Over the weekend, the South Carolina football team appeared to have landed a commitment from four-star linebacker Jaishawn Barham. Barham was the highest rated player in the Gamecocks’ 2022 recruiting class and filled an area of immediate need on the South Carolina defense.
When signing day came around, though, Barham put pen to paper for his hometown school, the Maryland Terrapins. He spurned the Gamecocks for what looked to be a major recruiting flip for the Terps.
But was it all orchestrated?
After Wednesday’s signings had wrapped up, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer took to the stage to address the media. When asked about Barham’s surprise commitment, he had the following to say.
"“You’d have to ask that young man you’re referring to. I can’t say it’s a surprise. When this particular young man committed on Saturday, about 10 minutes later, I got a phone call from somebody in the know that said, ‘Just so you know, it’s all part of the plan. He’s going to flip Wednesday and go to Maryland.’ So, I can’t sit here and tell you I was shocked.”"
While the staged commitment seems a bit odd, these things do happen as a way to build momentum for certain programs and coaches. Mike Locksley and the Terps “flipped” multiple players on the Early Signing Day, which gave Maryland a bit of national publicity on the recruiting trail.
Wow. Beamer mentions that he got a call from Jaishawn Barham and his mother LAST night talking about how grateful they were they "found a home" at USC.
— The Spurs Up Show (@TheSpursUpShow) December 15, 2021
Unreal.
What makes this worse is the fact that Barham and his family took this to the wire without letting Beamer and Co. know that he would not be attending South Carolina. Beamer goes on to say that he was on the phone with Barham and Co. as late as 11 PM last night, with the recruit still saying he was planning to sign.
"“When you’re on the phone with the young man as late as 10:30, 11 o’clock last night and he and the mom are telling you how they’re so thankful they found a home, how appreciative they are of how we do things, how they knew that South Carolina was the place for him on his very first visit, and how excited they are for the future, you feel pretty good about things.”"
Barham signed with Maryland earlier today. The athletic department released a video of the prospect’s mom speaking with the Terrapin head after the pledge. She goes on to say “Go Terps… We like that better than Go Cocks.” Another jab at the Gamecocks (with the cameras rolling, of course), which seems to hint at this being a completely drawn-out plan.
This comes with the territory in college football recruiting. It certainly hurts to lose the top player in the class, especially when he may have not been planning to come at all. But coach Beamer has the right attitude. He closed his discussions of Barham’s commitment by saying, “We got the right people in this program who signed today.”
Commitment or no commitment, the Gamecocks will move forward without him.