Cavin Ridley Releases Statement Following Report He Committed to South Carolina

Will Muschamp has been hot on the recruiting trail since taking the South Carolina job, and on Saturday, it appeared he had swooped in and snagged 4-star wide receiver prospect Cavin "Riley" Ridley, according to Andrew Bone of Rivals.

David Furones of the Miami Herald reported Ridley made his commitment to Muschamp on Jan. 1, just ahead of Saturday's Under Armour All-America Game. However, Ridley released a statement on Twitter noting otherwise and apologizing to South Carolina fans:

Ridley has long been a favorite to join his older brother, Calvin, at Alabama. South Carolina was considered a dark horse for his commitment.

He had been recruited by the new coach while Muschamp was at Auburn as defensive coordinator this past year and remained in his sights after Muschamp took the job at South Carolina.

Ridley took an official visit to Columbia just days before the recruiting dead period commenced.

He commented on the process, per Drew Champlin of AL.com. 

"It’s a fresh start and I like fresh starts," Ridley said. "If I get a chance to come in and make an impact, I’m down."

The Gamecocks will need all the help they can get on offense. They ranked ninth in the SEC in passing (207.5 yards per game) and third-worst in scoring (21.9 points per game).

Granted, two of their top three receivers—Deebo Samuel and Terry Googer—were freshmen.

After one year at Auburn, Muschamp is getting his second chance at an SEC gig following three underachieving seasons at Florida.

He’s always had a reputation for being a great recruiter and fielding top-of-the-line defenses, but offense is what ultimately plagued him in Gainesville. 

That’s why Ridley’s signing would've come as even more of a surprise—particularly given Alabama’s track record of churning out successful NFL receivers such as Julio Jones and Amari Cooper.

Ridley’s older brother, Calvin, is already well on his way to a similar path of promise, setting the freshman school record with 1,031 receiving yards in 2015.

Sharing the same locker room with a brother seems appealing at face value, but the pressure of meeting and exceeding expectations and constantly facing comparisons can develop into a distracting burden.

Under Muschamp and in a wide-open SEC East that’s not nearly as competitive as it once was, there would be a fresh start at South Carolina for Ridley and Co. should he ultimately decide to join the program.