Julien Simon to skip senior season, enroll early at USC

On3 imageby:Erik McKinney07/22/20

ErikTMcKinney

Another state's delayed start to the high school football season means another USC commit will skip his senior season, as four-star linebacker Julien Simon (Tacoma, Wash./Lincoln) announced Wednesday that he will enroll early at USC.

https://twitter.com/_JulienSimon/status/1286043463167877120?s=20

As California did earlier, Washington announced recently that it would delay all fall sports until winter, pushing the high school football season back into early 2021. With early enrollees heading to college campuses in January, that decision has set up many high school seniors-to-be with decision of their own to make.

On Monday, USC safety commit Xamarion Gordon (Downey, Calif./Warren) announced he would continue with his plan to enroll early, missing out on his senior season.

Simon shared his decision on twitter, where he wrote: "Due to my early enrollment in January at USC I will not be playing sports in my last year of high school. I just wanna thank all the coaches and faculty members who have supported me since I stepped foot on the Lincoln campus. I will truly miss wearing that Lincoln name across my chest, and everyone who knows me, knew I wore it with pride.

"I will forever cherish all the good memories, and be thankful of all the lessons I've taken away from all the Lincoln sports and programs I was involved in."

Simon played football and basketball for Lincoln. The four-star athlete likely could make an impact at running back, wide receiver, linebacker or safety at the next level, but he'll head to USC as a linebacker.

Simon's high school coach, Masaki Matsumoto has spoken glowingly of Simon and his impact on the program. He shared his thoughts on twitter following the Washington announcement, along with a photo of Simon: "No complaining, no panicking, we'll figure it out...we always do. But I'm mainly thinking about this guy right now as our season got pushed back. Was hoping to coach him for one more season. One of the best I've ever coached, on AND off the field."

USC should have an abundance of linebackers for the 2021 season, but Simon possesses the awareness and athleticism to potentially make an early impact, whether on defense or special teams. Arriving early and participating in spring ball should help even more in his push for early playing time.

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