Irmo wing Justin McKie has chosen to play basketball for Frank Martin and USC. McKie is the son of Gamecock great B.J. McKie, who led Carolina during the glory days of the late 90s.

Although talented and certainly athletically gifted, McKie is not an elite prospect. He currently has two stars from 247 Sports, and he chose Carolina over Murray St. and Wichita St. He's a guy Frank Martin and his staff will have to develop into a serviceable SEC player. McKie has good height and athleticism for his position, and his stock has been rising lately (which has netted some interest from programs like Clemson and Memphis) as he's come into his own as a player. However, he's not polished yet. The good news is that he brings a desire to be great and to improve himself that should pay off over the long run. He says all the right things in interview situations, and his recent improvement shows that he has the potential and work ethic to back those statements up.

The other thing McKie brings is in-state ties. It's important for Martin to begin making inroads with local high-school programs, coaches, and players, and signing a player like McKie could help in that regard down the road.

Unless I've miscalculated on the number of spaces we'll have available, McKie rounds out this class for Martin, at least for now. There are some other players on Martin's radar, such as Sindarius Thornwell's Oak Hill teammate Troy Williams (a prized wing with offers from elite programs), but we'd have to either have some defections or push someone out the door to make room for such a player.

One other thing to note about this commitment is that, if things remain as they currently stand, it looks like Carolina is going to have continue to have a small-ish roster going into 2013-2014. It will be interesting to see how Martin handles that situation, particularly how he might deal with a potential talent deficit at the wing position.