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The start of summer not only brings hot temperatures to Columbia, S.C., but also the beginning of camp season, and this year South Carolina chose to move up its annual Gamecock Showcase Camp to early June rather than its usual late July slot.

The Showcase was a success as South Carolina was able to land two commitments -- though it wasn't necessarily the commitments expected -- and send out several new offers during the event and the previous day's regular one-day camp.

South Carolina was able to jump-start its 2016 defensive back class with the commitment of Mechanicsville (Va.) Atlee three-star safety Jaqui Givens, who was making his first ever visit to the school and previously had other programs ahead of the Gamecocks.

The 6-foot-1, 165-pound had nearly 20 offers and selected the Gamecocks over Arizona State, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and others.

While it wasn't a surprise that South Carolina was able to land class of 2017 Chapin (S.C.) tight end Will Register, who called his pledge to Carolina a dream come true, the timing was a bit of a surprise. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder landed camp offers from both Clemson and Carolina earlier in the week, but didn't give any public indication that he was going to ready to pull the trigger any time soon. But Register couldn't wait. He became the Gamecock's first 2017 commitment early during the Showcase.

South Carolina was also able to move into the top group of class of 2016 Hudson (N.C.) South Caldwell four-star OL Landon Dickerson and hosted several other top targets such as Camden (N.J.) four-star teammates WR Brad Hawkins Jr. and DE Ron Johnson.

During the June 12 one-day camp and June 13 Showcase, the Gamecocks extended eight known new offers: Palmyra (N.J.) WR Kelvin Harmon, Baton Rouge (La.) University Laboratory School WR/CB Tre Jackson, Durham (N.C.) Southern Durham 2016 RB Jordon Brown, Charlotte (N.C.) Mallard Creek 2017 OLs Eric Douglas and TJ Moore, Atlanta (Ga.) Pace Academy WR Trey Blount, Richburg (S.C.) Lewisville 2018 DT Josh Belk and Register.

Since the Showcase, South Carolina also extended an offer to another attendee in Geismar (La.) Dutchtown 2016 OL Lloyd Cushenberry.

South Carolina landed a couple of surprise commitments at the Showcase, but the prospect deemed most likely to become a Gamecock prior to the event -- Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge 2016 OT Will Putnam, ended up holding off on a commitment.

Looking ahead, Putnam is still a name to watch very closely in the coming weeks. Putnam, who gave the latest to GamecockCentral in this interview, recently visited Virginia Tech as well, and plans to visit South Carolina again before making a decision.

Another prospect to keep an eye on going forward is Atlanta (Ga.) Grady four-star safety Marlon Character who was unable to visit for the Showcase, but still holds the Gamecocks in high regard. In fact, Character told Phil Kornblut of SportsTalkSC that the Gamecocks currently lead, and that a commitment is possible when he visits the Gamecocks in the next couple of weeks. Character, who has offers from top programs all over the country, is considered the No. 12 safety in the 2016 class by Rivals.com.

Paintsville (Ky.) three-star LB Kash Daniel, who also visited for the Showcase, is scheduled to make a decision on July 4. Daniel has the Gamecocks in his top two, but the home-team Kentucky Wildcats may be tough to beat.