FanHouse Alshon Jeffery

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin is never far from the headlines, even when it's unintentional. So it goes with this story about his last-minute pitch to South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery. Deliberately holed up in a hotel on the eve of signing day by his coach, Jeffrey listened to desperate pitches from South Carolina, Tennessee and Southern California.

The one-time Southern Cal commit ultimately chose South Carolina, but not before Kiffin pledged "that if he chose the Gamecocks, he would end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from that state who had gone to South Carolina." And to that, Jeffery seems to have taken serious offense.

USC coach Pete Carroll is not having a good morning, having lost two previously committed major recruits before the day has barely begun. We previously reported that Corona (CA) linebacker Vontaze Burfict will switch to Arizona State, now comes word that jumbo-sized South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery has switched his commitment from Troy to the other USC. Grab the antacid.

Jeffery is a six-foot-four receiver who had camped at USC last summer and committed not long after. His commitment held until the last week or so when the inevitable pressure to play closer to home arrived. USC has a tradition going with big receivers lately, so although rumored, Jeffery's change of heart was still quite a surprise. You don't commit to someone all the way across the country and hold that for almost a year by accident.