Terrance Love: A Flip Candidate Worth Pursuing
Recruiting is a ruthless landscape, one that can change in twenty-four hours. Nothing is official until someone signs on a dotted line, and even that boundary is blurry in today's world.
Safety Terrance Love has been committed to Auburn for seven months, but the Tigers parted ways with head coach Bryan Harsin on Monday morning. Program turbulence may allow South Carolina to slip in and make this recruitment interesting.
Love and the Gamecocks have shared mutual interest for weeks. He does love Auburn and what the program offers, but the Gamecocks have positioned themselves well. However, one question remains: why has South Carolina remained active in his recruitment?
Hand-Eye Coordination
Playing safety in the SEC requires quick twitch reflexes that some don't have. Love can track the ball well out of the air and make plays on it without thinking, an inherent talent some never develop.
Langston Hughes High School plays him in the box and as a deep safety, meaning he has to adjust his tracking situationally. Love makes appropriate cuts on the ball, lining up everything effortlessly.
Everything looks fluid when he keys in on an offense. The movements are connected, and he rarely ever seems rattled. Love's innate ability to move makes him an enticing safety.
Technically Refined
Love may not have the top-end athletic traits some safeties do, though his tools are more than adequate. What separates Love is his technique, which takes defensive backs years to learn.
He unzips his feet well in space, getting parallel to the ball carrier before wrapping him up around the hips. Love won't always go for a devastating shot or highlight play; he's focused on making the best football play.
Langston Hughes feels comfortable playing him as an outside linebacker and cover corner because they think he can fit the run and make plays on the ball through the air.
Proven Commodity
College recruiting departments focus on projections. The first question they ask is: what do your measurements look like? They then see how well you can fit their scheme if you check enough boxes.
Love plays in one of the most challenging regions in high school football. The Atlanta area is littered with top-end talent, which he has been competing against since middle school.
Furthermore, he directly compares to a current Gamecock: safety Nick Emmanwori. Emmanwori plays in run support and as a deep safety, similar to Love. The two share common measurables and have identical skill sets around the ball.
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