Coach says Wesley Green and Arden Key hadn't heard much from South Carolina since they committed

Cortez Allen, who coaches Arden Key and Wesley Green at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the primary reason that Wesley Green and Arden Key began to cool on their commitments to South Carolina was because the Gamecock coaching staff had lost touch with them since they pledged to USC over the summer:

"After they talked it over with their families, they just thought it would be best decision for right now," M.L. King coach Cortez Allen told the AJC on Sunday night. "It’s just to make sure that they are doing the right thing and have the best situation moving forward. They both enjoyed their visits up there, and they like what South Carolina has going on. But they hadn’t really heard from South Carolina a whole lot, and that kind of worried them.

"I think they both still really like South Carolina. But again, just from their standpoint, you know how kids are. They were asking me about why weren’t hearing much from South Carolina. I told them that ‘I can understand. That’s kind of weird. But just call them. Call South Carolina and see what’s going on.’ That would be my only answer to the kids. I don’t get into recruiting a lot with our kids. I just guide them when they have questions."

What are some reasons that South Carolina might not be maintaining contact on a regular basis? Allen said he hadn't heard from South Carolina's coaches since his two players committed over the summer.

"I’m really not sure why," Allen said. "Like I tried to explain to my kids, once you’re committed, those guys feel like the relationship is there. But at the same time, you’ve got to let kids know that you’re there. That’s what they are used to. And if they’re not getting the attention, they feel like something is wrong. Our kids just hadn’t had a lot of contact with South Carolina. That kind of made Wesley a little nervous, and Arden is always watching. Those guys are pretty close, and that kind of made Arden think about things as well.

"These kids that are high profile ... they’re used to getting a lot of attention. Then they commit and they don’t hear from a college. Then they talk to other kids being recruited by other schools, and hear about how those kids are talking to coaches once per week. Or how they are constantly in contact with each other on Facebook or Twitter all the time. And our kids are like, ‘Well, I haven’t heard from my coach.’ I guess it bothered our kids’ egos a little bit."

To me, all reads as being pretty bizarre, especially considering that Lorenzo Ward is the recruiter of record for both players and is known for his ability to cultivate relationships with high school players and coaches in the Metro-Atlanta area.

While it's certainly possible that Whammy lost contact with Key and Green in the throes of a preparing for SEC competition week-after-week, NCAA rules prohibiting coaches from speaking about prospective student-athletes mean that we'll never get South Carolina's side of the story.

While Green's decommiment creates an immediate need at cornerback for the 2014 class, there doesn't appear to be any reason to think that this represents some systemic flaw in South Carolina's approach to recruiting. Managing the egos of fifteen to twenty-five 17-year-olds who have been given a lot of reason to think highly of themselves is not a task that I envy.

More from Garnet And Black Attack:

• Wesley Green and Arden Key decommit from South Carolina, according to reports
• Tracking the enemy: How did South Carolina's past and future opponents fare on Saturday?
• Vegas betting line for UCF vs. South Carolina opens with Gamecocks favored by 7.5
• Wesley Green and Arden Key decommit from South Carolina, according to reports
• SEC Power Poll Ballot: Week Four