University of South Carolina football fans were finally able to exhale Wednesday afternoon – but only briefly.
Hometown top prospect Jordan Burch appeared to sign his letter of intent to stay home and play for the Gamecocks, yet by Wednesday evening multiple media outlets reported that his letter had not yet been signed.
Burch, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound defensive lineman who's 247Sports' eighth-ranked prospect in the country, committed in December to South Carolina but did not sign – he wanted to wait until February to sign with his Hammond School teammates. That opened up the door for him to take other visits – and for powerhouse programs like national champion LSU to try to flip his commitment.
Early Wednesday, it appeared as though he would stick with that original commitment. His placard at the table at Hammond featured a USC logo, and sitting on the table in front of him was a Gamecocks hat.
But he didn't sign.
Burch was meant to be – and still can be – the crown jewel of Will Muschamp's recruiting class, ranked 18th in the country by 247Sports. The Gamecocks added four new players Wednesday – four-star defensive tackle Alex Huntley, a Hammond teammate of Burch's; and three-star prospects ZaQuandre White, Ger-Cari Caldwell and Gilber Edmond.
Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs wrapped up the top-ranked class in the country, according to 247Sports. The Bulldogs have the No. 1 class for the second time in three years, and they bolstered their offensive line to replace several linemen who either declared for the NFL draft or transferred.
The SEC had six of the top eight classes in the country, with Clemson as the top-rated outsider at No. 3.
The Tigers signed five of the 31 five-star prospects, giving Dabo Swinney his best class yet. Clemson inked 10 of the top 100 prospects in the country, though most of those were already decided before Wednesday.
