This is what happens when you go to sleep on Lane Kiffin: After celebrating Florida’s exceptional class Wednesday as one of the greatest ever assembled, the gurus had to reverse course at the 11th hour, when USC capped its late surge by adding late commitments from a pair of top junior college prospects, defensive end Marquis Jackson and fullback Soma Vainuku, who are expected to sign today. Those additions, on top of three new five-star signatures earlier on Wednesday, vaulted the Trojans’ overall crop in front of Florida’s in Rivals’ final rankings overnight (though, it must be noted, other sites whose existence you are otherwise commanded to ignore still have USC sitting outside their top five nationally, well behind the No. 1 Gators), putting a very “Dewey Defeats Truman” spin on Wednesday’s proceedings, vague and subjective as they already were.

In fact, with 3,003 total points and an “average star” rating of 4.2, Team Kiffin’s first crop — patched up and closed on in a little under a month following Pete Carroll’s abrupt departure for the NFL — came within a whisker of Carroll’s classes in 2006 (3,018 points) and 2007 (average of 4.22 stars) for the best numbers Rivals has awarded to any class since it started keeping track in 2002.

Still, the tenor in L.A. today is uncertainty on two fronts: a) The moment of truth in the NCAA’s illegal benefits probe against former Trojan star Reggie Bush is less than three weeks away, when the association’s Committee on Infractions will meet to discuss the results of the investigation into nearly $300,000 in cash and prizes allegedly funneled to Bush and his family by wannabe agents in 2004-05, and to mete out possible sanctions; and b) Until that meeting is complete, the crown jewel of the final recruiting push, coveted Minnesota offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson, isn’t signing anything, says the New York Times:

According to his father, Sean, Henderson is not signing his letter of intent until U.S.C. appears before an N.C.A.A. infractions committee later this month. Though any possible sanctions may not come at that time, Sean Henderson said the family would get a sense of where the investigation was heading.
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During his son’s recruitment, Sean Henderson said, recruiters from other colleges mentioned that the Trojans might face penalties from an N.C.A.A. investigation of their athletic program. But while visiting the Hendersons last week in Minneapolis, Lane Kiffin told them not to be worried, Sean Henderson said.

“As far as he’s been informed — he was very, very choosy with his words — there shouldn’t be anything going wrong because there was no knowledge of anything going on by the staff,” Sean Henderson said. The Hendersons asked Kiffin to be clear about what impact the N.C.A.A. might have on the Trojans’ football program, Sean Henderson said. Just before Seantrel chose U.S.C. on Wednesday, Kiffin reiterated not to listen to others who said the Trojans might face sanctions.

In the meantime, Henderson will remain an unsigned commitment, a status he can maintain — because USC is obviously not pulling his scholarship, and any other school on his list will honor its offer in a heartbeat if he changes his mind — until April 1, the last day of the official signing period. (Recruiting veterans may recall that the last two No. 1 prospects, Terrelle Pryor and Bryce Brown, both extended their recruitments into March, though neither had a firm commitment before they ultimately signed with Ohio State and Tennessee, respectively.) Because Infractions Committee decisions take 4-6 weeks to come down — and are notoriously secretive before they do — it’s very likely USC’s fate re: the NCAA will still be very much in the air when the April 1 deadline rolls around. If the backchannels begin forecasting a hammer from the Association after Feb. 21, we probably shouldn’t be surprised if the Buckeyes and Hurricanes start looking pretty good to Seantrel again.

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