South Carolina beats Georgia, Alabama to 4-star DE

If Mark Richt didn’t have to face some bad news when he dismissed safety Tray Matthews from the team, it got a little worse for him when four-star Georgia-based recruit Arden Key decided he would play at South Carolina instead of Athens.

Key, a weak-side defensive end, was also offered by Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Penn State and Stanford among the 33 schools who offered, according to 24-7Sports.com.

He had committed to South Carolina in June 2013, and then de-committed in September, before re-committing to Columbia in June 2014.

Key is at Hapeville Charter HS in Atlanta, GA. He’s rated as the 14th-best overall player in Georgia, and the 10th-best at his position in the country. Spurrier got the 2nd-best weak-side defensive end in Shamelik Blackeshear earlier in the recruiting process.