South Carolina Basketball: Gamecock commit is nation's biggest riser in recruiting rankings

South Carolina basketball fans are living the life right now as the Gamecocks are ranked for the first time since the 2016-2017 Final Four season. The 15th ranking in the AP poll is the highest for Carolina since BJ McKie was getting buckets at the old Carolina Coliseum, and Lamont Paris' team is currently positioned in 2nd place in the SEC.

Even though the Gamecocks have a fair amount of senior on this year's team, the future looks as if it can be bright, as well.

Sophomore Zach Davis has turned into one of the top perimter defenders in the SEC, freshman Collin Murray-Boyles is a star in the making, and recruiting is looking strong.

Class of 2024 commitments Okku Federiko and Trent Noah have been top-150 prospects according to some rankings for a while, and '25 commits Eli Ellis and Hayden Assemian are, as well.

This week, when On3 updated their '24 recruiting rankings, Federiko was the biggest riser of all ranked players, moving from 194th to 88th.

Federiko, who was a high school teammate of current Gamecock freshman guard Morris Ugusuk, now is a firm 4-star prospect, and he has tremendous upside. A versatile forward, Federiko has enough size (6'9" and 200 pounds with a 7'4" wingspan) to play in the post as a 4 or 5, but he possesses enough athleticism and skill to play the 3 or stretch-4 in certain situations.

He will pair nicely with bigs like Collin Murray-Boyles and Josh Gray (CMB has three years of eligibility remaining, while Gray has another year) as their games are better suited to playing closer to the basket. The Gamecocks don't block a lot of shots (it's pretty much just Murray-Boyles and Gray who are threats to block anything), so adding a player like Federiko should help out the defense in time, as well.

Ugusuk arrived to the South Carolina basketball team more game-ready than anticipated, and he credits his playing days in Finland for helping him be ready. Perhaps Federiko can arrive and immediately join the rotation just like his old teammate.

You can watch some of his film here.