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Wes Mitchell
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With the commitment and signature from four-star defensive tackle Rick Sandidge today, the Gamecocks won a long recruiting battle for one of the top overall prospects in the country and highest-ranked South Carolina signee since Jadeveon Clowney.
This was a complete team effort, but the charge was led by area recruiter Bobby Bentley and head coach Will Muschamp and it can't be understated how much energy and effort they put into ultimately fending off other programs to land Sandidge.
Sandidge was indeed a South Carolina lean for much of the process, but he flirted with other schools (North Carolina early and Georgia late) at times and it's just another example of how stiff the competition can be to land top prospects along the defensive line, especially in a year that was down at the position nationally, meaning there was far more demand than supply.
Keshia Sandidge, Rick's mom, said at one point late in the process that Rick had a heart vs. head decision on where he should go. The long-time love for Carolina may have made it appear that Georgia was the "head" pick and Carolina the "heart" pick, but it appears that's a reversal of the reality of the situation.
In some ways, I've always felt that having a prospect on your campus too often, too early can almost become harmful to an extent as there's only so much you can show someone about the school and there are diminishing returns on those multiple visits at some point.
So while Carolina was the school that Sandidge and his family were always comfortable with, Georgia was the new impressive option, fresh off a runner-up finish in the college football playoff and with the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. A long-standing relationship with Georgia defensive line coach Tray Scott, who first recruited Sandidge at UNC and was the first to offer, made it difficult for Sandidge to tell Scott, "no."
Georgia's official visit impressed the Sandidges and the Bulldogs were a real factor at one point, with some confidence on that end that they were officially in the running to land Sandidge.
But ultimately in Saturday's in-home -- where Carolina answered every single question the family had, and laid out not only their plans for Rick, but also the who, the how and the why each portion of that plan would be executed -- the Gamecocks were able to put the finishing touches on his recruitment.
Sandidge told Bobby Bentley Monday morning that he was coming to Carolina and sent in his national letter of intent earlier today, ending a two-year process between the Gamecocks and Sandidge.
Sandidge has been highly rated and highly regarded for much of that two years, but he really started to take his game to another level during the camp circuit last spring when he was impressive, and dominant at times, against some of the other best prospects in the country. The Gamecocks are getting a lean defensive tackle who is light on his feet with the athleticism to play both outside at defensive end in packages and inside at the three-technique defensive tackle spot.
This was a complete team effort, but the charge was led by area recruiter Bobby Bentley and head coach Will Muschamp and it can't be understated how much energy and effort they put into ultimately fending off other programs to land Sandidge.
Sandidge was indeed a South Carolina lean for much of the process, but he flirted with other schools (North Carolina early and Georgia late) at times and it's just another example of how stiff the competition can be to land top prospects along the defensive line, especially in a year that was down at the position nationally, meaning there was far more demand than supply.
Keshia Sandidge, Rick's mom, said at one point late in the process that Rick had a heart vs. head decision on where he should go. The long-time love for Carolina may have made it appear that Georgia was the "head" pick and Carolina the "heart" pick, but it appears that's a reversal of the reality of the situation.
In some ways, I've always felt that having a prospect on your campus too often, too early can almost become harmful to an extent as there's only so much you can show someone about the school and there are diminishing returns on those multiple visits at some point.
So while Carolina was the school that Sandidge and his family were always comfortable with, Georgia was the new impressive option, fresh off a runner-up finish in the college football playoff and with the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. A long-standing relationship with Georgia defensive line coach Tray Scott, who first recruited Sandidge at UNC and was the first to offer, made it difficult for Sandidge to tell Scott, "no."
Georgia's official visit impressed the Sandidges and the Bulldogs were a real factor at one point, with some confidence on that end that they were officially in the running to land Sandidge.
But ultimately in Saturday's in-home -- where Carolina answered every single question the family had, and laid out not only their plans for Rick, but also the who, the how and the why each portion of that plan would be executed -- the Gamecocks were able to put the finishing touches on his recruitment.
Sandidge told Bobby Bentley Monday morning that he was coming to Carolina and sent in his national letter of intent earlier today, ending a two-year process between the Gamecocks and Sandidge.
Sandidge has been highly rated and highly regarded for much of that two years, but he really started to take his game to another level during the camp circuit last spring when he was impressive, and dominant at times, against some of the other best prospects in the country. The Gamecocks are getting a lean defensive tackle who is light on his feet with the athleticism to play both outside at defensive end in packages and inside at the three-technique defensive tackle spot.
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