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In-person recruiting has been shut down since March of this year, long enough to have at least partially answered the question of how the shutdown would have an effect on recruiting across the country. While we have spoken with some prospects that have pumped the brakes on their recruitments, opting to wait until later this year in favor of taking more visits, the reality is that the number of verbal commitments is up. Even many of those with a plan to wait have seemed to change course in many instances.
One prospect GamecockCentral.com spoke with two weeks ago seemed nowhere close to making a choice, saying he had not visited anywhere outside of his home state. Another instance we heard about recently featured a prospect down to two schools that was waiting for another opportunity to visit both before finalizing a choice. Instead, he recently committed to a program that was not either.
Pat Forde of SportsIllustrated recently penned a story that pointed out that the number of verbal commitments were doubled from the same point last cycle. These trends –North Carolina doing a very good job in its home state, Tennessee racking up 24 commitments – are seen by Gamecock fans and causing them to wonder: what the heck is going on?
First, let’s tackle why this is happening. It is true that certain programs that finished the 2019 season better than expected - or at least strong at the end of last year - have been able to take advantage. Had Tennessee or UNC won three to five games last year, odds are those programs may not have been able to create as much juice during a recruiting shutdown. Many of the other programs currently in the upper echelon of the Rivals.com team rankings are ones that you typically see on an annual basis: Ohio State, Florida, Clemson, Michigan, LSU, and Notre Dame, to name a few. Early commitments, in general, are not uncommon nowadays, especially to programs with big brand-name recognition, recent on-field success, and momentum in recruiting.
Let’s take a look at a few other programs’ numbers as compared to last year.
Clemson – Had 16 commitments at this time for 2020, now has 13.
Alabama. Had 13 commitments at this time for 2020, now has 5
Georgia – Had 8 commitments at this time for 2020 cycle, now has 8
North Carolina. Had 18 commitments at this time for 2020 cycle, now have 14.
Tennessee – Had 4 at this time for 2020 cycle, now have 24.
Some of the trends are even difficult to explain. Southern California, for example, current sits at number 4 in the team rankings and has 13 verbal commitments. That matches the Trojans’ total number of commitments for the 2020 class as a whole; Clay Helton’s programs landed just 2 four-star prospects last cycle and finished in the team rankings behind schools like East Carolina, Kansas, and Tulane.
Rutgers is currently 12th in the rankings by virtue of having 19 commitments; the volume makes the difference right now. The Scarlet Knights also carry an average prospect star rating of 2.68 in the class.
Georgia is currently 15th, and that’s with a class that features a five-star and 6 four-stars. Odds are anyone would trade the Dawgs’ class with Rutgers right now.
One bit of wisdom actually came from Gamecock wide receiver target Keon Coleman out of Louisiana when he pointed out on social media that he believed lots of prospects are committing just because they see others doing it, cautioning them to wait until they are sure. Indeed, many college coaches and observers definitely believe there is an element of groupthink to all this, that prospects are sitting at home with no school, no team workouts, no ability to visit prospects in person. Their phones are buzzing all day, and looking around social media shows a bunch of prospects all around the committing and getting big-time attention. To some, that’s tempting.
There are programs that have resorted to doing Zoom conference calls with prospects all day, and some prospects have been completely up front behind the scenes about the fact that they want to hold a spot at a school. Instead of commitments, some are making reservations. That's not uncommon in recruiting, but it's been amplified to a huge degree in recent weeks. Some schools are putting the squeeze on prospects by telling them there won’t be any in-person recruiting at all this year, and that slots are running out on their commitment list.
Beneath the surface of big commitment numbers, there can be some concerns. One prospect – who’s still highly ranked – committed to one of the Gamecocks’ competitors only after attempting to pledge to five other programs, including South Carolina. With no spring evaluation period or camp season, can coaches be totally sure they’re getting quality and not just volume? How good can coaches feel about their commitment lists being solid with the reopening of recruiting lurking at some point, with many of these prospects having never even visited the school they're committed to currently? Recruiting in the Southeast is already cutthroat, so how many of those guys are going to go visit other schools once the process reopens? It’s going to get interesting, and a record number of commitments will likely going to lead to a record number of decommitments.
South Carolina’s number of current pledges is not as much a concern as other factors. The Gamecocks’ current total of six pledges actually bests the mark held at this time last year, as South Carolina had five at the time.
No, the bigger concern right now for South Carolina is coming off a 4-win year, having the coach very publicly placed on the hot seat by administration, and by being unable to have prospects on campus. The camp season, in particular, has been big for the Gamecocks in the past – the staff netted 8 prospects in a one-month period from early June to early July last cycle that was tied to camp season. Spring and summer visits that have been eliminated this cycle ended up being significant for prospects like Jaheim Bell and Jordan Burch, to name a couple. For Carolina, as we have said, the best strategy is to be able to get to the season in order to win some games and get prospects and families back on campus. This is a staff that does well once guys actually get to Columbia and the staff can have face-to-face contact. The key for the Gamecocks will be winning some games this year, and being able to get guys – even those committed elsewhere – back on campus again.
In the next edition of this piece, we’ll dive into South Carolina’s in-state recruiting efforts this year and some trends from the past. Thanks for reading and for being a member of GamecockCentral.com!
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