#WelcomeHome: South Carolina lands first public 2023 commit
South Carolina has its first public football pledge in the 2023 class.
Laurel (Md.) native and Washington (D.C.) St. John’s three-star safety Zahbari Sandy announced a commitment to the Gamecocks on Twitter Sunday.
The 6-foot-1, 201-pounder, who was recruited by defensive backs coach Torrian Gray, chose South Carolina over finalists Tennessee, Ole Miss, West Virginia, and Maryland.
He also held offers from Penn State, Louisville, Indiana, Boston College, Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Virginia, Pitt and Kansas, among others.
Sandy took an unofficial visit to South Carolina last month to observe a Gamecocks football practice, a trip he says went well.
“The visit overall was good; it was real good,” Sandy told Gamecock Central at the time. “I watched practice, spoke with Coach Gray and Coach Beamer. That was my second time on campus, so I kind of knew everything. Well, all the things I thought I would know, I knew almost everything already. But practice was good, high energy, offense, defense competing. It was real good.”
Sandy used that opportunity to continue to get to know Gray and to watch his coaching style in person.
“We have a great relationship right now,” Sandy said. “I really like him. Seeing him in practice in his mode for the first time was really good, seeing his coaching style and how he coaches. I really like him. And he put guys in NFL and, you know that’s one of my goals is to get to the NFL, so yeah our relationship is real good.”
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Sandy added that head coach Shane Beamer also made him feel like a priority for the South Carolina football program.
“I know Coach Beamer well and he knows me well,” Sandy said. “Ever since they offered me, Coach Beamer has been talking to me heavy. He’s been one of the head coaches to talk to me the most. Coach Beamer, we always talk about anything really, not just football. He likes to get to know the person he’s recruiting and that’s cool. I like Coach Beamer a lot.”
The On3 Consensus – a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies – ranks Sandy as the No. 45 safety and No. 513 overall prospect in his class. He’s considered the No. 4 prospect in DC.
While Sandy is the first public commit on the Gamecocks’ 2023 commit list, Beamer previously sent out two separate #WelcomeHome Tweets indicating pledges for the class who have not yet gone public.
