Gamecocks DB target prepares for Mother’s Day commitment reveal

South Carolina is one of the five finalists for safety Zahbari Sandy along with West Virginia, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Maryland.

He will announce his decision Sunday, on Mother’s Day.

“It’s Set!! May 8th..Mothers Day. #whereishome?” he posted to Twitter in April.

Sandy (6-1, 204) — from St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C. — visited USC for the Clemson game last season and was back for a spring practice in April. Shane Beamer and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray have gone at him hard, and they have grown very close to him over the months. That’s been important to Sandy.

“The relationships with Coach Gray and Coach Beamer,” Sandy said. “I’ve built great relationships with them over the past couple of months with them recruiting me. They like how versatile I am, how I can play corner, safety or nickel. They really see me fitting in well with their play style. When I watched them practice, I saw the different coverages they run, and it just fits well.”

Even though he watched the Gamecocks lose to Clemson, Sandy also saw Beamer build a winner in his first season, going 7-6 when most projections had the Gamecocks winning just three or four games.

“I really like what Coach Beamer is doing,” Sandy said. “As he came in, his vision was to build a program and build great men, not just football players. Try to get the team where it needs to be to win national championships. I like where he’s going, and I like the people he’s bringing in to help him along the way.”

Gray, of course, is a veteran coach with a history of developing his players for the NFL. That fact has not been lost on Sandy.

“My opinion of Coach Gray is I really like him,” Sandy said. “He looks at me as high on his board. He puts guys in the NFL and that’s my main goal. He has the power to do that if I was able to go to South Carolina. Other than that, I just like him as a person. As a coach, seeing him in practice and his coaching style, I like that.”

Sandy visited all of his finalists and says he will only take an official visit to the school where he commits.

Last season Sandy was in on over 50 tackles and had three interceptions.