South Carolina landed the top uncommitted prospect when five-star defensive end Jordan Burch committed to the Gamecocks on Wednesday.
Burch is the No. 5 overall recruit in the ESPN 300 out of Hammond School in Columbia, South Carolina. He chose South Carolina over Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and LSU.
Oregon also scored a commitment from a five-star recruit when ESPN 300 linebacker Justin Flowe chose the Ducks over USC and Miami.
With Burch on board, the Gamecocks have eight ESPN 300 commitments, including ESPN 300 running back Marshawn Lloyd, the No. 53-ranked recruit.
Burch is high school teammates with South Carolina coach Will Muschamp's son, Jackson, and will now play for the elder Muschamp in Burch's hometown.
Flowe, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound prospect from Upland High School in Upland, California, is the first five-star commit in this class for the Ducks and the seventh ESPN 300 commit to join the class.
Flowe is yet another top-ranked recruit from California who is headed out of state. Defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, the top-ranked recruit in California in 2019, also signed with Oregon. The top 13 recruits from California who have announced their commitments have chosen out-of-state schools.
Oregon has had quite a bit of success in California in recent years, landing six ESPN 300 recruits from the state in 2018, six in 2019 and currently three this year with Flowe, quarterback Jay Butterfield and athlete Jaden Navarrette. The Ducks also made a splash on Wednesday by landing ESPN 300 quarterback Robby Ashford, who recently decommitted from Ole Miss.
While Burch and Flowe were the biggest commitments of the day, quite a few schools landed prospects in the flurry that was the first day of the early signing period.
Clemson had a slow day on Wednesday, flipping four-star defensive back Malcolm Greene from LSU, but the Tigers are still holding on to the No. 1-ranked class. That is largely due to who Clemson already had committed in this class, with five-stars Myles Murphy, Bryan Bresee and Mitchell Mayes.
Alabama was able to hold on to a few commitments who were being targeted by other programs, including quarterback Bryce Young and defensive tackle Tim Smith, while flipping Oklahoma running back commit Jase McClellan, the No. 34-ranked recruit overall.
All of that has helped the Crimson Tide hang on to the No. 2-ranked class overall, followed by Ohio State, who picked up a commitment from ESPN 300 quarterback Coleridge Stroud to go along with fellow Buckeyes quarterback commit Jack Miller.
LSU is sitting at No. 4 in the class rankings and had one of the more active days of any program. The Tigers added ESPN 300 linebacker Phillip Webb and ESPN 300 offensive lineman Marcus Dumervil, but saw ESPN 300 receiver Rakim Jarrett flip to Maryland and ESPN 300 receiver Jermaine Burton flip to Georgia.
Burton wasn't the only ESPN 300 prospect to join Georgia's class, either, as athlete Arian Smith, who will play receiver at Georgia, also committed to the Dawgs. Georgia now has 19 total commitments, 15 of which are ESPN 300 prospects.
Outside of those top schools in the class rankings, Florida State had an important day for new coach Mike Norvell. After going two straight classes without signing a quarterback, Norvell was able to sign two in this 2020 class with ESPN 300 Chubba Purdy, who flipped from Louisville, and three-star Tate Rodemaker.
The Seminoles were also able to land ESPN 300 wide receiver Bryan Robinson on Wednesday and get three-star defensive end Josh Griffis back in the class, also flipping him from Louisville.
Auburn joined Florida State as one of the winners of the day, landing ESPN 300 linebacker Desmond Tisdol and four-stars Jeremiah Pegues and Romello Height. The Tigers were able to move into the top five of the class rankings in an excellent recruiting class for coach Gus Malzahn.
There were plenty of top recruits who announced their commitments and signed on the dotted line in this early signing period, impacting each of these top classes. While recruits are able to still sign on Thursday and Friday and in February, after Wednesday, there are only 33 ESPN 300 recruits left who have yet to announce their commitment.