The unfulfilled promise of Ricardo Hurley

Ricardo Hurley was supposed to herald the dawn of a new era in which South Carolina was a national recruiting power. But that's not what happened.

On Jan. 1, 1994, Lou Holtz strode to midfield of the Cotton Bowl and shook the right hand of R.C. Slocum. For the second straight year, Notre Dame had beaten Texas A&M on New Year’s Day. For Holtz, the victory was an exclamation point on his last truly exceptional season in South Bend, and it kept the Irish in the running for a national title.

If nine-ye…