The final word on Jordan Burch: Latest recruiting buzz as decision day arrives
Hammond five-star defensive end Jordan Burch will make his college choice at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Here are some facts, details and predictions on Burch leading to the recruit’s big announcement:
Burch’s ranking: He is a consensus five-star prospect. He is ranked No. 5 by 247Sports Composite (factoring in all networks), No. 5 overall by ESPN and No. 8 by Rivals. He is the highest ranked prospect from the state of South Carolina since Jadeveon Clowney, who was No. 1 in the country in the Class of 2011.
Analyst predictions divided on Burch’s destination: There is no consensus among recruiting experts on what college Burch will choose.
▪ Rivals’ Mike Farrell and 247Sports’ Cory Fravel have Burch going to Georgia.
▪ Rivals’ Woody Wommack, TheBigSpur’s Tony Morrell and JC Shurburtt, and 247Sports’ Charles Power all say South Carolina.
▪ 247Sports analyst Steve Wiltfong didn’t make a crystal ball pick but told The State last week he thought Burch would end up at LSU. Anna Hickey, a Clemson insider for 247Sports, entered a prediction for LSU on Tuesday.
Watch Burch’s decision on TV: He’ll make his pick sometime “in the 2 p.m. hour” Wednesday on ESPNU. His final schools are South Carolina, Clemson, LSU, Georgia and Alabama.
Teammate persuasion? Alex Huntley, Burch’s teammate at Hammond, is committed to South Carolina but has let Burch mostly do his own thing when it comes to the recruiting process. But Huntley tagged Burch in a Twitter video Tuesday with the caption “Let’s do this at the next level...What y’all think??”
ESPN’s take on Burch: ESPN national recruiting director Tom Luginbill spoke about Burch on Monday during a teleconference with reporters. He had high praise for him.
“Jordan Burch, I think is a difference maker, an edge pass rusher that has a very high ceiling for development,” Luginbill said. “He’s going to be one of those players that I think is going to be a 265-pounder here in the next couple of years very quickly which, to me, is something that’s going to make him very, very difficult to deal with off the edge over the course of time.”
Official visits: He took these longer visits only to Alabama, LSU and Georgia, but it doesn’t appear the final decision will include the Crimson Tide.
UGA coach Kirby Smart attended Burch’s basketball game Thursday. Then Georgia got the last visit with Burch, who spent the weekend in Athens. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and four assistants were at Burch’s game last Wednesday. LSU coach Ed Orgeron visited last week and Burch attended the LSU-Auburn game on Oct. 29.
Close to home: Burch didn’t take an official visit to South Carolina but visited there at least more than six times between team camps and games. Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp, whose son is a team of Burch’s, saw most of their games the past three years. Burch was in attendance in Athens when the Gamecocks upset the Bulldogs.
Keeping things quiet: Burch did few media interviews the past two years and none in recen memory. His last interview with The State came as a sophomore in April 2017 where he sat down along with teammate Huntley and coach Erik Kimrey. Like most recruits, he was spotted wearing clothes of his finalists. Burch wore an LSU shirt to Huntley’s All-American Bowl announcement and had a Gamecock shirt on during his last high school practice before the state championship game.
Dominant: From his days playing youth football to his time at Hammond, Burch has always been a dominating figure. He was part of three state championship teams for the Florence All-Stars and won three high school state titles at Hammond.
Where No. 1s have gone: Since 2010, top-ranked football prospect has picked South Carolina five times, Clemson three, Georgia and Alabama one each. Greenwood’s Sam Montgomery is the last player from South Carolina to commit to LSU when he did it in 2009.
What his coach, Erik Kimrey, said: “He’s unbelievably athletic for someone his size. He has the build of an NFL defensive end. He’s still developing strength and quickness and things of that nature. He can handle the ball and play point guard in basketball at 6-6, 255. Just incredible athleticism for someone his size. He has probably the best pair of hands I’ve ever seen in terms of catching a ball. He’s got great ball skills. He could easily play offense on the next level as well. When you have a kid with that kind of size and athleticism, it’s just a sight to behold, to be honest with you.”
“He excels at everything,” Kimrey continued. “There’s nothing he’s not good at. He’s still learning, the ins and outs of technique and things of that nature, but there’s nothing you can ask him to do that he can’t do. He can literally play any position on the football field on either side of the ball.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
