New USC coach Lane Kiffin might have his detractors, but nobody questions his ability to recruit.

Kiffin, with only a few weeks on the job, continued the good work of Pete Carroll in that regard, getting a signing day commitment from offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson, rated as the No. 1 recruit in the nation by some services.

There were a lot of comings and goings throughout the transition of the coaching change, but when the dust had mostly settled, USC's class was ranked No. 1 by Rivals.com and No. 5 by Scout.com.

"We didn't want to reach," Kiffin said. "We didn't want to see players come off the board and lower our standards. We know what it's taken here before to win at an extremely high level, and we know what type of players that takes. And very often as you see coaches come into their first year, they reach just to make an impression, just to sign a certain number of kids, and I was proud of our staff for not doing that."

The star power is alive and well at USC, which is bringing in five five-star prospects, according to Rivals.com, the most of any program. All five of those players are on offense, adding speed and skill to what had become a surprisingly stagnant offense.

Running back Dillon Baxter, who might be able to play all over the offense, and 6-foot-5 receiver Kyle Prater, graduated early and are already enrolled at USC.

The receiving group is the best in the nation with Prater, Robert Woods and Markeith Ambles each ranked among the top 25 players in the nation.

"I think we have high standards for all our players, especially our freshmen as they come in," Kiffin said. "Mike Williams came in here and caught 81 balls, 14 TDs as a freshman, and we've seen it before, and we expect those guys to do these things."

All in all, it was quite a good start for Kiffin.

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