For college football fans, the first Wednesday of February is one of the most exciting days of the year. It's the day high school athletes officially sign their letters of intent for the college they have committed to.
The new early signing period, which happened in December, gave student-athletes the chance to sign and enroll early. Many student-athletes chose to go through the early signing period, with more than 80 percent of the 2018 class signing early.
Because of this, head coach Will Muschamp and the South Carolina football program signed just two players, adding to the 20 they got in December. But the two they got on Wednesday are both four-stars and highly looked at recruits, which Muschamp believes will be an addition to the class.
Early Wednesday morning the Gamecocks signed offensive lineman Dylan Wonnum from Tucker, Georgia. Wonnum helped lead Tucker High School to the Class AAAAAA state Final Four this past season and finished with a 12-2 record. He earned first-team all state selection and first-team All-USA Georgia football team. During his senior season, he recorded 24 blocks and led an offensive line that produced 258.7 yards per game and 7.9 yards per carry.
"Very athletic, great balance, body control," Muschamp said of Wonnum Wednesday. "A guy that, from a protection standpoint, can set the edge, can play left or right tackle, a guy that we're really excited about."
Wonnum's older brother D.J. just wrapped up his second season with the Gamecocks as a defensive lineman, but Dylan Wonnum made it clear that he didn't let that influence his decision.
The Gamecocks' other signee was defensive lineman Rick Sandidge from Concord, North Carolina. The 6-5 cornerback had 83 tackles and seven sacks with his final year at Concord High School. Sandidge picked up first-team All-USA North Carolina football team honors and was named to the North Carolina Preps All-Class and 3A All-State teams. He was ranked the second-best defensive tackle in the country and third-best player in North Carolina, according to Rivals.
"A very powerful man inside, can obviously anchor but he has wiggle enough to slide out and play in," Muschamp said about Sandidge. "But an athletic, big man that can run, that can push the pocket, can win in the pass rush."
Muschamp was overall pleased with this year's class, but knows that recruiting is just the beginning and it will take time for these players to develop and see what they're completely made of.
"It's an exciting day," Muschamp said. "We got better today, and I'll say the same thing every year, we'll know about this class in two or three years ... The last two signing classes have produced a bunch of good football players for us and enable us to continue to make some progress in our program."