South Carolina Gamecocks 2016 National Signing Day Primer: Expectations, Assumptions and Predictions

It is National Signing Day, aka Christmas Day for the fax machine industry.

Football players from around the country will be putting their pen to paper and getting their National Letters of Intent in to their respective schools' football office. And while many know where they're going, many others don't and will make their decision today. Here's where things stand with the South Carolina Gamecocks:

What we know: We do know that at least fourteen players are firmly in the Gamecocks' camp. T.J. Brunson, Akeem Cooperwood, Chavis Dawkins, Rico Dowdle, Griffin Gentry, Evan Hinson, Sadarius Hutcherson, Jamarcus King, Pete Leota, Kiel Pollard, Will Putnam, Robert Tucker, Darius Whitfield and Dennis Wonnum should get their NLIs in at some point during the day barring any craziness and have shown no indications of changing their minds. We also know that Tyren Jones will not be signing an NLI today, and it's likely that his Gamecocks tenure could be over before it even began, if reports we're reading are true. (It could still happen, but it's not trending that way right now, sadly.) The same can be said with Javon Kinlaw, but he is spending a year in JUCO before signing next year.

What we don't know: We're in a state of flux with a couple of players. Diondre Champaigne, a Gamecocks offer, is mulling the JUCO route and is likely to hold off on his NLI for now. Mykelle McDaniel, thought to be all but committed, is still up in the air. Three other players - Tre Jackson, Jacorey Morris, and Cecil Stallings - decommitted over the past few days and are no longer Gamecocks.

Last-minute decisions? I'd focus on several in particular: Fort Lauderdale DT Aaron Thompson, who was committed to Maryland up until a few days ago, had it down to the Terps and the Gamecocks. With his decommitment from UMD, all signs seem to be pointing to him becoming a Gamecock on Wednesday. The same is true for Atlanta area wide receiver Korey Banks. Banks, who was originally committed to North Carolina, reopened his recruitment on Monday and is also expected to pledge to Will Muschamp and the South Carolina staff. A couple of other players the Gamecocks are in on: stud New Orleans DT Stephon Taylor and WR Randrecous Davis (down to South Carolina or Miami (Fla.), with the Gamecocks in the lead).