W
Wes Mitchell
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The commitment of four-star ATH Hamsah Nasirildeen is the perfect example on a variety of levels of what Will Muschamp and his staff are capable of on the recruiting trail.
First, start with a willingness to trust their own evaluations and offer a kid first. Nasirildeen visited South Carolina for the first time very early this year for one of South Carolina's junior days and left Columbia with an offer in hand - it was his first offer. Since then, he's accumulated one of the best offer list in the Carolinas with tenders from schools like Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Maryland (those guys do a great job evaluating defensively), Michigan, N.C. State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech to name a few.
Then throw in the huge focus that Muschamp and Co. put on getting targets to their camp to workout with the coaches. South Carolina was able to get Nasirildeen to campus in June to workout for camp where he had the opportunity to work personally 1-on-1 with Muschamp. The duo of Muschamp and Travaris Robinson can be very hard to turn down for defensive back prospects who give South Carolina a true hard look, we're finding out.
Along the same lines, you have to consider the value or a head coach who is willing to personally recruit prospects and a staff that's willing to continue to work even when they're behind on a kid. As one high school coach connected to another prospect recently told me, some head coaches come in for the final close, Muschamp has been in it from the very beginning and throughout his recruitment. That can be said for Muschamp and a lot of prospects, but it can't be said for a ton of head coaches out there.
Lastly, throw in an ability to close. It wasn't that long ago that South Carolina appeared to be on the back/wrong end of Nasirildeen's top five, but they kept working at it and the relationships and proximity to home won out, despite the continued pushes from Florida and Florida State. That's two straight four-star prospects (T.J. Moore being the other) that this staff has closed out versus national level competition. There's something to be said for that. There's a formula to the way this staff gets after it on the recruiting trail and Nasirildeen is the perfect example of how it looks when it plays out to perfection.
I also think it's worth pointing out the job that Bobby Bentley has done on the recruiting trail. Bentley wasn't an on the field coach at Auburn, so he wasn't able to go on the road and recruit, but he's made a seamless transition to that role at South Carolina. Not only is Bentley involved with all of the running backs that South Carolina recruits, but he also was the lead recruiter last class of Kiel Pollard, who flipped from Arkansas, and also the lead recruiter for four-star prospects Nasirildeen and Shi Smith in this class.
As for Nasirildeen the player, he's another important piece of the puzzle as the staff attempts to add athleticism to the secondary. If you take a look at the film below, the first thing that pops at you is his tremendous length. That's something (other than Jamarcus King) that Carolina doesn't possess much of in its current secondary and an issue they'll continue to try to rectify. With strong ball skills (basketball background), a willingness to hit, to go along with good exposiveness (again, check out the basketball plays on his highlight), there's a ton to like about him as a player. There's also some value in the fact that if one position doesn't work out, he could potentially play wide receiver or even grow into an outside linebacker type.
It's also worth pointing out that with the commitment of Nasirildeen, the staff now has commitments from five prospects (including two four-stars and a high three-star in Sherrod Greene who is arguably the steal of the class at this point) from the state of North Carolina. If Carolina is going to build a roster that can compete for the SEC, then I've long felt it had to do a great job in that state and it appears that's exactly what they're doing.
First, start with a willingness to trust their own evaluations and offer a kid first. Nasirildeen visited South Carolina for the first time very early this year for one of South Carolina's junior days and left Columbia with an offer in hand - it was his first offer. Since then, he's accumulated one of the best offer list in the Carolinas with tenders from schools like Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Maryland (those guys do a great job evaluating defensively), Michigan, N.C. State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech to name a few.
Then throw in the huge focus that Muschamp and Co. put on getting targets to their camp to workout with the coaches. South Carolina was able to get Nasirildeen to campus in June to workout for camp where he had the opportunity to work personally 1-on-1 with Muschamp. The duo of Muschamp and Travaris Robinson can be very hard to turn down for defensive back prospects who give South Carolina a true hard look, we're finding out.
Along the same lines, you have to consider the value or a head coach who is willing to personally recruit prospects and a staff that's willing to continue to work even when they're behind on a kid. As one high school coach connected to another prospect recently told me, some head coaches come in for the final close, Muschamp has been in it from the very beginning and throughout his recruitment. That can be said for Muschamp and a lot of prospects, but it can't be said for a ton of head coaches out there.
Lastly, throw in an ability to close. It wasn't that long ago that South Carolina appeared to be on the back/wrong end of Nasirildeen's top five, but they kept working at it and the relationships and proximity to home won out, despite the continued pushes from Florida and Florida State. That's two straight four-star prospects (T.J. Moore being the other) that this staff has closed out versus national level competition. There's something to be said for that. There's a formula to the way this staff gets after it on the recruiting trail and Nasirildeen is the perfect example of how it looks when it plays out to perfection.
I also think it's worth pointing out the job that Bobby Bentley has done on the recruiting trail. Bentley wasn't an on the field coach at Auburn, so he wasn't able to go on the road and recruit, but he's made a seamless transition to that role at South Carolina. Not only is Bentley involved with all of the running backs that South Carolina recruits, but he also was the lead recruiter last class of Kiel Pollard, who flipped from Arkansas, and also the lead recruiter for four-star prospects Nasirildeen and Shi Smith in this class.
As for Nasirildeen the player, he's another important piece of the puzzle as the staff attempts to add athleticism to the secondary. If you take a look at the film below, the first thing that pops at you is his tremendous length. That's something (other than Jamarcus King) that Carolina doesn't possess much of in its current secondary and an issue they'll continue to try to rectify. With strong ball skills (basketball background), a willingness to hit, to go along with good exposiveness (again, check out the basketball plays on his highlight), there's a ton to like about him as a player. There's also some value in the fact that if one position doesn't work out, he could potentially play wide receiver or even grow into an outside linebacker type.
It's also worth pointing out that with the commitment of Nasirildeen, the staff now has commitments from five prospects (including two four-stars and a high three-star in Sherrod Greene who is arguably the steal of the class at this point) from the state of North Carolina. If Carolina is going to build a roster that can compete for the SEC, then I've long felt it had to do a great job in that state and it appears that's exactly what they're doing.
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