It's official.
Five-star defensive end Jordan Burch has sent his NLI to the University of South Carolina, Gamecock football announced on Thursday night.
"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," head coach Will Muschamp said. "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. Jordan is an explosive athlete, extremely smart and versatile player who can do a lot of things on the football field and I can't wait to coach him."
The center of an intense recruiting battle, Burch participated in a ceremony Wednesday afternoon among his family and teammates at Hammond School.
"For the next three or four years, I'll be playing with my teammates," Burch said during the afternoon ceremony, pointing towards future Gamecocks Alex Huntley, Bradley Dunn, and Fabian Goodman.
While the implication at the time was that Burch would send in his letter of intent to South Carolina following the ceremony, the day came and went without it ever arriving at the facility.
With Muschamp scheduled to meet with the media at 4:30 that day to discuss the class, he announced the Gamecocks' four other signees, including Huntley, but could not mention the then-unsigned Burch by name. The staff and fans would have to wait another day to officially welcome Burch to the program.
It's a recruiting battle that South Carolina thought it had won a month and a half ago too when Burch committed to the Gamecocks on ESPN on the first day of the early signing period.
But the nation's No. 2 defensive end ultimately chose to wait until February, saying he wanted to sign with his teammates.
That left the door slightly cracked for other programs and LSU, Burch's No. 2 school initially, fresh off a national championship, attempted to push through.
The Tigers, who hosted Burch on an official visit during the season, managed to get him back on campus two weekends ago for an unofficial visit as they attempted to make one last push to land the elite defensive end prospect.
But the Gamecocks countered, sending seven assistant coaches to Burch's basketball game on Friday night -- current players Ryan Hilinski, Zacch Pickens and Joe Anderson were also there to show support -- before hosting Burch on an all-important official visit, on the final weekend before signing day.
By all indications that visit couldn't have gone any better as Burch spent the weekend bonding with his future coaches and teammates. Burch and his family took in South Carolina's men's basketball game right behind the Gamecock bench, with Will Muschamp to one side of Burch and his son Whit Muschamp to the other.
A year after signing five-star defensive lineman Zacch Pickens from T.L. Hanna, Muschamp once against flexed his recruiting muscle in land Burch, despite the local standout having a final group of college football powers LSU, Clemson, Georgia and Alabama.
When Wednesday came and went without Burch's signature arriving at the Long Football Operations Center, speculation on message boards, social media and around the water cooler was abound about what the holdup was.
We may never completely get that full story, but on Thursday night, Jordan Burch, officially, finally, became a Gamecock.
