South Carolina Football: Happy Harbor Day! 5-Star Nyck Harbor’s Decision Is the Cherry on Top of a Great Recruiting Class
By Kevin Miller
Happy Harbor Day, college football fans! The country’s highest-rated uncommitted player, Washington DC’s Nyck Harbor, made his college decision public on Wednesday’s traditional Signing Day. An Olympic-caliber sprinter who will play football and run track collegiately, Harbor cut his list to five finalists. South Carolina football Head Coach Shane Beamer and his coaching staff put the program in a great position to land the talented senior from Archbishop Carroll High School.
Miami, Michigan, and Maryland joined odds-on favorites South Carolina and Oregon in the Harbor Sweepstakes. In the end, Gamecock fans rejoiced to see on ESPN2 that the 6’5″, 230-pound Harbor donned a South Carolina hat during his signing ceremony, the third blue chip prospect from the DMV to join the Gamecocks in this recruiting class. For the next three to four years, Columbia, South Carolina will be home to one of the most impressive athletes in the world.
Shane Beamer’s South Carolina program withstood a late push from Oregon that saw recruiting experts around the country flipping their predictions back and forth between the Gamecocks and the Ducks. Harbor is listed as an athlete by recruiting services, and he may play multiple positions at the next level, but his primary role will be as an offensive weapon that is sure to take the top off of opposing defenses.
Perhaps an even bigger factor than Harbor’s on-field production, the perception of South Carolina football will only continue to grow with players like Harbor joining the Gamecock family. The program’s first out-of-state composite five-star recruit in the modern recruiting era, Nyckoles Harbor has opened the door for other big-time players across the country to consider the Gamecocks.
A tremendous amount of credit should be given to the South Carolina football staff for this recruiting win, certainly. However, an unheralded factor may have tipped the scales in South Carolina’s favor. Gamecock Head Track Coach Curtis Frye’s experience working with Olympic sprinters and willingness to work alongside the football program in the best interest of Harbor as a football player, as an Olympic-hopeful, and as a person were paramount in Harbor’s decision-making.
The South Carolina fanbase now feels a level of optimism that it has not experienced since the height of the Steve Spurrier-era in Columbia.
South Carolina finishes the 2023 recruiting cycle with a top-20 recruiting class according to both on3 and 247Sports, and with the addition of Harbor, the Gamecocks will flirt with the top-15 as adjustments are made prior to the final rankings. Shane Beamer and his staff deserve heaps of credit for their efforts recruiting this class, which, in addition to the five-star Harbor, brought in fourteen players rated as four-star prospects by at least one major recruiting service. Add in three transfer portal four-star recruits to this point and one more four-star junior college placement, and Gamecock fans have many reasons to be hopeful about the future of the program they love.
The 2024 recruiting class is shaping up to be an even more highly-touted group than the 2023 class as the South Carolina program already has four blue chippers who have made public commitments to sign with the team next year, and several more are expected to join them soon. The momentum from Nyck Harbor’s commitment is sure to aid in recruiting efforts, making the Gamecocks an even more desirable destination for the country’s top athletes.
Happy Harbor Day, Gamecock fans! Enjoy it.