South Carolina lands fourth 2015 commitment from defensive end Chauncey Rivers

When your school gets a commitment from a big-time recruit that you didn't even know they were pursuing, it has a way of making you feel silly about the amount of time and money you spend following recruiting. But that's not to say that I'm complaining about four star defensive end/tight end Chauncey Rivers deciding today that he wants be a Gamecock.

Ward Continues to Raid Georgia

If he goes through with his pledge and officially becomes a Gamecock on Signing Day 2015 (yeah, still a ways out), the rising high school junior will join fellow Stone Mountain, GA natives Kadetrix Marcus, Kyle Fleetwood, Mike Davis, and current Stephenson junior and fellow 2015 commit Dexter Neal on the South Carolina roster. With Rivers' commitment, Lorenzo Ward jumps to the top of the 247Sports Recruiter Rankings for 2015, and the way that he has been able to recruit Georgia like an absolute badass is a is a big reason why. With defensive end Arden Key and the aforementioned Neal, three of South Carolina's four 2015 commitments are guys that Ward has plucked from UGA's backyard.

What Kind of Player Did South Carolina Get?

Here's how Rivers stacks up according to the 247Sports Composite Index:
4 stars, 206th overall player in the 2015 class
9th ranked weakside defensive end
18th best player in Georgia

First and foremost, Chauncey Rivers is a guy whose given name is Chauncey and, frankly, we could use more of that around here. Go ahead, say "Chauncey" aloud three times. We'll wait.

Though he plays both tight end and defensive end in high school, Rivers appears to want to play defensive end at the next level, and that's where the Gamecocks are taking him.

Saw new #Gamecocks commit Chauncey Rivers practice twice this spring, play his spring game & at #UGA camp. Explosive player off the ball

— Keith Niebuhr (@Niebuhr247) July 20, 2013

Not many have success against 2015 5* OT Mitch Hyatt ... New #Gamecocks commit Chauncey Rivers did well vs. him at #UGA camp

— Keith Niebuhr (@Niebuhr247) July 20, 2013

Rivers becomes the third defensive end commit in the 2015 class, all of which are four or five star players. The Clowney Effect appears to be taking hold. It's way too early to know how many players the coaching staff will be after at each position in 2015 and how this news will affect their pursuit of other defensive ends in that class.

It's obviously still very early in the process, but Rivers' announcement moves South Carolina ahead of Alabama and Tennessee to the second-ranked 2015 recruiting class.