Football recruiting rankings should be taken with a grain of salt.
Perhaps a little more than a grain should be prescribed when talking about the intentions of 17 and 18-year-old kids. Some recruits, as many of us saw Monday night with Arden Key, like to milk the recruiting process for every drop of attention they can get. Others, like four-star recruit Shameik Blackshear, don't even have a ceremony planned for Wednesday's national signing day.
Before Feb. 4 nobody knows exactly where a recruit will land. Recruiting analysts, fans and even some players don't know before the day when they fax in their letters of intent.
Also, add the variable of a five-star recruit never quite living up to his expectations and it is impossible to accurately grade a school's recruiting class until four or five years after the players sign.
But the Gamecocks have a head start on the process.
South Carolina has already enrolled eight athletes, including the No. 1 junior college recruit in the nation in defensive end Marquavius Lewis, who is rated as a four-star recruit and received a 6.0 out of a possible 6.1 rating from Rivals.com.
Others who arrived in January with Lewis are:
Ernest Hawkins - 3 stars - linebacker 6'2", 225 pounds (Salinas, California)
Jalen Henry - 3 stars - linebacker 6'1", 215 pounds (Foley, Alabama)
Christian Owens - 4 stars - tight end 6'5", 205 pounds (Griffin, Georgia)
Sherrod Pittman - 4 stars - linebacker 6'0, 215 pounds (Jacksonville, Florida)
Darin Smalls - 3 stars - Safety 5'11", 182 pounds (Summerville, South Carolina)
Jerad Washington - 3 stars - wide receiver 5'8", 150 pounds (Jacksonville, Florida)
Dexter Wideman - 4 stars - defensive tackle 6'3", 280 pounds (Camden, South Carolina)
There are 21 other athletes who have not yet signed, but have given South Carolina verbal commitments. Now, commitments are not as concrete as the word suggests. The Gamecocks alone have had nine decommitments since its recruiting class was named the third-best class in the nation early in 2014.
Ten recruits are from Georgia, while South Carolina ranks second with five. Almost one-fourth of South Carolina's 2014 team was comprised of athletes from Georgia. Of the 101 Gamecocks listed on the official roster, 25 hailed from the Peach State.
South Carolina's commit are listed below in alphabetical order:
Zack Bailey - 4 stars - offensive lineman 6'5", 300 pounds (Summerville, South Carolina)
Shameik Blackshear - 4 stars - defensive end 6'4", 245 pounds (Bluffton, South Carolina)
Toure Boyd - 3 stars - defensive back 6'1", 190 pounds (Rancho Cucamonga, California)
Blake Camper - 3 stars - offensive line 6'6", 281 pounds (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
Joseph Charlton - 3 stars - kicker 6'5", 180 pounds (Columbia, South Carolina)
Jalen Christian - 4 stars - wide receiver 5'10", 173 pounds (Damascus, Maryland)
Devante Covington - 2 stars - defensive end 6'4", 230 pounds (Milledgeville, Georgia)
Dennis Daley - 2 stars - offensive lineman 6'6", 290 pounds (Columbia, South Carolina)
Mon Denson - 3 stars - running back 5'10", 215 pounds (La Grange, Georgia)
Trey Derouen - 3 stars - offensive lineman 6'3", 324 pounds (Lilburn, Georgia)
Daniel Fennell - 3 stars - linebacker 6'2", 220 pounds (Loganville, Georiga)
Octavis Johnson - 4 stars - defensive back 6'0", 183 pounds (Homerville, Georgia)
Kyle Markway - 3 stars - tight end 6'4", 219 pounds (St. Louis, Missouri)
Dexter Neal - 4 stars - wide receiver 6'2", 197 pounds (Stone Mountain, Georgia)
Lorenzo Nunez - 4 stars - quarterback 6'2", 190 pounds (Kennesaw, Georgia)
Christian Pellage - 3 stars - offensive lineman 6'6", 291 pounds (Brooksville, Florida)
Connor Redmond - 3 stars - tight end 6'4", 220 pounds (Lawrenceville, Georgia)
Dante Sawyer - 4 stars - defensive end 6'3", 270 pounds (Scooba, Mississippi)
AJ Turner - 3 stars - running back 5'10", 180 pounds (Clifton, Virginia)
Quandeski Whitlow - 3 stars - defensive end 6'4", 228 pounds (Opelika, Alabama)
Antoine Wilder - 3 stars - defensive back 5'11", 172 pounds (Atlanta, Georgia)