inside buckets late and a 3, but the Cardinals were too much.
One moment earlier highlighted a different sort of teamwork between Burch and Huntley. Sharing a football field, they might be able to help each other on a line stunt or by creating a single-team blocking situation, but there is something a little different about a player like Burch attacking, drawing help and dumping it off to his friend for the finish.
“It’s fun,” Huntley said. “He’s a great friend of mine, and so being two big guys, it’s fun out there.”
Huntley is making his return to the court after two seasons away. An excellent lacrosse player, Huntley plays basketball with a level of raw power.
He scored eight points against the Cardinals but always seemed ready to put his body on someone and use that strength down low. They were a few skills and attributes that translated from one sport to the other, he said, likely the kind Muschamp picked out when he gets into a gym to watch a recruit.
“For me, really it’s probably hips,” Huntley said, also mentioning footwork. “Getting rebounds, getting around people, just trying to flip them around, get a rebound and just, you know, athleticism.”
Two others that stood out: explosiveness and hands.
Even going against a team with plenty of skill, Burch and Huntley always seemed to rise a little higher than the pack. USC’s Wolford has said vertical jump is a key indicator he looks at for explosiveness, and both Gamecocks pledges popped there.
And when those hands gripped the ball, it stayed gripped. Most any high school basketball game has a certain degree of sloppiness to it, with handles lost and rebounds fumbled. Burch and Huntley controlled almost everybody that came their way, often tossing passes with one hand and a quick flick of the wrist.
If everything stays on course, Gamecocks defensive line coach John Scott Jr. will soon enough being trusted with those big mitts, training and honing them as tools for more complete defensive linemen.
“A lot of big guys are bigger than the other player,” Ross said. “But sometimes when the ball hits their hands, their hands aren’t strong enough to catch it. These two guys, that’s one of their best skills. If it is anywhere near them, they’re going to come down with the basketball.
“We turned the ball over a bunch tonight, but they saved a lot of turnovers sometimes as well because when they get their meat cleavers on it, it’s not gonna go anywhere.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 5:43 PM.
