Most of the time, people kick things off with the good news, but in this case, it is better to get the bad(der) news out of the way first and end on a high note.

THE JUST PLAIN NASTY

Four-star defensive end commit Arden Key has, unfortunately, elected to decommit from South Carolina. He is now considering making visits to Auburn, Miami, LSU and Georgia -- as well as South Carolina -- for the big recruiting day on January 23. Mr. Key originally committed to Carolina way back in June of 2013 and then decommitted a few months later. He then recommitted in June of this past year and had remained committed until Tuesday, January 6. To be completely truthful, it was already looking like Key would decommit; it was just a matter of time before he decided to make it official. Key has made it quite clear all through this year-and-a-half timeframe that he was going to make additional visits, and it is not known precisely why Key chose to decommit.  Key was also the eighth decommit overall, joining the crowd of Paris Palmer, Austin Clark, Jaire Alexander, and Mark Fields just to name a few.

THE NOT SO GOOD

The not-so-good news is that the 2015 class could suffer more decommits. Four-star Christian Pellage has scheduled a visit with the Florida Gators, but there is no feeling that Pellage will leave the class just yet. We will have to see how new head coach Jim McElwain impacts Pellage. Three-star Damon Arnette has picked up an offer from the Michigan Wolverines and will officially visit USC, Michigan, and Ohio State. Arnette has been committed to USC for quite some time, so these visits may not mean much. However, it will be hard to fend off offers from both Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh. Three-star Quandeski Whitlow will officially visit Florida, but he will also visit Lousiville on January 17.

It would also appear that Mark Fields has eliminated USC entirely from his recruitment. After getting an offer from LSU earlier in the week, Fields decided to shuffle his visits. As of now, he will only visit Texas, LSU, and Clemson. This is a strange development considering that he stated that instability was a factor in decommitting, but with the coaching staff clearly solid, there must be something else going on in Fields's life.

THE GOOD

Now with the bad news out of the way, here is some good news. The 2016 class got a huge pickup last week in quarterback Brandon McIlwain. Despite losing Key, the Gamecocks did return an old face to the 2015 class. Defensive end Devante Covington has been added to the 2015 class.  After not qualifying back in 2013, Covington has spent the time at Georgia Military College and is set to enroll this fall. There was also a slight scare from former five-star Shamiek Blackshear stating that he was interested in FSU, but he quickly stated that it was a joke and that he would sign with USC in February.

While several schools are trying to flip Gamecock recruits, the Gamecocks are also in position to flip a few of their own. One of them is former UGA commit and offensive lineman Patrick Allen. Another possibility is cornerback and Mississippi State commit Maurice Smitherman, scheduled to officially visit on January 30. The Gamecocks will also get a visit from three-star offensive guard Trey Derouen from Georgia.

The final bit of good news is that the Gamecocks will bring in eight early enrollees with nearly all of them projected to play on the defensive line. Ulric Jones, Dexter Wideman, Sherrod Pittman, Jerad Washington, Marquavious Lewis, Dante Sawyer, Ernest Hawkins and Jalen Henry are all set to join the football program this spring. Go Gamecocks!