Garcia Picks South Carolina
by Anwar S. Richardson
December 07, 2006
TAMPA – As expected, Jefferson senior quarterback Stephen Garcia verbally committed to the University of South Carolina today.
Garcia, who will graduate with Hillsborough County’s all-time yardage and touchdown records, announced his decision at a news conference at Jefferson, removing his coat and shirt to reveal a ‘Carolina’ T-shirt.
“That’s where I’ll be going for the next four years,” he said. “I’m very excited.”
Stephen Garcia chose South Carolina – his No. 1 choice throughout the recruiting process - over Oklahoma and Mississippi.
Garcia hosted a dinner last week with a Mississippi assistant coach. Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier ate with his family Tuesday, and Oklahoma’s coaches postponed their meeting last week.
Stephen Garcia said he plans to graduate in December and enroll in January in hopes of competing for playing time as a freshman. At his press conference he said he wasn’t certain that he would be able to graduate early from Jefferson.
He added that Mississippi was a definite factor in his thoughts.
“Ole Miss was a very close second,” he said. “They’re very nice people. It’s beautiful over there.”
Rumors that Spurrier might leave the Gamecocks for job openings at Miami or Alabama didn’t bother Garcia.
“(Spurrier) called me and told me that all that was just talk,” Garcia said.
“He said he wasn’t going anywhere.”
He completed 506 of 821 passes for 8,081 yards, 83 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, plus rushed 263 times for 1,345 yards and 17 TDs in his career. In state career totals, he finishes with the third-most yards, No. 6 in TDs, tied for No. 3 in pass completions and No. 4 in pass attempts.
