Exhale, Gamecock fans. Jordan Burch’s USC future is officially official
The wait is over. Jordan Burch is officially a South Carolina Gamecock.
The school’s official social media accounts posted a video Thursday night welcoming the five-star, hometown defensive end to the team, delivering a longer-than-expected conclusion to the recruitment of the top player in USC’s class.
“#SpursUp! Boom!” Gamecock coach Will Muschamp shared via Twitter.
“It’s a great way to close out our 2020 signing class with Jordan Burch deciding to stay home and play for the University of South Carolina. He is a wonderful person and I’m excited that he will be part of the Gamecock family,” Muschamp said in a statement. “We really appreciate his mother, Henri, trusting us and sending her son to the in-state school. Jordan is an explosive athlete, extremely smart and versatile player who can do a lot of things on the football field and I can’t wait to coach him.”
Said Burch’s high school coach Erik Kimrey, himself a former USC quarterback: “It is a great day for the University of South Carolina! I’m thrilled for Jordan, who will add not only extraordinary talent to the program, but the highest of character as well.”
The reaction to Burch’s signing was met with excitement by Gamecock fans and players.
Alex Huntley, Burch’s high school teammate at Hammond and fellow South Carolina signee, was glad to see the news and tweeted, “Got my roommate.”
The announcement ends one of the more unique recruiting sagas in the state from the past several years, one that caused uneasiness for Gamecock fans at times.
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive end from Hammond committed to South Carolina in December but opted not to sign and make things official. A recruiting visit to LSU followed in January, fueling speculation he might sign with the national champion Tigers.
South Carolina, however, got the last word with Burch during his final official visit last weekend. He participated in Hammond’s Wednesday signing day ceremony — in a USC hat and polo — but the day passed without any confirmation from the Gamecocks that he was officially signed.
Burch didn’t talk to reporters Wednesday and has been fairly silent during the recruiting process.
“It’s been a wild ride,” he said during a signing day speech where he thanked teammates, coaches and family.
The saga continued into Thursday. Almost 32 hours later, it was over when the school confirmed that Burch’s National Letter of Intent — which binds him to the Gamecocks — was in and official.
Muschamp on Wednesday said he wasn’t concerned about not yet having his full group signed.
“We obviously have one left,” Muschamp said.
Burch at one point was the No. 1 recruit in the country and finished No. 8 overall in the 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s the second-highest rated recruit USC has ever pulled in according to those rankings, behind only Jadeveon Clowney.
With Burch’s signing, USC’s 2020 Class is ranked No. 17 by Rivals and No. 18 by 247Sports Composite (which factors in all networks’ rankings). Burch is one of three USC signees ranked in the Top 100 of 247Sports Composite. The others are running back MarShawn Lloyd (No. 42) and quarterback Luke Doty (No. 85).
247Sports’ Charles Power compared Burch to San Diego defensive end Joey Bosa, while the site’s Steve Wiltfong compared him to Jeffrey Simmons, who played at Mississippi State and is now with the Tennessee Titans.
Burch had a strong showing in last month’s Under Armour All-American game against some of the top prospects in the country.
“He is a guy who is multiple and could have played all 22 positions at Hammond,” Wiltfong told The State in December. “He is a top-10 guy. And those guys, they have the whole bag. They have flexibility, body control, power and stout at the point of attack. You hope he blossoms to the first-round pick we think he was. We think he is that good.”
Burch played his freshman season at Wilson in Florence before moving to Columbia and attending Hammond during the summer before his sophomore year. He was part of three SCISA Class 3A championship teams and helped bring unprecedented notoriety to the already-storied program.
This season, Burch led the team in sacks and accounted for more than 20 touchdowns this season. He had two touchdown runs in the championship game.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 8:43 PM.
