South Carolina is mixed up in a good, old fashion recruiting mystery as the February 1st National Signing Day approaches, the type of recruiting case that has made the inexact science of recruiting so popular across the country. It’s not a who done it, but a who won it.
Wednesday around 1:00 PM TE Nyck Harbor of Washington, DC will announce his decision bringing to a close what has been one of the most intense recruiting sagas for Gamecock fans since Jadeveon Clowney.
The family met last night discussing their five options of USC, Oregon, Maryland, Michigan and Miami. The hope, according to Harbor’s father Azuka, was to make a decision last night so Nyck could relax for a day before the announcement. Didn’t happen.
“He’s not there. He’s almost there, but not there,” Mr. Harbor said. “He’s just like, I just need to sleep on this and I’ll get with you guys today when I get back from school. I said OK, you’re under no pressure, just let us know what’s up. It was just getting too much for him, too much.”
Azuka Harbor said the one major factor remaining in his son’s mind is where can he go and be in the best place for his mother.
“At the end of the day, all the schools checked out,” Harbor said. “Now, you going to be able to leave your momma alone? That’s his problem now. What do I do with my mother, not his father? The two of them are very close to each other. Like last night, she had to calm him down, take your time and go to sleep. There’s no need for you going through this all night. It’s going to boil down to where he’s going to fit comfortable at, where his mother is going to get there and stuff like that. I think that’s what it’s going to boil down to.”
Mr. Harbor said they heard from coaches from each of the staffs Monday night, including USC defensive ends coach Sterling Lucas.
“He was checking in and seeing if there is any blank space that he didn’t fill out,” he said. “We talked to him a little bit and he came back to us with what we asked him to explain. He explained that to us and we’re OK.”
The family will reconvene tonight and not only decide on the school but also decide on how they will present the decision on ESPN Wednesday.
“I’m shaking,” Mr. Harbor said with a laugh. “I think that’s something we have to decide tonight, what we’re going to do. There wasn’t anything planned last night. I’m just like, you guys can just go in and say where you’re going to play. Just make it proper. It’s like you’re telling your friend no, I’m not going to do this with you. That’s the way it is. We’ve cultivated some relationships with all these coaches and had a good time with them. To tell them I’m not going to come to you, that’s one of the most difficult things for me in this process.”
Mr. Harbor added that he was not sure if his son will inform the winning school prior to making his announcement.
