Jordan Burch's NLI drama ends with South Carolina getting nation's No. 8 recruit

Tom Gatto

Jordan Burch's NLI drama ends with South Carolina getting nation's No. 8 recruit image

It took an extra day, but Jordan Burch has finalized his commitment to South Carolina.

South Carolina tweeted Thursday night that the five-star defensive lineman from Columbia, S.C., was, in fact, a Gamecock, a day after he was expected to fax his national letter of intent (NLI) to the program.

"It's a great way to close out our 2020 signing class with Jordan Burch deciding to stay home and play for the University of South Carolina," South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said in a statement received by South Carolina publication Spurs and Feathers. "He is a wonderful person and I'm excited that he will be part of the Gamecock family. We really appreciate his mother, Henri, trusting us and sending her son to the in-state school."

Burch, the No. 8 overall recruit in 247Sports' Composite 2020 ranking, gave the coaches a scare Wednesday by not immediately faxing the NLI on National Signing Day. The hesitation led to reports that Burch's mother was denying him permission to send the letter. There was also speculation that national champion LSU was making a late push to steal Burch.

BENDER: 11 weird Signing Day stories

How big of a signing is Burch to Muschamp and his staff? Check out the reactions to Burch's televised announcement Wednesday:

South Carolina's athletics site noted that Burch "is the highest ranked recruit signed by South Carolina since Jadeveon Clowney was the No. 1 player overall in 2011." Burch wore No. 7 for Hammond School in Columbia, and it looks as though he'll inherit Clowney's number with the Gamecocks.

SIGNING DAY: Class rankings | Top 100 players

Now all he has to do is play like Clowney did early in his career.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.